Nik Software
FormerlyNik Multimedia
IndustryDigital image processing, software development
Founded1995
FounderNils Kokemohr
Defunct2012
Headquarters
San Diego, California
,
United States
Key people
  • Michael J Slater (CEO)
  • Nils Kokemohr (CTO)
  • Adam Christianson (Chief Web Developer)
Products
  • Efex
  • penPalette
  • TypeEfex
OwnerThe TECHNik Group (Germany)
Number of employees
120 (2010)

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

  1. ^ Ashbrook, Stan (June 2004). "Product--Color Efex Pro![TM] from nik multimedia, Inc". PSA Journal. 70 (6): 6.
  2. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (September 17, 2012). "Google Acquires Nik Software, The Company Behind The Popular Snapseed Photo Editing App For iOS". techcrunch.com. TechCrunch.
  3. ^ "Nik Software gobbled up by Google". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  4. ^ Nik Software Tools Bundle by Joshua A. Haftel. John Wiley & Sons. 3 March 2012. ISBN 9781118376096.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ "Nik Multimedia, Inc. Changes Name to Nik Software, Inc. and Unveils New Corporate Identity" (PDF) (Press release). San Diego, USA: Nik Software Inc. 7 February 2006.
  7. ^ "Nik Software, Inc. Announces Investment and Cooperative Agreement with Nikon Corporation" (PDF) (Press release). San Diego, USA: Nik Software Inc. 14 February 2006.
  8. ^ Miller, Claire (September 17, 2012). "Google Buys Nik to Lure Photographers to Google Plus". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (September 17, 2012). "Google Acquires Nik Software, The Company Behind The Popular Snapseed Photo Editing App For iOS". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on September 18, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  10. ^ Kokemohr, Nils (11 November 1998). "Products". Nik Multimedia Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Nik Software Announces Lightroom(R) Update to its Complete Collection of Five Award-Winning Digital Photographic Filters". PRWeb Newswire. 18 June 2009.
  12. ^ "Google now offers Nik's collection of six imaging plugins for $149". Popular photography (2008). 77 (6). 6 January 2013. ISSN 1944-0510.
  13. ^ Wauters, Robin (March 25, 2013). "Google bundles acquired Nik Software plug-ins for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture, drops entire set price to $149". thenextweb.com. The Next Web.
  14. ^ Allan, Patrick (March 24, 2016). "Google's Nik Collection of Photo Editing Software Is Now Completely Free". lifehacker.com. Lifehacker.
  15. ^ "Today we're making the Nik Collection available to everyone, for free". plus.google.com. March 24, 2016.
  16. ^ "Nik Collection Help". support.google.com. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  17. ^ "DxO acquires Nik Collection assets from Google, what does this mean for the future of Nik?". www.imaging-resource.com. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  18. ^ "DxO updates Nik Collection, releases PhotoLab 1.2 with U Point local adjustments". DPReview. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  19. ^ "Nik Collection 3 by DxO announced: Includes new Perspective Efex, faster workflow & more". DPReview. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  20. ^ "Google takes on Instagram with Snapseed". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  21. ^ Lloyd, Craig (December 6, 2012). "Google releases Snapseed for Android, updates iOS version". slashgear.com. SlashGear.
  22. ^ Kinder, Lucy (September 18, 2012). "Google takes on Instagram with Snapseed". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  23. ^ "Behind the scenes - Capture NX". Nikon. 2011. Archived from the original on April 12, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  24. ^ Graham, Jefferson (August 3, 2010). "Nik Software gets into photo-editing tools for 'Debbie Digital'". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
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