Nik Software was a software development
company established in 1995 as Nik Multimedia Inc.[1] and based in
San Diego, California.[2] The company developed multiple image editing plug-ins and tools for
digital image processing software applications. Nik Software was acquired by
Google in 2012.[3]
History
Nik Multimedia was founded in 1995 by Nils Kokemohr in
Hamburg. The firm focused on
digital photography and
graphic design. They initially developed Nils Efex! and Nils Type Efex! which were a
combination of
Photoshop extensions and
textures.[4] The firm was then acquired in 1998 by the TECHnik Group and re-launched to focus on the expansion of the digital imaging and photographic markets.[5] In 1999 Michael J Slater joined as CEO of the company which subsequently grew into a respected
software research and development company.
In February 2006 the company was renamed Nik Software[6] and announced an investment and cooperation Agreement with Nikon Corporation,[7] who in 2010 held a 35% stake in the company. In 2010, the company had 120 employees — around 40 of whom were located in
San Diego where the company was headquartered while the remaining staff (primarily engineering) were based in Hamburg, Germany.
In September 2012, Nik Software was acquired by
Google for an undisclosed amount.[8][9]
Products
Neal's Efex
Neal's Efex and Type Efex were the first two products to be marketed by Nik Multimedia inc. they offered a collection of extensions for Photoshop 4 to alter the look of typefaces.[10]
Complete Collection
In 2009, Nik packaged its range of award-winning
photo editing plugin applications Dfine 2.0, Viveza, Color Efex Pro 3.0, Silver Efex Pro and Sharpener Pro 3.0 together in a single Collection.[11] The Complete Collection Ultimate Edition sold for US$599.95 and the Complete Collection for Lightroom and Aperture for US$299.95.
After acquisition, Google relaunched the collection of six applications[12] as the Google Nik Collection and reduced its price to $150 [13] and then, in 2016, made it completely free to use.[14][15]
In 2017 Google sold[16] the, now seven-application, collection to
DxO Labs for an undisclosed amount.[17] DxO Labs have since added an eighth application: Perspective Efex.[18][19]
Snapseed
Snapseed is an image editing application. It was initially released in 2011 for
iOS. Subsequent versions were designed to run on
MacOS and
Microsoft Windows. Following the take-over, in December 2012, Google released Snapseed[20] for
Android[21] and the desktop versions were discontinued.[22]
Capture NX
Capture NX is a stand-alone photo editing program co-developed by Nik Software and
Nikon, released in 2006.[23] A new version of the program, Capture NX 2, was released in 2008.[24]
References
^Ashbrook, Stan (June 2004). "Product--Color Efex Pro![TM] from nik multimedia, Inc". PSA Journal. 70 (6): 6.
^"Company". nikmultimedia.com. Nik Multimedia Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2023. Acquired in 1998 by The TECHnik Group and re-launched to focus on the expansion of the digital imaging and photographic markets, nik multimedia, Inc. offers a variety of software solutions for various markets and applications including the photography, graphic design, pre-press/publishing, scientific imaging, and web publishing markets.