Google acquires Nik Software

<p>It was aannounced today that Google acquired Nik Software for its product Snapseed. As a user of Nik plug ins and Nikon Capture NX2, I am not thrilled about what it means for the plug ins and NX2. I hope I am wrong, but this seems to be the consensus view on most of the blogs.<br>

Joe Smith</p>

<p>No NX3 for us - darn.</p>

<p>It's not just NX but the plug-ins used in Apple's Aperture and Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom. As Google tries to squeeze others for market share or profits or sector dominance, the plug-ins for these other software items may suffer. We saw what happened after MicroSoft acquired digital asset management software iView Multimedia - it was bled to death and killed. As a Mac user, we were cut out of the picture quickly. And Nik software is so easy to use.</p>

<p>I own the nik suite as well, but if Picasa/Andoid/G+ only get better because of this, I'm all for it. Other than that, I'm confused by the tone here? What am I missing?</p>

<p>I would guess that rather than being developed into more sophisticated products, there is a fear of it being dumbed down to meet the needs of a much bigger audience.<br>

And is Nik still responsible for the development of Capture NX2? I have just taken that up because I am fed up of waiting for Apple to bring out the next version of Aperture - there being a similar concern that Aperture will be dumbed down to meet the needs of iPhone users.<br>

Perhaps it is time to see if that old enlarger is still in the attic. Might be an idea to get rid of the chemicals though.</p>

<p>If Google melds Snapseed into G+ and other Nik goodies into Picasa, it'll be a good thing overall.</p>

<p>This is terrible. This most likely means that the Nikon partnership with Nik Software is most likely over. There will probably not be a NX3 -- or if there is, it won't be anything we recognize (re-branded as Google NX). Snapseed will become the focus of development for GoogleNik, but the plugins that we rely on for consistent results will suffer, or worse, be discontinued.</p>

<p>Then again, maybe nothing will change. Google is not Microsoft, right? What, me worry?</p>

<p>Well, you got 3 option here...</p>

<p>1_get the latest suite right now so you have the good plugin before they dumbed it down.</p>

<p>2_learn how to work with mask and your tool in Lightroom / CS6 / Aperture and you wont need any external plugin</p>

<p>3_hope that they just bought it, and will still continue to develop it for future software.. like what OneSoftware have done when they acquire Extensis Mask Pro, Suitcase etc...</p>

<p>I hate the idea that Google could dumb down a great product like Color Efex or Silver Efex, but there is something else to consider . All the plug-ins on offer out there are simply "shortcut templates" to make the job easier for us to repeat favourite processes and steps. Within Lightroom, AftershotPro, Painstshop and Photoshop are all the necessary tools -we just need to understand the software we already have,and recreate the desired effects as user defined steps.<br>

I would be sad to see Nik's offerings stuffed up by Google, so the race is on to master the tools I already possess so that I do not rely on someone else to deliver "my style" to me.</p>

<p><em>"All the plug-ins on offer out there are simply "shortcut templates" to make the job easier for us to repeat favourite processes and steps. Within Lightroom, AftershotPro, Painstshop and Photoshop are all the necessary tools..."</em></p>

<p>In general, I certainly agree with you that we should first learn the tools we already have, but I feel obliged to point out that quite a few plugins provide processing effects that simply are not possible using the tools built-in to PS. Examples of these include Fourier filtering, kernel based convolution and deconvolution, alternate noise reduction algorithms, etc. </p>

<p>At the risk of stating the obvious, plug-ins are <strong>not</strong> the same as PS actions. Actions are simply automated sequences of applications of the built-in tools. </p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p> </p>