To access this collection, select your bracketed images to work with.

It also raised the bar for other editing tools like Lightroom and Photoshop but fear not.

By the end of this, youll be familiar with everything from downloading the collection to exporting your final images.

We refer to the collection as Google as the creator, while DxO are incorporating it into their future products.

While there are many tool packets, you only need one download to get all the components.

The installer will walk you through each step, including which image editing tool you want to use the plug-in with.

It scans your computer to find what compatible programs you have.

Once its installed, you can open Adobe Lightroom, which will look the same as always.

Within the Develop Module, you can choose a photo to work on and right-click (or Ctrlclick on a Mac) on the photo itself for the menu to appear.

In this menu, youll hover over Edit In and see that the components of the Nik Collection are now each listed as an option The only one missing is the HDR Efex Pro, but well talk more about why that is when we review that tool.

When you select a tool to use on a photo, a pop-up window will appear to ask you what type of file you want the copy to be.

The edits you do in Nik, even as a Lightroom plug-in, are on a copy of the photo.

This is NOT a virtual copy; this is an actual new image file.

I gravitate towards TIFF to maintain as much quality to the image as possible.

At the top of this pop-up window, youll see options about creating copies that maintain LR edits within them.

If the original file is anything else, like a JPEG, you can edit a copy of the original with NO Lightroom edits applied, or edit the original itself.

You have to select which Nik toolset to work with from the Lightroom menu.

Some experimentation will help when you first download the Nik Collection.

For example, you would use Analog Efex Pro if you want a vintage film look, but would most likely use Color Efex Pro if you want to bring out the colors in your landscape photo.

Besides applying filters that give a certain look, you can also add creative effects like scratches, light leaks, and multi-lens.

One big time-saving tool is the ability to create a double exposure quickly and easily You select your second exposure from your computer and then adjust things such as placement, scale, and opacity.

There is also a variety of black and white edits to use as a starting point, with different levels of exposure and contrast.

The best thing about this tool is that it makes the process user-friendly and then allows you to make adjustments on the new HDR image.

The only confusing thing about this tool is that its not accessible from the same list as the others This is because the HDR tool uses multiple photos, rather than one selected image to work on.

Install Google Nik For Mac Manually