The suite continues to be a good pick for photographers who enjoy creative editing, and longtime users should appreciate that updates keep it going on newer systems. The addition of batch processing can help speed up certain workflows, too. It’s not quite as convenient as Raw processing and this feature certainly requires a lot of space on your hard drive, but you may find the option to go back and make edits to an image worthwhile.

We’re also glad to see some level of nondestructive editing in the suite. They also all include the ability to rename U-Points and add them to presets, making up for the somewhat inconsistent experience from Collection 4. Now, all four creative arms-Analog Efex, Color Efex, Silver Efex, and Viveza-offer a consistent user experience.

With Collection 5, the welcome interface refresh from last year comes to more apps in the suite. For years, I held onto the free version Google released, stashing the installer on various drives and laptops, lest I ever lost track of it and access to my beloved Silver Efex Pro. I’m happy to see that DxO continues to develop and improve the Nik Collection.

Nik 4 collection