NIK Software

Correlli

Just out of curiosity: did anyone in Europe already receive the email with the download link for the full suite? I did check my spam folders and did not get the email yet.

paulr

Yes but it was sent from Nik/Google
They had my details from Nik Europe in Germany

JJ_SO

After paying I saw two download links, Mac and Win. Installation just asked for the host application. No code, no password. The conformation mail was sent by nikcollection-noreply[at]niksoftware.com and included the two downloadlinks as well.

paulr

JJ_SO You state " After Paying", I did not pay anything it was free ;;)

JJ_SO

Because you already owned one of the modules? I read that in the forum I had the voucher code from. Somebody had bought SilverEfex only and had not to pay the full package.

I paid - an acceptable price :-bd

adamz

bumping it up, if You already own at least one of the Nik Software plugins and still haven't received the download link than write the support team and You should get it. that was my case as for unknown reasons my email was not registered in google.

Correlli

Same here. I did not get any email from Nik/Google so I contacted their support. Received the download link within short time and now I can run all the plug-ins. Great stuff!

itsnotmeyouknow

I'm one of thse that paid full price for the whole package about a year ago. I had moved everything to a new MBP, and hadn't downloaded Dfine2 I therefore had to download the trial version, thinking that I could just add my product key. This doesn't work now as you can't download individual plug ins. One email to Nik, and within 2 hours an email with a new batch of software, and instructions to uninstall the one I had and I'm away. Have to say I've always been really happy with the speed of Nik's support team. Hopefully under Google's ownership this won't get worse. Fantastic software with great support isn't something you come across very often.

TriShooter

Does anyone have phone number for contacting NIK?

I cannot find a phone number on their new website, or even the old customer portal. NIK web site says they are open for phone calls during X-Y hours without a phone number. This is frustrating to me because NIK had about the best customer service in the industry before Google bought them.

To e-mail them now is a nightmare. It is product specific so the odds of reaching anyone may be slim and none. You have to fill in the typical google junk to prove you are not a robot etc. Amazing that they have dropped one of the best customer portals in the industry for the sake of Google uniformity. +++ See that itsnotmeyouknow got through with an e-mail apparently, I wonder if he filled in that new form. +++

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Google has killed the old NIK Software links, but I found their phone numbers:

Customer Service toll free at 1-888-284-4085
Calls made outside of the U.S., the number is 1-619-725-3150 is working.

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Amazing ---> Google's own spam filter blocked the e-mail I got from The NIK Google+ Photo Team. This was sent on March 25th which came in as shown below:

Be careful with this message. Many people marked similar messages as phishing scams, so this might contain unsafe content. Learn more

To view this email as a web page, click here.

Klicken Sie bitte hier, um diese Nachricht auf Deutsch anzuzeigen.
Haga clic aquí para ver este mensaje en español
Cliquez ici pour voir ce message en français
Faccia clic qui per visualizzare il messaggio in italiano
Clique aqui para ver essa mensagem em português
ここをクリックするとこのメッセージが日本語で表示されます
點選這裡可查看簡體中文版的訊息
请单击此处查看繁体中文版本的消息

Dear TriShooter,

Thanks for being a long-time Nik customer. As a registered owner of one or more of our software products, we are pleased to announce that you are now eligible for a free copy of the new Nik Collection by Google, which includes all six of our award-winning plug-ins for Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture.

To be sure you have the latest version of the Nik plug-ins, click the link below to download the Nik Collection. Your download will begin automatically.

When the download is complete, locate the file on your computer, double-click on the installer and follow the onscreen instructions. There is no reason to uninstall the previous versions first.

We hope you enjoy your new software. If you have any questions, please visit the Nik Collection Help Center

The Nik and Google+ Photos team
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Since I already owned the latest versions, of five of the six modules they are offering, the gesture for a free upgrade seems a little anemic to me, especially given what I paid for them.

There is no mention of serial numbers for re-installs, and the other basic information so guessing they may handle that on the download. No comments on using being able to continue using one instance of the program at a given time, that is installed on multiple machines which is important to me. No mention of the customer portal which appears to be gone.

I was hopeful that Google might recognize the value of a company that was light years ahead of them in their offerings, and customer service. Oh well, life goes on, but I cannot help wondering if they are going to water NIK down to a lesser consumer version of CS6 like Photoshop 9, over a period of time. Again like Nikon there is no roadmap on where they expect to take the company going forward which makes me a little nervous.

TriShooter

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I've talked to Customer Service at NIK Software. The call was taken immediately because they are aware that the e-mail they sent out to old users using current software was nebulous.

