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Snapseed makes it easier to add drama to your photos
Snapseed doesn't see quite the amount of updates that other Google-owned products do, but each one lately has been pretty significant. The name of the game for the latest is the addition of curves. Essentially, what this new feature does is allow manipulating things like contrast, brightness and color intensity in a given image. Oftentimes, it's one of the easiest and most dramatic ways you can edit a photo.
NIK Software creates bundle of Mac Plugins, drops price 70%
NIK has announced all 6 of its high-end photo editing tools for Mac and Windows are available as a US$150 bundle. The new bundle is a set of plugins that previously cost $750.00, and includes tools to help you create black-and-white photos, selective color adjustment, sharpening, and of course HDR and color enhancements. These plugins are designed for Photoshop, Aperture and Lightroom. NIK is offering a 15-day trial. Even better, current owners of any part of the latest versions of the NIK bundle can upgrade to the entire collection for free. Some registered users are getting emails about the free upgrade. NIK Software fans have been on an uncertain road since Google acquired the company last September. Google turned its Snapseed photo enhancer into a free app and halted development on the Mac and Windows versions. The future of the NIK professional tools, like HDR Efex Pro and Color Efex Pro has been in limbo, although Google had said the pro tools would stay around. It's nice to have gotten some clarity. NIK has been well-regarded for 17 years. I'm not sure if these applications will continue on a rapid development schedule, but I think this offer represents a real bargain. [via The Next Web]
Google makes Snapseed for iOS free
Google bought Nik Software and took them over on September 12th. Today, Snapseed, arguably one of the finest image editors for iOS, just went free, dropped from the US$4.99 previous price. Other changes include built in Google+ sharing, of course, and some new filters and updated photographic frames. Those frames can be colorized to match the colors in your image. I've always liked Snapseed, and at free it's a must grab. Sadly, the OS X version of Snapseed remains at $19.99, but it's worth it. Google also today released Snapseed for Android phones, where it is also free. No surprise there. Google = Android.
Vic Gundotra post hints Snapseed for Android may be close, bring Google+ integration
When Google bought Nik Software, there was some worry that Snapseed would go the proverbial dodo's route and fade into obscurity as part of a larger Google app. We won't see that ignominious end anytime soon if Senior Engineering VP Vic Gundotra's photography is as valid a clue as it looks. On an evening flight to Baltimore, Gundotra posted a view of the setting sun to Google+ using Snapseed -- a rather unique achievement given that the existing, iOS-only app doesn't know the social network exists. Knowing the executive's usual choice of smartphone, the public use could be the hint of the already planned Android port getting close to launch, even if there's no way to know exactly when and how the image editing app could arrive. Let's hope that Gundotra's post is more than just a fleeting glimpse of a product that gets shelved later on.
Google will not kill Snapseed or other Nik software
A lot of photographers and artists were worried about what would happen to some of their favorite products after Nik Software was purchased by Google earlier this month. Snapseed, HDR EFX Pro and Color EFX Pro, along with other Photoshop and Aperture plug-ins are extremely popular in the Mac universe. Google often buys a company for its technology, and then the company (or its product) quietly disappears. Not so with Nik, according to Google's Senior VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra. "Earlier this week I proudly welcomed Nik Software to Google. They've been making pictures more awesome for 17 years, and we're excited to bring Nik's expertise to the entire Google community. I also want to make something clear: we're going to continue offering and improving Nik's high-end tools and plug-ins. Professionals across the globe use Nik to create the perfect moment in their photographs, and we care deeply about their artistry." So if you use Nik products on your Mac or on iOS that's welcome news.
Vic Gundotra says Nik's 'high-end tools and plugins' will survive. Snapseed? Maybe not.
