DxO Nik Collection 9 review: "This suite’s best plug-ins are enough to make it worth buying – even on their own!"

DxO's Nik Collection 9 is a photo-editing suite that has remained at the forefront of creative photographic techniques. Its plug-ins, including Analog Efex, Color Efex and Silver Efex, are particularly noteworthy, offering powerful tools and controls. These plug-ins can also be used as standalone applications, making them compatible with various photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Capture One.

The system requirements for Nik Collection 9 include a Windows or macOS operating system, Intel or AMD processors, and a certain amount of RAM and graphics memory. The software offers a common interface across its plug-ins, with presets and filters on the left and detailed adjustments on the right. The 'core' plug-ins share this layout, making it easy to swap between them.

DxO has introduced AI masking tools in this version, but has wisely limited them to object and area selections. This keeps the masking options straightforward and easy to grasp. HDR Efex, while not receiving major updates, still performs well. Viveza, on the other hand, is somewhat of an oddity, offering detailed global and local color adjustments but not standing out enough to justify its separate inclusion.

However, Dfine, a noise reduction tool, is considered disappointing. Despite its advanced features, it primarily works on already-processed images and cannot reconstruct lost detail, indicating a retro approach in today's AI-driven era. Overall, while not the cheapest option, the creative tools and controls in Nik Collection 9 are so good that they could justify the purchase on their own.