I flew through the lengthy filter list in Color Efex Pro 4-now 54 in all with numerous subsets-including eight brand-new filters and ten filters that have been revamped from the previous versions. (You can also create your own categories.) The software’s interface is also better organized with tabs that group filter effects under a variety of categories including Nature, Portrait, Wedding and others. Part of that has to do with the new GPU Processing and Multi-Core Optimization in the software, which is designed to take advantage of the latest processing engines to provide faster performance. The biggest improvement I noticed off the bat in Color Efex Pro 4 is how much faster it feels from the previous version. Nik recently released the long awaited follow-up to that program, Color Efex Pro 4, and while it’s more evolutionary than revolutionary, there are enough helpful tweaks to this digital filter and photo enhancement plug-in, to make me think it has another winner on its hands. While I’ve had a few quibbles here and there with some of Nik’s programs, I have generally been impressed with what the company has produced, beginning with Color Efex Pro 3 three years ago. From what I’ve heard Nik is even, gasp, hiring. Along with continuing to expand its lineup-just a few months ago I reviewed the company’s first iPad photo app, Snapseed-the company is literally expanding. With a portfolio of successful editing and enhancement software-including many programs reviewed positively in these pages-Nik hasn’t rested on its laurels. Nik Software is one of those imaging industry success stories you like to hear about these days.

Nik software 4