Even when a product looks as if it's about to die off, there's always the chance another company will come out of nowhere to save it. Such is the case with Google's excellent Nik Collection photo editing software (free to download here), which is being acquired by DxO.

Back in 2012, Google purchased German company Nik Software, primarily so it could get its hands on the popular Snapseed photo app. Much to the joy of photographers everywhere, the tech giant reduced the price of Nik's suite of seven plug-ins from $499 to $149.

In March last year, Google went one step further by making the Nik Collection completely free, offering a full refund to anyone who bought it earlier in 2016. While this was welcome news for fans of the software, it suggested that Google could soon end support. Last May, those concerns turned out to be justified; Google announced it had "no plans to update the Collection or add new features over time."

Just when it looked as if the Nik Collection was about to fade away, in steps DxO. The company is best known for its image quality benchmarks for phones and cameras over at dxomark.com, and it already makes its own range of photo editing software.

"The Nik Collection gives photographers tools to create photos they absolutely love," Google Engineering Director Aravind Krishnaswamy told TechCrunch. "We're thrilled to have DxO, a company dedicated to high-quality photography solutions, acquire and continue to develop it."

The Nik Collection is made up of Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro, and Dfine. The suite will remain free, but probably not for long. DxO plans to release a new version next year, and it's unlikely to be as generous as Google, so make sure you grab a copy now.