Saturday 10 August 2013

how google is changing photo manipulation


For sometime now Google has been making steady progress in the photography applications market. With their acquisition of Nik Software that was viewed with great skepticism by the photography community and the even more alarming news of the excision of 'Snapseed' along with Google Reader earlier this year, there was much concern. This may explain why the Internet search giant has now offered the complete 'Nik Collection by Google' (notice the slight re branding) with all six plug-ins for £98.00 approximately. There are discounts available to make this offer even cheaper. With the plug-in costing about £17 each this is clearly good value for money and maybe a cynical attempt not to alienate the millions of photographers out there. Previously the software was aimed at the semi professional due to the cost but now it is much more accessible.  Is the collection any good and is it worth spending nearly £100 on? It does add another layer of control and functionality and this is a worthy addition. They do have slightly different features and the 'Sharpener Pro 3' provides increased texture and provides extra punch.  I used 'Viveza' on the image above and was pleased with the extra features and the end result. As for the rest I have not tried them sufficiently to offer an opinion but Google are doing a free trial period so worth experimenting with. On balance I think that this is great value and if you have the money and will make use of it then invest your hard earned cash!

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