1. The link in your notification e-mail to you, if you were an old user, contains your serial code which is embedded in the software download. The file you download is specific to you, and it can be installed on your desktop machine, and your desktop. When you buy a new machine the software will install and register up to a total of four times, after which you will have to call them to explaining why you need additional installs.

They will pull you up in their system, and will be able to see the IPs you used when registering each of the four times to determine whether, or not your software is being installed on multiple machines by multiple users. So it is a good idea to install each time on your local ISP account to avoid possible misunderstanding.

2. There is no clear roadmap for the future, but I was told that the software development team is continuing development, and the people involved in it think they are better off in the long run with the Google+ Team.

3. They have taken down the customer portal because the serial numbers are now embedded but are thinking in the direction of having one again in future. Not a guarantee, but a are considering it. Their thinking was that embedding the serial number and getting away from all the codes would make it simpler for them, and their users when updating, and changing machines.

4. I told them people who owned 4, 5 of the 6 modules, the ones we have a use for, probably felt the offer a module we might have little use for, was a little anemic given the price we had paid for the modules. I suggested a sliding scale reduced upgrade cost based on the number of modules as being a fair way to handle the next upgrade for old users, and then left a message on the quality of survey follow-up essentially suggesting the same thing.

5. The NIK people know that Google did not put their phone number on the web site, but not in control of it at the present time.

6. I complained about the Google Bot protection on the email site, and was told they understand but do not have direct control over their web site for now, Google does.

I give NIK high marks for realizing they had not included enough information in their email, and set up to handle a flood of calls quickly. I hope that Google enhances the product going forward; they certainly have the clout to do it, but only time will tell.

While this was not well done initially, it is apparent that the new NIK Software Google+ Photo Team is endeavoring to do the right thing, and probably will with the right feedback from users. BTW they did fix the menu glitch some of us had in Define2, so may have tweaked some other things as well.

Dredden85

So......is Capture NX2 worth puchasing? I am guessing that NIK will no longer work in NX2? I was about to pop on CNX2.

JJ_SO

Me too, Dredden85, but now I don't want to change from one abandoned ship (aperture) to another (Nik).

TriShooter

NIkon was a financial partner in NIK so they were well postured to protect NX2, but Google likes complete control so may have paid them more to get out of the deal. A phone call to Nikon will resolve this issue.

Dredden85

@JJ_SO- no kidding

Dredden85

@TriShooter- All due respect, but I don't see a how a phone will resolve the issue. Could you please be more specific?

JJ_SO

It's really two bits strange: Google delivers Android for some Nikon P&S, Nikon also prefers Android against iPhone apps when it comes to WLAN remote stuff. Don't think, Google will buy Nikon, but they already have sort of partnership together - so, why don't they carry on with developing NX3?

Dredden85

It's really two bits strange: Google delivers Android for some Nikon P&S, Nikon also prefers Android against iPhone apps when it comes to WLAN remote stuff. Don't think, Google will buy Nikon, but they already have sort of partnership together - so, why don't they carry on with developing NX3?

Even the thought of Google acquiring Nikon makes me feel sick!
:-&

Good question about NX3. I guess only time and rumors will tell!

Correlli

Have a look at the main blog. Google will not continue to support Capture. See here for details.

Dredden85

@Correlli- I know that's why I am on this thread. If I do pick up NCNX2 I guess I'll have to find a pre-google NIK package.

Correlli

Well I think it still is and always was a Nikon product. It was only initially developed - and maybe even maintained - by Nik Software. But if I understand things correctly the code is owned by Nikon (at least it was not aquired by Google when they bought Nik according to the article on the main blog). So they need to find someone else to take over.

As for the current plug ins you are right: you will need to find a compatible version that works with Capture.

The question will be what happens to Nik technologies in Capture (I don't know if they use U points or other Nik stuff in Capture).

JJ_SO

Does anybody knows a piece of software, maintained by Nikon, which performs well? NCNX2 is nice but slooooow, NVNX2 is rubbish and changes RAW files and generally the user interface is sort of pre millenium...

heartyfisher

Its now Free !!!

https://www.google.com/nikcollection/

http://petapixel.com/2016/03/24/googles-150-nik-collection-photo-editing-software-now-100-free/

PB_PM

A nice move I suppose, but I'm guessing that means it is EOL. Not a big deal, haven't been using it much in recent years.

spraynpray

Cool! I used to use HDR efex pro and still use my old silver efex so I was pondering on springing for the set.

Snowleopard

Google never gives anything away for free........ they have to have trackers, spyware or something rather un-detectable coded in it before they give it away for free,,,

They make their money off of information.