DxO Photolab 6 out!

[goarajan (Rajan Parrikar)]

Deep Prime vs Deep Prime XD -

The differences are not visible in the preview within the DxO Photolab 6 app, so far as I can tell. I had to export the 2 comparisons (DeepPRIME and Deep PRIME XD) to Photoshop and there I could tell at 200% and 400%. You see a more refined result with the XD - smoother transitions and overall a better output. Whether it is worth the upgrade only you can decide. I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

[mwsilvers (Mark - New Jersey, USA)]

@John7

I haven’t been able to find anything to do with soft proofing, looked at the manual and can’t see anything in the printing where is it? Or is this jet another divergance between Mac and Windows?

Soft proofing is available in both the Windows and Mac versions.

Mark

[RvL]

It’s not in the printing options, but in the Colors palette

[John7 (John Barrett)]

When you get an area to retouch from it often isn’t aligned the same as the area you are repairing. For example you may have a fence but the uprights are different in the two areas and a rotation could line them up.

[RvL]

@John7
In PL6 you can rotate the source mask, so the mask you replace the patch to repair with

[mwsilvers (Mark - New Jersey, USA)]

@goarajan

The differences are not visible in the preview within the DxO Photolab 6 app, so far as I can tell. I had to export the 2 comparisons (DeepPRIME and Deep PRIME XD) to Photoshop and there I could tell at 200% and 400%. You see a more refined result with the XD - smoother transitions and overall a better output. Whether it is worth the upgrade only you can decide. I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

Depending upon the image you may not see a huge difference between DeepPRIME and DeepPRIME XD. The improvement is often subtle but it is always noticeable. However, in my experience DeepPRIME XD’s improvement over DeepPRIME is far more visible and obvious on images that have been cropped.

Mark

[John7 (John Barrett)]

Thanks not a very easy to find thing.

[kokofresha (Hissaria, Bulgaria (Win 10, PL, VP, FP, Nikon))]

@Egregius

Although some of the improvements require a ViewPoint 4 license, I think there’s much to like in PL6 as it is. DeepPRIME XD is a huge improvement for shadow details, noisy areas, and out-of-focus areas. The wide gamut working color space can give much better results if you have a RAW image with very saturated colors. (I’ve tried it.) The repair/clone tool is improved. Soft Proofing is finally included (though the paper and ink matching part is “coming soon” according to its adjustment palette). There might be more - I think it’s worth taking time to try it out.

I have View point and I don’t plan to update to version 4.
I have huge objections to color management in PhotoLab, as I have written many times. A Soft Proofing and wider working space combined with poor color management (especially in sRGB) will cause me more problems than benefits.
Improved noise cancellation is always useful, but not at this price. And it’s not enough when the software lags behind the competition in efficiency (I’m speaking from the perspective of an event photographer).
When will PhotoLab embed the color profile when exporting to sRGB? When will the histogram finally work correctly? When will there be a warning in the histogram for clipped colors? When will we have a convenient color balance function (I’ve been doing color balance with tone curve for 4 years)? How long will photolab export 5 images slower than 15?

Sorry, but I expected more from Photolab 6… much more…

[mwsilvers (Mark - New Jersey, USA)]

@John7

When you get an area to retouch from it often isn’t aligned the same as the area you are repairing. For example you may have a fence but the uprights are different in the two areas and a rotation could line them up.

That ability to rotate the replacement exists in the new tool. Small rotation arrows appear outside of the replacement masks boundaries. You can also separately modify the vertical height and horizontal width of the replacement mask’s content non-proportionally, or increase and decrease the size of the replacement mask content proportionally. You can also reverse the replacement mask vertically or horizontally. It is a completely redeveloped tool and may take a bit of practice to realize all that it’s now capable of doing.

Mark

[Ian78 (Ian Kewhotzyk)]

I just made a quick test on a 7D mark II, with a shot at 3200 ISO, where I slightly missed the focus on the eye. Honestly, at least from this first test (I have installed the trial), XD performs way better than DP.
As you can see (DP left / XD right), I have basically recovered the missed focus…
What do you think?

[John7 (John Barrett)]

Yes thanks found it now again not a easy thing to find. That transforms what you can do, hopefully at some stage changing the size could be done as in my example of a fence you would be unlike to have the same size (perspective) on the two but at least the rotation will remove one obvious visual problem. Yes thanks found it now again not a easy thing to find. That transforms what you can do, hopefully at some stage changing the size could be done as in my example of a fence you would be unlike to have the same size (perspective) on the two but at least the rotation will remove one obvious visual problem.
What doesn’t help is the symbol normally for rotation is undo and you have to click on what are said to be for flipping, why not have a rotate symbol there as well?

[Allan]

So, as usual, there are new features that everyone is on about.

However, did DXO address any of the problems / Win-Mac issues / feature requests that have been on-going in this forum for several years?
One comes to mind - the advanced history in the Win version. There are many more.

A listing of these fixes would be appreciated from DXO.

[RvL]

You can change the size of the source mask in PL6😉

[goarajan (Rajan Parrikar)]

I presume you did not do any sharpening. Yes, XD does give a superior result.

I have been playing the past hour or so and I now see that XD gives a better rendering, best seen when you zoom to 400% and more. The ‘discreteness’ of the earlier version is now smoother and that leads to gentler transitions and an overall better look.

I had to export to Photoshop and stack the 2 comparisons to see this. Why can’t I see it in Photolab 6 itself? What am I doing wrong?

[mwsilvers (Mark - New Jersey, USA)]

@John7

Yes thanks found it now again not a easy thing to find. That transforms what you can do, hopefully at some stage changing the size could be done as in my example of a fence you would be unlike to have the same size (perspective) on the two but at least the rotation will remove one obvious visual problem

Review my later post where I indicate that you can stretch or fatten replacement mask content or enlarge the content proportionately as well as rotating it and reversing it…

Mark

[John7 (John Barrett)]

Will have a go if it works great, thanks.

[Ian78 (Ian Kewhotzyk)]

Correct. I just applied the default DP and XD (I didn’t touch any slider at all so-to-speak…).
Yes, apparently in Photolab, DP and XP can only be previewed in the tiny window inside the palette .
No way to have a full preview, but you can drag the “little rectangle” over any area of interest to get a preview before exporting…

[mwsilvers (Mark - New Jersey, USA)]

@John7

Will have a go if it works great, thanks

The reverse feature is another new feature I love. It can be especially useful replacing objects that have a very definitive difference between the left and right side, or the top and bottom, like a doorway or window perhaps. While you may have an appropriate source available, it might be facing the wrong way. The reverse mirroring feature is perfect for situations like that.

Mark

[Tbolt (Darrell Thompson)]

What version are you coming from? £199 is the full price. I’m coming from 4 and the price is £89, but hopefully it will be a bit cheaper on black Friday, though they don’t seem to be doing a reduced launch price like they usually do.

[rattydog]

Finally ditched LR and bought PL5 less than 6 weeks ago and DxO want £89 to upgrade to the latest and greatest.

I’ve barely got my head around this version…

I miss the days when there was decent window for a free software upgrade. Capture One still do it, but with the proliferation of the Subscription model, most people just milk you with the upgrades as well.

Guess I’ll just need to spend my time with PL5 and if I love it and PL6 is a huge improvement then I’ll stick around, but if not…start looking around for a better and fairer solution.