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DxO Releases Nik Collection 9 with AI-Enhanced Tools
21 April 2026
DxO has released Nik Collection 9, which is calls "the most ambitious update in the suite's history." The new release features AI-enhanced masking tools with a new approach to color grading and a range of new filters.
"For more than 30 years, Nik Collection has been a favorite tool for photographers because it puts so much creativity instantly at your fingertips," said Boris Oliviero, DxO product director. "What might require 10 layers in Photoshop can be achieved in just a few clicks in Nik Collection. With version 9, we're expanding those possibilities even further, introducing powerful new tools and effects while continuing to refine the speed and intuitive workflow that photographers and designers rely on."
DxO's Cyril Duchêne, product marketing manager, and Nicolas Beaumont, product evangelist, briefed us on the new features late last week and we spent a little time earlier this week kicking the tires.
NEW FEATURES
Among the new features are:
AI-Enhanced Tools
The AI-enhanced tools available through the suite where selections can be made include:
- Depth Masks which analyze the image itself without resorting to Lidar data to distinguish the foreground, middle ground and background from each other. A slide lets you refine those areas and feather them as well. Local adjustments are applied to the masked area.
- AI Masks can target specific objects in the image by clicking on them to mask them.
Color Grading
A new tool in the suite, Color Grading presents a single color wheel on which are independent controls for highlights, midtones and shadows. The controls can be manipulated independently or synchronized to rotate together.
Hue, Saturation, and Luminance sliders, along with opacity and tonal balance controls are also available. And you can combine the tool with Blending modes.
You can save the effect as a mini-present as well.
New Creative Filters
Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex gain not just the Color Grading tool but also three new filters: Halation, Chromatic Shift and Glass Effect.
- Halation creates a highlight glow that bleeds softly into surrounding shadow areas. You can adjust the tint, brightness, radius, intensity saturation and opacity.
- Chromatic Shift can shift individual color layers in pairs of red/cyan, magenta/green or yellow/blue out of registration. Options include angle, offset and scale.
- Glass Effect shatters an image into pieces whose dimensions you can control with scale, distortion and smoothness options.
- Blending Modes in Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex control how tools and filters interact with an image with 18 modes including Darken, Multiply, Difference and Color.
Workflow Upgrades
Among the workflow changes in the new release are:
- Mask Overlays provide a clear view of local adjustments without obscuring the image
- Preset Hover Preview offers instant, real-time previews when browsing presets, eliminating the need for constant clicking
- A new Local Adjustments Palette consolidates all of the new tools and provides easier navigation
- Local Adjustments can now be copied and pasted between images using a simple keyboard shortcut.
TEST DRIVE
The first thing we wanted to try was the new Depth Mask in Color Efex. The latest version of Adobe Camera Raw also provides a Depth Mask. So we tried it on the image looking south from Sutro Heights we're used for all these tests.
Camera Raw did identify three different ranges in the image and we were able to deselect the sky from the coastline and ocean. But we couldn't refine the selection with the Range option much further. We've explored Camera Raw's Depth Mask in detail in Mountains of Clouds.
Color Efex, using its slider, distinguished the trees in the foreground from the beach and ocean in the middle ground and the coastline and sky in the background. We tried a local adjustment just to see how well the feathering worked and were impressed.
In the above rollover, you can see the distinct areas masked by the Depth Mask using the slide on the right. Note that, as the view option at the top shows (see the enlarged view below), we are looking at a bifurcated view of the image (Before/After) so the mask is shown only on the right side of the preview, although it encompasses the entire image.
Click the thumbnail below for an enlarged view of the interface:
Neither Photoshop nor the Nik Collection handled non-contiguous areas well. The roadway, for example, which is broken up by the trees, stumped them both. Photoshop still gave us a good starting point while we were able to go a bit further with Color Efex.
AI Masking was next on our list. We wanted to see how Anal Efex would create a mask bound by an object, like the ocean, avoiding adjacent areas like the beach or the coast.
AI Masking. Select an object to create a mask.
On non-contiguous areas like the roadway, it wasn't very smart, omitting sections. But otherwise it did very well, as you can see. Which should not be a surprise, given that it first appeared in PhotoLab 9 last year.
Next we tried the new filters. The images are 100 percent crops so you can see the full effect.
First was Halation. We used the same image of Ocean Beach and were amused to see the white caps halated. But that gives you an idea of what the filter focuses on. Highlights.
Halation. Breaking waves only.
Then we tried the Chromatic Shift filter in Analog Efex using the same image for reference. It may remind you of a 3-D image. In fact, we tried looking at it with 3-D glasses (and our persistent double vision problem, which makes this kind of viewing difficult). And we did notice a slight 3-D effect with the default settings.
Chromatic Shift. A 3-D effect with the right glasses.
Then we thought we'd take a look at Glass Effect in Analog Efex. There are several patterns available so we picked one that looked like bottle bottoms, which gave us the most pronounced affect.
Glass Effect. As seen through bottle bottoms.
But, in general, we can't imagine using any of these filters on a regular basis. They fall into the neat tricks category. Cute but not useful.
Still, we love the masking and on that alone, Nik Collection 9 merits all four corners.
PRICE & AVAILABILITY
Nik Collection 9 is available today from the DxO Web site for macOS and Windows computers for:
- New license: $179.99, €169.99, £149.99
- Upgrade from Nik Collection 7 or 8: $99.99 €89.99, £79.99
A 30-day free trial is also available.
Nik Collection 9 Unveils Its Biggest Ever Update
Powerful AI-enhanced tools, a unique approach to color grading and bold new creative filters
The legendary image editing software suite also introduces halation, glass textures and chromatic shifts, as well as a host of workflow improvements that open up new artistic possibilities.
