Camera ReviewRonMartBlog

Quick Look at Nik Color Efex 8 + Discount Offer

For more than 17 years, I’ve been a devoted fan of the Nik Collection, with Color Efex remaining my go‑to tool for editing the majority of my photos. It’s actually been since the Google-era Nik days—before the DxO acquisition—that I last did a full review. So now, I’m kicking off a deep dive into version 8.

This series will include both short and long reviews covering the different tools in the collection. To start, here’s an introduction and a quick look at how I use Color Efex, along with some of my favorite filters.

Nik Color Efex 8 with 7 filters applied

Table of Contents

1. Before & After
2. Video review
3. Filters Used and Why
4. Discount Offer
5. Closing thoughts

Before & After

Before | After Heavy processing for effect only using only Nik Color Efex 8.0 by DxO

Video Review 🎥

If the player doesn’t load here, watch on YouTube.

Filters Used and Why

• Tonal Contrast: Adds a bit more depth
• Brilliance/Warmth: Saturatates the image for more color pop
• Pro Contrast: Brightens face and details in shirt
• Color Stylizer: Adds a bronze tone to the image overall but selectively toned down on the face with a U-Point control
• Darken/Lighten Center: Darkens the entire image except the face to draw more attention to it
• Image Borders: Adds a old-schoool deckled-edge effect that simulates peel‑apart instant photos
• Reflector Efex: Simulates a silver reflector at the waist to demonstrate the usefulness of this filter

Discount Offer

Enter the code RONMART, enter your email address, then click the Validate button to apply the discount

If you did it right, this is what it should look like when your code is applied:

RONMART discount promo code successfully applied

For a video demonstration, CLICK HERE

Closing Thoughts

I’ll admit I went a bit overboard with this photo, but I wanted to show how powerful Color Efex can be when you start stacking its filters. You don’t need complex masking or AI replacements—simply combining and experimenting with filters can dramatically transform an image. And once you land on a look you love, you can save it as a Preset for quick reuse.

In future videos, I’ll take a deeper dive into individual filters and highlight some of the creative ways you can use U‑Point controls.

Leave a comment to tell me what your favorite filters are and what you'd like to see me discuss in more depth in a future article.