Software : Download guide: Download Google Nik Collection free and refine your photos with premium filters

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• Download guide: Download Google Nik Collection free and refine your photos with premium filters
• Android Pay now speeds up web shopping with Chrome
• Hate using Chrome on a MacBook? Google's latest update might change your mind

Download guide: Download Google Nik Collection free and refine your photos with premium filters Posted: Google Nik Collection Enhance photos with Google Nik Collection Google Nik Collection was originally priced at US$500 (about £380, AU$650), but its suite of seven powerful tools is now available to download and use completely free. The seven filters can be used as Photoshop plugins, but each one also works as a standalone image editor. The filters won't appear in your Program list after you've run the installer, and you won't find any desktop shortcuts. Instead, you need to track them down using Windows Explorer. Provided you've used the default location during setup, you'll find them in C:\\Program Files\Google\Nik Collection. Before you begin editing your photos using Google Nik Collection, back them up somewhere on your hard drive. The filters don't have the usual menus you'd expect in Windows programs, and once you click the 'Save' button the original file will be overwritten. Once it's finished saving, the program will close itself – don't worry, it hasn't crashed. Analog Efex Pro Like all apps in Google Nik Collection, Analog Efex Pro lets you open several photos at once for batch processing. It includes a list of preset retro camera effects, which look superb by themselves and can be adjusted using a set of sliders on the right. You have an impressive degree of control, with siders for brightness, color, saturation, dirt and scratches, lens vignette and film type. If you're particularly pleased with your own creation, you can use the 'Custom' button the left to save it as a preset. Color Efex Pro As its name implies, Color Efex Pro is packed with options for manipulating the colors in your photos. There are dozens of presets, all sorted into categories for different subjects (including landscapes, architecture and portraits). As with Analog Efex Pro, each of these presets can be edited using a set of sliders. Best of all, you can combine multiple filters to create a 'recipe', then save it for future use - a feature you'll find in several Google Nik Collection tools. Dfine Some of the programs in Google Nik Collection - including noise reduction tool Dfine - don't have a File menu. Instead, you need to use File Explorer to drag your chosen photos over its EXE file. Dfine is ideal for grainy photos taken in low light conditions. The three views at the top let you choose between a single image view, a split image showing the filtered version on one side and unfiltered on the other, and a side-by-side preview showing the full filtered and unfiltered images beside one another. Dfine will apply a noise reduction filter automatically, which you can then adjust using the contrast and color noise sliders on the right. HDR Efex Pro HDR Efex Pro has two uses – it can combine three photos taken using different exposure settings to create a true HDR photo, or it can fine-tune the highlights, midtones and shadows in a single picture to simulate the same effect. Just like Color Efex, it provides a set of presets categorized by subject so you can choose the best option to enhance your snaps. The 'Surreal' options are very striking (particularly for photos of people), so experiment and see what you like best. Sharpener Pro This is another Google Nik Collection filter without a File menu, so drag and drop your images over the EXE file to begin editing them. It's a highly customizable sharpening tool that offers three options: output sharpening (optimized for print and screens), creative sharpening (for experimental effects) and selective sharpening (for sharpening certain areas). The loupe window at the bottom right provides a zoomed-in preview as you pan across the main image, giving you a closer look at the effects of your handiwork. Silver Efex Pro Creating great monochrome photos is an artform, requiring careful manipulation of contrast and brightness to bring out the best in your subject. Silver Efex Pro not only lets you tweak these settings, it can also simulate the look of various branded films, apply grain, and replicate the effect of manual dodging and burning. With so many options to choose from, this part of Google Nik Collection is a full digital darkroom for greyscale processing. Viveza The final tool in Google Nik Collection is Viveza, which lets you control color and exposure settings in your whole photo or just selected areas. Drop a photo onto its EXE file, then click 'Add a control point' to select a certain color. Move the brightness, contrast, saturation and structure sliders and you'll see areas of that hue change independently of the rest of the image. The effects can be subtle or incredibly striking - it's entirely up to you. It's amazing that these seven powerful image editors are yours to use completely free - no strings attached. Download them today, start experimenting and bring your photo collection to life.

Android Pay now speeds up web shopping with Chrome Posted: Wallets at the ready - Android Pay is now available on the web through Google's Chrome browser. So long as you're shopping within Google's browser, and the retailer in question is supporting the search giant's payment system, you'll be able to use Android Pay to check out quickly and securely, taking advantage of its encryption systems and hidden account details. Android Pay will also now feed into Uber's Payment Rewards program, meaning you'll receive ride discounts if you use the Google service to pay for Uber journeys. In fact, if you're a US user, you'll get 50% off the next ten Uber rides that you use Android Pay to pay for. More banks That's not to say the UK goes completely without some Android Pay lovin' though. While US Android Pay users with Chase bank accounts can now also use Android Pay, those in the UK with Santander or TSB cards will be able to sign up for Android Pay "in the coming weeks" too. Though Apple's Apple Pay service is now available pretty much anywhere that contactless payments are accepted in the US and UK, Android Pay's rollout has been a little slower. Still, it's good to see new banks and features rolling out, and web support will expand its reach considerably. How to use Android Pay

Hate using Chrome on a MacBook? Google's latest update might change your mind Posted: If you've given up using Chrome on your MacBook because you were fed up with the amount of battery power the browser seemed to chew through, then we've got some good news – Google has tweaked the software to be kinder to your beleaguered battery. With version 53 of the Chrome browser, Google has improved battery longevity across the board, so Windows notebooks will benefit from its better power efficiency – but because the MacBook has been such a problem area in the past, the company highlighted the boosts made for Apple laptops. In a blog post, Google said that Chrome for Mac now uses 33% less power no matter what you're doing, from more intensive tasks like watching video on YouTube, through to simple web browsing and scrolling down a page. That's an impressive boost for MacBooks indeed. Polished performance Google also showed an old version of Chrome (v46, from last year) against this latest incarnation running on a Surface Book and playing a Vimeo clip – the old version lasted for 8 hours and 27 minutes, compared to 10 hours and 39 minutes for Chrome 53. Again, that's a considerable increase of 2 hours and 12 minutes. Google also said that Chrome 53 ups the ante on the performance front and is now 15% faster on desktop and Android alike. But the battery gains will certainly be more noticeable, and should make a very appreciable impact on the lastability of a MacBook when web surfing on the move. And if we do get a new MacBook Air or refreshed MacBook Pro at Apple's press event which is due to kick off shortly, just maybe we might see a beefier battery on board, and increased longevity with the new model(s). Here's hoping, but with much of the buzz on the grapevine having been about slim new machines, that might be at odds with any sort of major increase on the battery front. Unless Apple engineers have got some real magic up their sleeves – at any rate, we don't have long to wait to find out. Via: Digital Trends Also check out: Best Mac to buy in 2016: Apple's top iMacs, MacBooks and more

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