DXO PhotoLab 9

I have recently purchased DXO PhotoLab 9, a RAW photo editing software package, and here I'll give an outline of why I changed over to this software and what my first impressions are after the first couple of weeks using it.

DXO PhotoLab v9

So how did I get here? Well, like many, I had used Lightroom but when they moved over to subscription only I jumped ship, opting for a one-time license to save money. At that time I chose to go with Capture One Pro (COP), with a general aim to buy an upgrade maybe every other major release. Capture One worked well and I was happy with it but they then also changed their payment model, pushing subscriptions and making the one-off license a very limited and expensive alternative. So I have been treading water for a couple of years, just ticking over with my old version, but this of course means no support for newer camera models and no new functionality. COP supports the (very expensive) Phase One cameras and is also very good at tethering for those mainly doing studio shoots, neither of these things are requirements for me so when DXO announced version 9 of PhotoLab this felt like a good time to evaluate making a switch.

PhotoLab comes in two main flavours, Elite and Essential, the former has support for Fuji Xtrans sensors while the latter is a very cut down version with lots of the functionality unavailable. DXO also sell PureRaw for those that just want the initial raw processing to then feed into a multi-product workflow. PhotoLab Elite was the option I chose, wanting the full range of functionality with full xtrans sensor support and the new DeepPRIME XD3 X-Trans denoising and demosaicing.

DXO sell PhotoLab alongside 3 add-on products, these being ViewPoint (for complex perspective transformations), FilmPack (for film simulations) and NIK Collection (an assortment of editing plugins, notably including NIK SilverEfex for black & white work).

NIK Plugin launch

I already had NIK Collection, primarily for the wonderful NIK SilverEfex, a sophisticated black & white editing tool. However NIK also contains NIK Perspective (like ViewPoint) and a number of tools for adjusting colour such as ColorEfex and AnalogEfex. For this reason I opted not to buy any of the other DXO products (for the time being - can always revisit). NIK Collection works like a set of plugins for PhotoLab (being detected and appearing automatically).

The initial download of PhotoLab was not too big but the install then proceeded to download lots of extra 'modules', be aware that with a slow internet connection this can take some time. Once installed it is quick to get started, there's no library as such, PL indexes directories as you work on them and this seems to be very efficient. PL benefits from a high spec computer, using plenty of memory (up to about 7Gb from what I've seen so far) and makes uses of hardware acceleration (GPUs with at least 6Gb of VRAM are recommended). PL appears to work fine with 50 series Nvidia GPUs (unlike Affinity Photo which needed the old 32 bit driver support). PL doesn't immediately show ICC colour profiles, these need an 'import' before they can be used for soft-proofing.

Detail dialogue

There are some surprising omissions in the functionality (in my opinion). In PhotoLibrary there is no support for video, not even so much as a thumbnail to be seen. As is typical of most modern cameras, I can and do shoot video alongside stills, with the same equipment and typically place these in the same directory.

There is no option for an IPTC metedata preset, an essential for most professional workflows. However there is an easy workaround, you can have a 'dummy' image file that holds your IPTC data and this can then be copied to your target images.

There is no Flip Horizontal option, unless you purchase the additional ViewPoint software (which would be over kill to just get such a basic function). This may not be an important function for some users but it will be essential for many alt-process photographers that need to print digital negatives (on what effectively becomes the reverse side of the negative). The good news is that almost every other photo editor has this option (including NIK Perspective and the ever impressive IrfanView etc), the bad news is it compromises the workflow by requiring an export (typically this would be in tiff format). This is not to be confused with the option to make a 'reversal' image, this can be done easily with a custom curve and curve presets can be created easily. I will need to think about how all this comes together as I develop a PL based workflow for cyanotypes.

There are no special jpg compression options beyond the usual, so when, for example, making a file for internet use you would need to use third party tools. Obvious tools would include something like JPEGmini but it does not have any direct plugin capability with PL so would need to be run standalone, and there are various online options (such as tinyjpg.com).

Conclusions

For the most part PhotoLab has been easy to get started with. The DXO technologies such as ClearView, Smart Lighting and deepPRIME work very well and it can produce impressive results.
The various add-on products feel a bit of a muddle, a mix of gaps in functionality but also potential overlaps while it would be expensive to purchase everything, especially if then trying to keep up with all the updates.
I will need to give some areas of my workflow, for example for cyanotypes, additional thought but otherwise PL should work well for me.
DXO follow their usual approach to updates with PL, so minor updates available as you go and then an upgrade fee for a new major release. But if you don't keep up with the upgrades (within a couple of major release) then DXO may only offer you a full license purchase. This means I can drop back to my approach of buying every alternate major release (unless I need some specific functionality mid term).
Affinity Photo will remain my tool for when I need to put text or other images layered together and it also has special options such as astrophotography, panorama stitching and focus stacking.

Pros

• Perpetual license (for those that prefer not to be on a subscription).
• Very good raw conversion, deepPRIME very good at denoising and demosaicing.
• Full support for Fuji xtrans sensors (needs Elite version).
• Curve tool with option to create presets.
• Good masking, includes control points (same U-Point tech from NIK), and now has AI masking options.
• A soft-proofing process that for me is preferable to COP.
• Supports GPU acceleration with Nvidia 50 series cards (unlike e.g. Affinity Photo).

Cons

• No video support, not even thumbnails.
• No IPTC meta data presets (but there is a workaround).
• No flip horizontal option (without buying ViewPoint or exporting to another tool).
• No integrated jpg compression tools.
• No panorama stitching.
• No focus stacking.
• Export has no border options (though it is an option with NIK SilverEfex).