Nik Software Snapseed For Windows Software Review

Features
Performance
Verdict



Snapseed for Windows was released in March 2012 having previously been released for mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad, which we have also reviewed: Snapseed iOS App Review. It is a photo editing and sharing program with innovative filters and tools. It is available to download for €15.95 (approx £12.96 as of 2nd May 2012).

System requirements:

Macintosh

• Mac OS 10.6.8, 10.7.2, or later
• Requires 64-bit processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or later)
• 2Gb RAM or more
• 256Mb or more Video RAM
• For GPU acceleration (for systems without cards listed below, CPU will be used)
  NVIDIA - GeForce 8 Series, GeForce 9 Series, GeForce 100 Series, GeForce 200 Series, GeForce 300 Series, GeForce 400 Series, GeForce 500 Series
  ATI - Radeon HD2000 Series, Radeon HD3000 Series, Radeon HD4000 Series, Radeon HD5000 Series, Radeon HD6000 Series
  Intel - Intel HD Graphics 3000
• JPEG, TIFF (RGB) and RAW file formats (no size restrictions)
• Lightroom and Aperture compatibility as an external editor
• Languages supported: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese

Windows

• Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7 SP1 (or later)
• AMD or Intel processor (dual core or better recommended)
• 2Gb RAM (4Gb or more recommended)
• 256Mb of Video RAM
• For best performance, a GPU with support for OpenGL 3.0 is recommended, such as:
• NVIDIA - GeForce 8 Series, GeForce 9 Series, GeForce 100 Series, GeForce 200 Series, GeForce 300 Series, GeForce 400 Series, GeForce 500 Series
  ATI - Radeon HD2000 Series, Radeon HD3000 Series, Radeon HD4000 Series, Radeon HD5000 Series, Radeon HD6000 Series
  Intel - Intel HD Graphics 3000
• JPEG, TIFF (RGB) and RAW file formats (no size restrictions, RAW compatibility uses the Windows Imaging Component and requires appropriate codec installed)
• Lightroom compatibility as an external editor
• Languages supported: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese

Nik Software Snapseed For Windows Features

• JPG, TIFF and RAW support
• Tune image
• Automatic preset
• Use ambiance
• Adjust white balance, saturation, contrast and more
• Use Control Points
• Grunge filter
• Drama filter
• Vintage films
• Tilt-shift filter
• Crop, rotate and straighten
• Sharpen your photo
• Structure control
• Black and white filter
• Center focus
• Organic frames
• Share on Facebook, Flickr and more
• Print your photos on your local printer

Nik Software Snapseed For Windows Performance

Installation is quick and easy, when you first run it you can have a 15 day trial or enter your product key to activate the full program. On it's first run a pop-up came to tell me there was an update which could be downloaded from the Nik Software site.

When you run the program you need to open a photo, either by dragging and dropping or using File>Open. All of the editing options are down the left hand side, split into Basic Adjustments and Creative Adjustments, with a revert option placed underneath. There is also a compare button so you can see the original and compare it to your edited version at any point.

In the Tune Image option you select one of six defaults from: Automatic, Neutral, Dark, Bright, Balanced and Moody. These can further be manually edited with sliding scales to adjust the Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Shadows, Ambiance and Warmth. Rather than apply these manual customisations to the whole image you can add a control point, which means the adjustment can be made to particular areas of the image.

Also, under Basic Adjustment, you can adjust the ratio, straighten and rotate. You can also sharpen your image and add structure, there are examples below using the default settings, as well as on using the maximum amount of sharpening and structure possible.

Details - Sharp	Details - Sharper
Details - Structure	Details - Structure+
Details - Detailed	Details - Sharpen & Structure (Manual Setting)

The next section has the Creative adjustments, each of which have default presets and the ability to edit manually with sliding scales. There are examples below using the default options.

Black & White - Neutral	Black & White - Contrast
Black & White - Bright	Black & White - Dark
Black & White - Film	Black & White - Darken Sky

Center Focus - Blur	Center Focus - Vignette	Center Focus - Old Lens
Center Focus - Foggy	Center Focus - Dark	Center Focus - Bright

Drama - normal 1	Drama - dark 1	Drama - bright 1
Drama - normal 2	Drama - dark 2	Drama - bright 2

Frame 1		Frame 2		Frame 3		Frame 4		Frame 5
Frame 6		Frame 7		Frame 8		Frame 9		Frame 10

Grunge - Blyth	Grunge - Watershed	Grunge - Carkeek
Grunge - May Creek	Grunge - Schmitz	Grunge - Colman

Vintage - Miles	Vintage - Dizzy	Vintage - Charlie
Vintage - Ella	Vintage - Dexter	Vintage - Wes

Tilt-shift

When you have added on effect, you can then go on to add more. When you have your image as you desire it can be saved to your computer, printed, emailed or shared via Facebook and Flickr. It is great to see that when saving to your computer, EXIF data is retained.

Nik Software Snapseed For Windows Verdict

Snapseed for Windows is a very easy to use photo editing program which offers a wide range of unique effects, such as structure and drama, which particularly stood out, which are able to turn dull images into stunning ones. It would be even better if future versions offered batch editing. Snapseed for Windows is extremely well priced at just €15.95 (approx £12.96 as of 2nd May 2012).

Snapseed For Windows is a fantastic, easy to use photo editing program, available at a very low price.

Nik Software Snapseed For Windows Pros

Easy to use
Unique effects
Excellent value for money

Nik Software Snapseed For Windows Cons

Can only do one image at time
Can't saved edits to use on other images

FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

Snapseed For Windows is available for €15.95 (approx £12.96 as of 2nd May 2012).