After Google effectively killed Sparrow's apps when it purchased the company (they're still available and supported, but don't expect much future development) there was some worry about the future of Nik Software. Well, Vic Gundotra took to Google+ to salve some of those fears. Earlier this week I proudly welcomed +Nik Software to Google. They've been making pictures more awesome for 17 years, and we're excited to bring Nik's expertise to the entire Google+ community! I also want to make something clear: we're going to continue offering and improving Nik's high-end tools and plug-ins. Professionals across the globe use Nik to create the perfect moment in their photographs (e.g., http://goo.gl/aDtkO), and we care deeply about their artistry. There is one bothersome caveat in that quote: "high-end." Gundotra may be promising a future for Capture NX and Efex Pro, but it's clear that the popular Snapseed doesn't fit that description. Now, he has not expressly announced the death of the Instagram competitor, but it seems to us that the writing is on the wall. The Android camera app may already have a set of friendly filters, but it lacks the simplified sharing and marketing buzz of Facebook's recent acquisition. Don't be surprised if the Snapseed team simply gets folded into Google+ or Android while its creation slowly withers and dies.
Google acquires iOS photo app Snapseed
Snapseed is a popular iOS photography app around here at TUAW -- not only have we spotlighted it a few different times, but the app also won a coveted Apple Design Award back in 2011. And now here's news that Google appreciates the app as well: The ad and search giant has acquired the developer of Snapseed, Nik Software, and reportedly plans to use the company and its technology to update its own photo editing and sharing tools. Nik also provides a number of excellent and popular plugins for other popular photo editing tools like Aperture, and for now, those plugins remain available for sale on the website. Presumably, that won't change, but we'll see what happens in the future. It sounds like Nik is still figuring things out post-acquisition, so any changes to Snapseed or those plugins are still yet to be determined. [via The Verge]
Google buys Snapseed developer Nik Software, raises the eyebrows of Instagram shutterbugs
Google makes a lot of acquisitions, some of them more important than others. Its latest purchase might skew towards the grander side, as it just bought imaging app developer Nik Software. While the company is known for pro photography apps like Capture NX and its Efex Pro series, the real prize might be Snapseed, Nik's simpler image tool for desktop and iOS users. Both Nik and Google's Senior Engineering VP Vic Gundotra are silent on the exact plans, but it doesn't take much to imagine a parallel between Facebook's buyout of Instagram and what Google is doing here: there's no direct, Google-run equivalent to Instagram's social photo service in Android or for Google+ users, and Nik's technology might bridge the gap. Whether or not Googlegram becomes a reality, the deal is likely to create waves among photographers of all kinds -- including those who've never bought a dedicated camera.
Daily iPad app: Snapseed
It's an app with a funny name, but a lot of power. Snapseed, from Nik Software, is a powerful photo editor for the iPad. You can enhance color and exposure of any photo with a single click, or just tweak your photo using a variety of powerful tools that can transform a mundane photo into something compelling. The app also lets you crop, straighten and rotate an image, or even take new photos from within the app. Perhaps the most powerful tool in Snapseed is the ability to selectively filter an image. This comes from Nik's innovative U Point technology, which was perfected on Photoshop plug-ins that are used by the pros. It's impressive to see that same function being brought into an iOS app. I tried Snapseed on a variety of photos. The tools have an interesting user interface designed specifically for a touch screen. Slide your finger up and down and to reveal a list of tools. After you select an effect, slide left or right to decrease or increase the effect. After a bit of use, the operation becomes a reflex. In addition to the tools mentioned, Snapseed lets you create frames for your images, and can produce a very striking black-and-white image or emulate some old color film styles. There is a useful sharpening tool that does't just devolve into noise as so many others do. There is also a tilt-shift function and a very useful compare button to show you before and after images before you commit to your changes. Completed images can be shared via email, Facebook, Flickr or Twitter. I've just scratched the surface of what you can do with Snapseed. At US$4.99 it is not the cheapest photo editor on offer, but I think it is clearly among the most powerful. Snapseed is universal, so when you buy it you'll get the iPhone version as well. The app requires iOS 4.2 or later and is a 26 MB download. Check the gallery for some samples I created as I used the app. Highly recommended by me, and now Apple, as Snapseed has been named iPad app of the year. %Gallery-141299%
