I assume you mean the other way around 
Apart from that, your methodology is very sound
Why would it be the other way around? I said I would go to 8 from 6. That’s the right order.
Oops! Must get those new glasses 
1 Like
To be clear, since all the answers are wishy-washy, there is no grace period with DXO on any of their software. Most users, including yours truly, learn this the hard way. That being said, I do believe DXO offers the better tool for what I do with my photography, so even though I hate their upgrade policy, I’m still quite happy with Photolab and NIK.
note
Make sure your version 6 (including installation, license, etc.) is running in any case. It’s the last version that includes “Perspective.”
1 Like
true, they removed “Perspective” in Nik 7.
This is not possible, because at BlackFriday there is 9 already and you have to pay the full BlackFriday price.
Oh, sorry, you meant Nik, I was thinking of PhotoLab.
Yea no one likes surprises and after years of Adobe, I’m done with surprises. DXO is a great product, just rigid on policy!
If PL9 comes out in September its normal cycle will you still be able to get PL8 on black friday in November ? As an upgrade?
No it will just be PL9, assuming of course DxO launch a new version this autumn.
So 4 months ago you looked at Nik7 and thought “that’s worth a hundred bucks (or whatever) of my money”. And now you think it’s not. What changed ?
Yeah, goodbye then. Good luck elsewhere.
But you don’t have to upgrade in which case it won’t cost you anything to keep using Nik 7. In fact unless you use Photoshop there’s not much point in upgrading since most of the new features only work there. I usually do every Nik upgrade but I’ll be missing this one for that reason. The same will apply to PL when they bring out a new version in the autumn(probably), you decide if the new features are worth the upgrade cost. That’s what a perpetual license means, you get to choose and if you don’t like it keep using the older version for no extra money.
3 Likes
Correct and will not be upgrading for the first time. Strategically, it may make sense to focus on improved compatibility with Photoshop. But for me as a Photolab user, this is more than uninteresting. Or to be quite honest, after watching the video, the Photoshop, Photoshop, Photos… thing really got on my nerves.
3 Likes
I have been using PL almost exclusively since v1, along with FP and VP and have had no need for any of the Nik tools. And, yes, I do own a copy and have tried them but found the more confusing, less intuitive and requiring me to have to keep on creating intermediate files.
@Joanna, I believe you left out the word ‘no’ before ‘need’.
Mark.
1 Like
the entire Nik upgrade from V1 to today’s V8 was quit bumpy, really the Nik Collection was completed with V6, as V1 to V5 was 64bit support then upgrade here and there from one plugin to another. then V7 had upgrade for going from 1 plugin to another straight but lost “Perspective”, and now V8 is Ps support upgrade.
Photolab can do a lot of what Nik can do, especially Viveza. And VP is PerspectiveEfex (which isn’t included now anyway) and FP can do some of what Analog Efex and SilverEfex can do. PL can’t do many of the creative type things that ColorEfex can and it certainly can’t handle HDR at all. You can do the sharpening but not as easily as the Nik output sharpener - it requires much more skill and knowledge in PL. I also like DFine for noise removal, it’s no match for DeepPrime for normal digital noise but because you can train it, it does a good job with noise/grain etc in scanned analog images(ie any kind of small random pattern or texture). But Niks value-add is definitely reducing and depends a lot on the type of images you make.
2 Likes
I doubt that it is a true perpetual license from a practical POV. Today my Nik 7 installation, that worked till yesterday, is blocked with a modal hexagonal dialog box which says “The activation process has failed for unknown server error”. I cannot do anything but write to customer care. So, if DXO goes out of business and shuts down servers or decides that it is OK to become evil (like happened to the previous home of Nik Collection, for those who remember its story) we are practically helpless. Interestingly, Nik 6 works. I am more and more inclined toward thinking that the “perpetual licenses” is just gimmick at this point. I will be very happy to be proved wrong because I am a long time user of Nik collection and I would be sad to drop it.
I came to the same conclusion.
- their product keep working, for as long as the old version you keep remain operational on the new macOS that are released and such issues or you do not get a new camera not supported by the old software.
- upgrades are optional, and you get two go for a discount. many people will skip one year and upgrade every other year, 1/2 the cost of the upgrades
- I like the philosophy of the software which is photo editing, bringing the best of the image. No AI that regenerate parts of the images. I don’t want that. However more powerful masking and cleanup tools would be welcome.
So remember you do not have to upgrade every time. If the upgrade offers nothing that is compelling to you, wait for another year. You will still get updates to your older version. Like this time around, my Nik7 got updated to 7.0.5 with latest camera and but fixes while Nik8 was released.