Confirmation of "undo"

I am new to PL2 and have scoured the forum to avoid a repeat question, so forgive me if this is.
After applying a number of edits, is there no way to selectively “undo” one or several edits, other than CTRL+Z for the last one?
I hope I am wrong. I even downloaded the trial version, thought I would have seen this.
Thanks for the assistance.

NO. Only Ctrl+ Z but very deep and specific ti each photo.

Another method would be to create virtual copies along the way.

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Welcome to the forum. Sadly, as Pieloe indicated, the feature you are looking for is not in Photolab. The subject has come up before, but I’m not sure if that feature is in the current backlog for future implementation.

Mark

Welcome, Christopher,

Unless you’re referring to Local Adjustments (where Ctrl+Z is the only way to undo - tho, quite easily & effectively) then it’s a very simple process to undo corrections - - you can simply de-activate (by clicking on the “highlighted square” next to) the correction in question.

John M

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I think he means undoing specific past edits from a history list, not necessarily in the same order they were applied.

Mark

Is that relevant to PL corrections?

Undoing corrections in a specific order is relevant in software that uses, for example, layers - as a particular correction may have implications on another correction made before or after it - - but, that’s not an issue at all for Global corrections in PL … you can activate/deactivate any (Global) correction in any order/sequence that you may wish.

Regards, John M

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Its been about a year since I uninstalled Lightroom, but I believe you can go back in the edit history list, see the results of previous edits at any given point in time, and undo all edits going forward from that point in the past rather than back them out one undo at a time. My earlier post was not clear enough, but that Is what I think he may have been suggesting.

Mark

Just to clarify, yes, being able to see the list of edits and choose which to specifically undo is what I was inquiring about. Call it a “history list”.
I appreciate the comments confirming not, but also the work arounds that could be ok.
Otherwise, I am extremely impressed with PL2’s capabilities.

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A history list for local adjustments would be very useful. John-M’s workaround for turning on and off the panels works well for testing the effect of a panel and stepping back from it works very well for me for the other parts of PhotoLab. After six months using PhotoLab intensively, I don’t find myself missing History, though of course I’m used to History in pixel editors like Photoshop or Affinity Photo. Creating a clone for a sensitive edit/look is even more useful, as it’s always there to go back to.

A history panel is a normal feature for a pixel editor like Photoshop. This is needed because each adjustment builds on the previous one and the order of making adjustments is fundamental.

DXO-PL 2 is a parametric based raw converter. With a parametric editor you are just recording the instructions to be applied but they are not actually applied until you export the raw file to a RGB image. Therefore the order of adjustments does not have any meaning.

So for example in a pixel editor if you start off by adjusting contrast and then later on think I need less contrast you can step back to the contrast adjustment in history and change the contrast. Unfortunately, this will then mean that you have to do all of your other adjustments again. Not a good way to work.

In DXO-PL 2 if you started with a contrast adjustment and then later on want to reduce contrast you just do that and you still retain all of your other adjustments.

A history function is vital in a pixel editor but not required in a parametric editor. Why would you want to loose all of the adjustments after a history point when you don’t have to?

I hope this helps explain why DXO-Pl 2 does not have a history function.

Ian

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Valid points.

why would i stil want a history log?
Wel sometimes i want to go back to a point where i was satisfied before i started to fiddle some more and lost along the way the edge.

Sometimes i like to jump back and forwards to see if it is an improvement or not.
Start over or continue.

Sometimes i like to change directions after a export to make an other aproach.

Or look for how i did the other and see the steps in jumps.

One step undo and on/off toggle does 90% of this but the 10% is only posible with history log.

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Or, you could create a virtual copy before you start “fiddling” some more.
Yes, it does require some discipline - - but it’s very quick and easy to create a copy.

John M

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That’s the way i do it now.
Make a “safepoint” by creating a VC.:smile:

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That’s what I do as well, but as was recently discussed in another thread, there is a limitation with the implementation of virtual copies in Photolab. If you want to play around with several “what if” scenarios, there’s no naming convention to let you know whether one of your virtual copies is a virtual copy of the original, or it’s a virtual copy of one of your virtual copies. Depending on what you doing, and the depth of your virtual copy tree it can be problematic.

Mark

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Ian, your explanation is brilliant. Thank you very much for taking the time to share the theory behind a parametric editor vs a pixel editor.

Mark, your idea is a good one too.

Improving the naming convention and making renaming easier for the virtual copies sounds like a very achievable goal which would not come with any of the considerable overhead, design questions and architectural changes adding sophisticated history would.

As I continue to learn the program, please confirm then, that if you do “not” export in the editing session you are in, and then return later the next day, are all the tweaks “saved” in the RAW file that you made, even if you did not save them?

Christopher,

nothing is saved/embedded in the Raw file - and that is GOOD

  1. Scenario - you edit and leave without export
  • Your edits are saved in the database and in a .dop sidecar (only if you ticked that option in preferences, otherwise just database)
  • The writing to the database/dop sidecar happens automatically.
  • When you close the program and return the next day everything is as you left it.
  1. Scenario - you edit and export
  • your edits are applied - NOT written - to the raw file and a new file is exported in the format you chose - tiff, jpg…
  • the edits stay in the database/dop sidecar. When you come back two weeks later you can change those again, and export again. DPL will then ask you if you want to overwrite the existing file or create a new one.

Recommendation: the database sometimes crashes and then all your edits might be gone. I would recommend writing dop sidecar files. Then you are on the save side in case the DB crashes. If you don’t care if that happens that is also fine.
If you move your files within a proper DAM software the sidecar files - dop sidecars, xmp sidecars - are automatically moved with the file and also deleted if you delete within the DAM software.

Hope that helps

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Your explanation clarifies it all. Thank you!

**@juelsbo As the others said, if you like Lightroom, keep using Lightroom. DxO PhotoLab is a superior solution which delivers much better results in a cleaner workflow. The world doesn’t need an Adobe clone.

The only part of PhotoLab which would benefit from history are the local adjustments as those are not on or off parametric adjustments but often compound on one another.

If you don’t understand or like the idea of simplicity in software – everything the user needs and nothing extraneous – PhotoLab is probably not for you. Many programmers in particular like software where everything is a preference and everything is adjustable all the time (I work as a UX designer so spend a lot of time with programmers). Steve Jobs theory is the role of a software designer is to make intelligent choices for the user so s/he is not distracted by irrelevant information when working.

These forums (Discourse) are a very good example of well-designed software. Just the info and tools the user needs are available at all times in a minimalist yet sufficient interface.

Simplicity and elegance are deeply embedded throughout the PhotoLab experience (Nik plugins are a different matter as they were an acquisition and have not yet been rebuilt from the ground up). There’s someone at DxO who really knows how to design elegant and effective software. Simplicity is the core of the software and what makes so many of us its users so enthusiastic about PhotoLab.

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