PARIS -- Nik Collection 9 delivers the most ambitious update in the suite's history, combining powerful new AI-enhanced masking tools with a fresh approach to color grading and a range of bold new filters. Depth Masks and AI Masks make precise local adjustments faster and more intuitive, while the new Color Grading tool introduces a streamlined way to shape color across shadows, midtones and highlights. Alongside these major additions, new effects including Halation, Chromatic Shift and Glass Effect expand the suite's expressive range, supported by workflow improvements designed to make editing smoother and more flexible than ever.
"For more than 30 years, Nik Collection has been a favorite tool for photographers because it puts so much creativity instantly at your fingertips," said Boris Oliviero, Product Director at DxO. "What might require ten layers in Photoshop can be achieved in just a few clicks in Nik Collection. With version 9, we're expanding those possibilities even further, introducing powerful new tools and effects while continuing to refine the speed and intuitive workflow that photographers and designers rely on."
AI-enhanced tools: Powerful local adjustments, reinvented
Nik Collection 9 introduces a new generation of AI-enhanced tools designed to make complex selections faster and more intuitive, while keeping photographers firmly in control of their edits.
Depth Masks
Depth Masks analyze the image and generate a detailed depth map, allowing creators to target adjustments based on distance from the camera, without requiring embedded depth data. After applying a filter or tool, users can create a Depth Mask to precisely control where the effect appears within the scene.
A set of intuitive sliders with adjustable feathering handles makes it easy to refine the exact depth range, from foreground to background. The result is natural, highly controllable transitions that would otherwise require time-consuming manual masking.
AI Masks
AI Masks offer pixel-precise subject selection in just seconds. Once a tool or filter has been applied, photographers can create an AI Mask to target specific elements within the frame. Subjects can be selected simply by clicking on them or by drawing a bounding box to define the area of interest.
Fast and accurate, AI Masks streamline complex selections while preserving the flexibility and precision that advanced workflows demand.
Available throughout the entire Nik Collection suite
These AI-enhanced tools sit alongside an extensive range of existing selection options, such as Nik Collection's renowned U Point technology.
Powerful and intuitive color grading
A long-awaited addition, the new Color Grading tool in Nik Color Efex delivers exceptional control in an intuitive, streamlined interface. Instead of juggling multiple color wheels, photographers work with a single wheel that provides independent control over shadows, midtones, highlights and global color. These tonal ranges can be adjusted individually or, in a feature that's unique to Nik Collection, selected colors can be locked together for synchronized changes. This means that users can choose colors for the Shadows, Midtones and Highlights and rotate all three together, maintaining the relative relationship between each point.
Fine-tuning is handled via dedicated Hue, Saturation and Luminance sliders, alongside opacity and tonal balance controls. Unique to Nik Color Efex, the entire tool can also be combined with Blending Modes for creative results not possible elsewhere. Looks can be saved as reusable mini-presets and local adjustments -- powered by U Point technology or the new AI Masks -- allow precise placement of color grades within an image.
New creative filters
Version 9 represents the most significant evolution yet for Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex. Alongside the powerful new Color Grading tool, three additional innovations -- Halation, Chromatic Shift and Glass Effect -- bring bold new creative possibilities to both color and analog-inspired workflows.
Halation
The new Halation tool in Nik Color Efex faithfully recreates the glow seen in older analog film stocks, where bright highlights bleed softly into surrounding darker areas, often with a subtle reddish halo. This organic, cinematic effect is fully controllable, with adjustments for brightness, radius, intensity, hue, saturation and overall opacity. As with all tools in Nik Color Efex, Halation can also be applied locally for precise creative control.
Chromatic Shift
Inspired by traditional offset printing, the Chromatic Shift tool in Nik Analog Efex recreates subtle ink misalignment for an authentic analog feel. Individual color layers are shifted to produce characteristic imperfections, with a choice of three palettes -- red/cyan, magenta/green or yellow/blue. Users can control the angle, offset strength and scale to achieve anything from delicate textures to bold graphic effects.
Glass Effect
Building on the Paper Textures introduced in version 8, the Glass Effect tool in Nik Analog Efex adds an extensive collection of glass-based distortion effects. A range of glass types can be selected, with controls for scale, distortion and smoothness enabling highly customized results.
Blending Modes
Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex now introduce Blending Modes, giving photographers new ways to control how tools and filters interact with an image. Similar to the approach familiar from Photoshop, Blending Modes change the mathematical relationship between the effect being applied and the image being edited, producing dramatically different visual results.
Photographers can choose from 18 modes, including Darken, Multiply, Difference and Color. Each mode blends brightness and color in a distinct way, enabling everything from subtle tonal integration to bold stylistic transformations.
This new feature dramatically expands the creative potential of existing filters. For example, Nik Analog Efex already includes 30 Paper Textures, which can now be combined with these modes to produce up to 540 unique variations, opening the door to deeper experimentation and more expressive results.
Workflow upgrades
A range of thoughtful refinements further improves everyday usability.
- Mask Overlays provide a clear view of local adjustments without obscuring the image
- Preset Hover Preview offers instant, real-time previews when browsing presets, eliminating the need for constant clicking
- A new local adjustments palette consolidates all of the new tools and provides easier navigation
- Local adjustments can now be copied and pasted between images using a simple keyboard shortcut.
Together, these enhancements reflect an ongoing commitment to a faster, smoother and more enjoyable editing experience.
Price and availability
Nik Collection 9 is available today from the DxO Web site for macOS and Windows computers:
- New license: $179.99 / €169.99 / £149.99
- Upgrade from Nik Collection 7 or 8: $99.99 / €89.99 / £79.99
A 30-day free trial is also available.
