NIK v Lightroom

Hi,

I recently had my hard drive crash losing all my software ( and pics ) on there. I have re-loaded PSE 11 and went to buy LR5 ( I previously had LR3 ) but am considering the NIK package instead. Anybody have any experience of the NIK package v Lightroom.
Should I be looking at both or can I get away with PSE 11 and NIK ? ? ?

EDIT
When I say 'get away with' I mean do I need both. How usable is NIK, would I 'need' both if I had NIK as the video's look great of what can be achieved ? ? ?

Thanks.

Nik is used as a supplement to Lightroom. You can do many of the things Nik offers in Lightroom but Nik saves you time. Lots of it. I personally use Nik on almost every photo I edit because it's so easy to use once you learn how to use control points. I love Color Efex Pro and HDR efex Pro. Silver Efex Pro is supposed to be amazing but I have not used it much yet. I was convinced to purchase the package after using the 14 day trial to edit some photos I took at the Grand Canyon and Sedona AZ.

Thanks for replying.
Would you say NIK has made LR redundant ? ? ? Did you ever use it much ? ? ? I used it exclusively only using PSE for layers and blending.

I don't have/use the NIK software, but to me there are important reasons to have both. For example, if you shoot Raw, Lightroom has outstanding tools for processing your Raw files. I don't know what NIK has for Raw processing/converting, but those who use NIK as a plug-in for Lightroom will use LR for what it can do. When you open an image in NIK LR renders and converts it to a format that is compatible with NIK (such as tiff or psd). Lightroom will keep (and preserve) the original Raw file, and it will also include the "finished" (by NIK) tiff/psd in the LR library. This way, you can use LR to maybe put "finishing touches" on this image, and you can also Export it to print or for other uses.

Of course, other considerations involve the Lightroom organizational tools.

Thanks Tony.
I loved the noise reduction in LR3, also the way it saved the origonal RAW's too. you've reminded me of some of the features I really liked about Lightroom. I am just trying to keep things simple.

I have NIK and PS CS5.
NIK can also be configured fo LR and operates as filters do.
NIK is bug prone and crashes often with PS stop working errors
{HashStack errors} but it still allows nice add on effects.
It may have less crashes w LR and non 64 bit machines.

EL_PIC wrote in post #16773730
I have NIK and PS CS5.
NIK can also be configured fo LR and operates as filters do.
NIK is bug prone and crashes often with PS stop working errors
{HashStack errors} but it still allows nice add on effects.
It may have less crashes w LR and non 64 bit machines.

Ian (the OP) mentioned having LR5, which will only work on a 64-bit machine...

Any NIK user should be aware of a Windows fix at ..
http://www.flyaga.info …p-configuration-appcrash/

Are you talking about Nex? I think that is what is called. Caught a glance last night while searching. All I see are the specialty plugins at their site so I'm wondering how you can use an NIK product as a developer.

digital paradise wrote in post #16775322
Are you talking about Nex? I think that is what is called. Caught a glance last night while searching. All I see are the specialty plugins at their site so I'm wondering how you can use an NIK product as a developer.

Isn't NEX a 3d modeling plugin for Photoshop or some other graphics suite?

What we're discussing is Nik software (now owned by Google.) http://www.google.com/​nikcollection/

(I think many of the Nik plugins say Efex... maybe that's what you saw?)

From my experience all the products in the suite HDR Efex, Color Efex, etc can be launched stand alone... they don't need to be used as a plugin in conjunction with LR or Photoshop. I went into C:\Program Files on my hard drive, and created shortcuts for the .exe files on my desktop to use them standalone when desired.

It must have have been something else. I just misread a part here. I thought someone used NIK exclusively and I was wondering how that was possible. Where were would you open the RAW file? I re-read and the posters are using a converter of some type as the base.

davidcrebelxt wrote in post #16775638
Isn't NEX a 3d modeling plugin for Photoshop or some other graphics suite?

What we're discussing is Nik software (now owned by Google.) http://www.google.com/​nikcollection/

(I think many of the Nik plugins say Efex... maybe that's what you saw?)

From my experience all the products in the suite HDR Efex, Color Efex, etc can be launched stand alone... they don't need to be used as a plugin in conjunction with LR or Photoshop. I went into C:\Program Files on my hard drive, and created shortcuts for the .exe files on my desktop to use them standalone when desired.

When you say "stand alone", are you saying that you can do that with Raw files, or do you need image files (jpeg, tiff or psds)?

tonylong wrote in post #16775744
When you say "stand alone", are you saying that you can do that with Raw files, or do you need image files (jpeg, tiff or psds)?

No, good point of clarification.

It will not work with RAW files. I just mean its not solely a "plugin" of another program (like PS) that is required to run it; it runs fully functional by itself.

tonylong wrote in post #16775744
When you say "stand alone", are you saying that you can do that with Raw files, or do you need image files (jpeg, tiff or psds)?

davidcrebelxt wrote in post #16775803
No, good point of clarification.

It will not work with RAW files. I just mean its not solely a "plugin" of another program (like PS) that is required to run it; it runs fully functional by itself.

OK, good for the OP (and others) to know!

The OP has been using an earlier version of Lightroom, but still one that has a lot of tools for Raw processing (I used LR3 for quite a while). So, the OP should realize that NIK won't take the place of LR, but will add to it. And, since the OP has been using Elements with LR, adding the NIK software as a plug-in will, well, add still more!

Thanks all for your help. That's what I needed to know, can NIK displace LR. I guess not, I will look into getting both then. Tony I think you're right, it will act as a great addition to LR.