This limits the effects that are possible but it’s very space-efficient because it doesn’t create any new image files until you need them. Most non-destructive editing software uses processing ‘instructions’ to change the appearance of an image but not its actual pixels – not until it’s exported as a processed JPEG or TIFF file. How DxO Nik Collection 3 non-destructive editing works Anyone who has used the Nik Collection already will know that this was never possible before and represents something of a workflow breakthrough for the Nik Collection. And if I decide it’s the wrong frame, I can change that later too. For example, I’ve decided this landscape shot would work better with a frame, so I’ve added one. All the adjustments I made the first time around are still ‘live’ and I can change, remove or add to them at will. So here’s my image re-opened in Color Efex Pro.
So I can simpy drag my new TIFF file on to the Color Efex Pro application icon. I can open it from any application, or even open it directly in Color Efex Pro (the Nik plug ins also work as standalone applications). I don’t have to re-open that image from Lightroom. The key thing about the Nik Collection 3 non-destructive edits is that they are stored in the TIFF files, not in the host application.