DxO Nik Collection 4.2 update tackles compatibility and responsiveness

With this Nik Collection 4.2 update, DxO says it has improved the responsiveness of the U-point adjustment tools in Silver Efex Pro 3, fixed a compatibility issue with Capture One and made the Nik plug-ins work with Photoshop in native M1 mode on new Macs.

In this latest version, the U-point adjustments in Silver Efex Pro have been moved to the toolbar at the side so that they don’t obscure the image you’re working on. I think I still prefer it the old way, but hey. DxO says these controls will now be more responsive in Silver Efex Pro 3.

DxO has made the same interface change with Viveza 3, a new version of its global and selective color adjustment plug-in, which also debuted in Nik Collection 4.

Capture One Nik Collection compatibility fixed

Both programs received worthwhile updates in Nik Collection 4, but something else happened – they stopped working properly with Capture One. Capture One uses the Nik tools as external editors (they do work as standalone apps) rather than plug-ins, and the new versions of Silver Efex Pro and Viveza did not return edited images properly to Capture One.

The Nik Collection 4.2 update fixes this – I have checked – so that’s great news for Capture One users who rely on the Nik Collection for effects and treatments that aren’t possible in Capture One.

Nik Collection now works with Photoshop in native M1 mode

There’s good news too for owners of new M1 Macs who are using Photoshop as host software for the Nik plug-ins. Previously, it seems, Photoshop had to be running in Rosetta Intel simulation mode for the Nik plug-ins to be available – I didn’t know this – but this has been fixed so that they can now be used by Photoshop running in native M1 mode on the latest M1 Macs.

Just to be clear, the Nik plug-ins themselves have not been made M1 native – they have simply been made compatible with Photoshop running in native M1 mode on the latest Macs.

Anyone who owns Nik Collection 4 can naturally get the 4.2 update free of charge and should be prompted to download the update automatically.

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