DxO’s Black Friday deals may have been and gone, but there’s a new Christmas deal where you can save 20% if you buy two products, so that’s any combination of DxO PhotoLab 9.2, Nik Collection 8.2, DxO PureRAW 5.5, FilmPack 8 or ViewPoint 5. You’ll also get between 3 and 12 months of priority support, depending on the size of your order.
PhotoLab
DxO PhotoLab is the modern replacement for the old DxO Optics Pro, adding in local adjustment tools when DxO bought the Nik Collection and its technologies from Google. PhotoLab is now a powerful all image browsing, raw processing, lens correction and editing tool, and is renowned for the image quality it can produce.
Read related articles below and this full DxO PhotoLab review
DxO PhotoLab 9 AI masking tools explained, with examples
DxO PhotoLab already had a formidable set of local adjustment tools, including some that rivals don’t have. PhotoLab’s clever control point masks and control lines, which effectively combine linear masks with selective masking, are unique to DxO. But other makers had already introduced AI masking with automatic region, subject and object detection, so it was about time PhotoLab caught up – and that’s exactly what DxO has done with the launch of PhotoLab 9.
DxO PhotoLab 9 review: a major update for DxO’s flagship photo editor
Verdict: 4.5 stars DxO PhotoLab 9 is a powerful photo editor which includes basic but effective image organizing tools too. It’s the latest update to DxO’s flagship photo editing software and adds AI masking, iPhone HEIF and ProRAW support and DeepPRIME processing for Fujifilm’s latest X-Trans sensors. It’s not cheap to buy and it’s not especially easy to learn but it certainly repays the effort. The quality of the lens corrections, the RAW processing, the DeepPRIME AI noise reduction combine to make this one of the best photo-editors on the market for RAW shooters.
Is simple folder browsing software like Adobe Bridge all you need for organizing your photos?
In this article I want to explain the difference between what I’ll call ‘image browsers’ and ‘image cataloguers’. Image cataloguing tools like Adobe Lightroom import your photos into a database and offer very sophisticated, very adaptable organizing and search options. But they bring their own limitations and complications. What’s the alternative?
3 reasons why I edited this in DxO PhotoLab and not Lightroom
I know Lightroom very, very well. I’ve been writing about it for years. A large part of this site’s content is devoted to Adobe Lightroom tips and tutorials. That means, though, that I also know its weaknesses, and there are plenty. So I thought I’d run through the editing steps I used on this photo and why I did them in DxO PhotoLab and not Lightroom.
Folders vs albums: what’s the best way to organise your photos?
Remember that while your folder filing systems will be the same for whatever software you use, albums and collections exist only within that specific application. You get more organisational capabilities but only by committing to a single software solution.
DxO PhotoLab 8 Elite review
Verdict: 4.5 stars PhotoLab 8 is the latest update to DxO’s flagship photo organizing, image enhancement and editing software. The changes in this version are incremental but still very useful. If you’re upgrading from a previous version you might want to look closely at what’s new before you take the plunge. But if you’re new to PhotoLab then here’s the low-down. If you want to get the best possible quality from your RAW files and you’re prepared to put in a little time and effort, PhotoLab 8 is quite simply in a class of its own.
The new HSL local adjustments in DxO PhotoLab 7 explained
One of the new features in DxO PhotoLab 7 is the addition of HSL adjustments to the local adjustment tools. Now, when you create a mask with a control point, control line or other local adjustment tool, you can change the hue, saturation and lightness of specific colors within that masked area.
The new LUT Grading panel in DxO PhotoLab 7: what it does, how it works
A LUT is a very interesting thing. LUT is an acronym for LookUp Table, a conversion profile that, basically, takes a pixel value in the original image and looks up an alternative value in the LUT file. LUTs are used widely in cinematography to recreate a specific and consistent ‘look’, but they’re also appearing more and more in still photography.
The new DxO PhotoLab channel mixer for black and white
I’ve been trying out the new PhotoLab channel mixer and black and white mode in DxO PhotoLab 7 and I have to say I’m somewhat underwhelmed. First, it’s a feature that really it should have had before. Second, it’s not very strong in its effect.