And returned to PL4 as a linear DNG for further processing.
1 Like
I tried NIK Collection on the free trial. It has some nice features, but I wonāt be buying it until (a) itās properly integrated, and (b) they price it in a way which doesnāt penalise existing PhotoLab customers. that may mean Iāll never buy it.
That is, of course, your prerogative. 
2 Likes
In what way it āpenalise[s] existing PhotoLab customersā? I think I didnāt quite get this partā¦
I think he may be suggesting that existing PhotoLab users donāt get preferential treatment when it comes to update pricing for new versions of the Nik Collection. One or two other users have also previously mentioned this.
Mark;
I may be missing a bit of history here, because I donāt see any connection. Existing PhotoLab users can hope for preferential treatment when they want to upgrade to a new PhotoLab version. But why would they get any preferential treatment for a completely different product? Again, I may be missing some things hereā¦
You are correct, but that didnāt stop a few people in the past from suggesting that that those of us invested in multiple DXO products should get more preferential upgrade pricing than other users. Of course, Iām only guessing at what @RobEW meant.
Mark
OK, then I understood right. Since Nik Collection was a new product, the term āupgradeā donāt apply. I guess that Iām not that surprised at DxOās policy on that specific subject.
Thanks for explaining.
It was not a new product. Iām talking about the pricing complaints some Photolab owners had when DXOās Nik Collection version 1 was updated to version 2 and nore specifically when version 2 was updated to version 3.
Mark
1 Like
The solution to this is quite simple. Buy the first install when itās on sale(like now 30% off). Based on past experience, these sales occur about every 2-3 months and usually last for a month. Or you can wait for āBlack Fridayā and get 50% off. Now you will be eligible for upgrades at the discounted price. With the exception of Viewpoint, this is what I did.
I thought my comment about pricing was going over a well-rehearsed topic which many have commented on.
A new NIK subscriber gets a āfreeā copy of PhotoLab thrown in. Itās not free of course; theyāre paying for the whole package of 2 products, and itās priced accordingly. Iāve already paid for PhotoLab, so if I ordered NIK I would be getting less software for the same money, because I really donāt get any benefit from a second copy of PhotoLab. But Iām not offered a price which takes that into account.
Another way of looking at it is this. If I were new to DXO, I could pay the price for NIK and Photolab. I already have Photolab and if I want NIK I have to pay the price for both. That means I would have been better off not having bought Photolab in the first place. I am being penalised for having bought PhotoLab too soon.
It does not appear that Nik Collection 3 comes with a free copy of PhotoLab any more. At least, I donāt see any references to it on DXOās site.
When it was sold with a copy of PhotoLab, it was an older Photolab 2 Essential version. They were effectivey throwing in a free older basic version of their software to new users of the Nik Collection as a promotion in hopes they would entice new Photolab users who would eventually upgrade to the current Elite version.
Companies in general often offer special pricing or special bundles of their products to acquire new customers but which are not available to existing customers.
Mark
1 Like
Thanks - I hadnāt noticed that change. Now all they need to do is to integrate it as seamlessly as they seemed to be promising and Iāll be interested.
1 Like
Resurrecting this old thread because Iām still hoping in the next version of PhotoLab DxO will integrate the Nik Collection even more seamlessly. I own Luminar 4, Luminar NEO, On1 Photo RAW 2022 and still find the capabilities and results achievable with the Nik Collection second to none. Iād like to see DxO take full control of their products as a whole, not simply having the Nik Collection function as a set of plugins the way it does in other applications that can use the collection.
And, BTW, how about updating the entire collection and giving those of us who paid for a ānewā version of the collection our moneyās worth, not just two of the plugins? Even a consistent interface and user experience would be more of a fulfillment in regard to that requirement. That should have been the very least that happened when the new v4 was released.
1 Like