I’m currently at the end of my trial phase of PL6 Elite. I’m going to purchase it, and actually want PL6 + FilmPack, but thought about getting Nik Collection 5 as it already includes PL5 Essential für 149€.
I just wanted to ask, if it is possible to upgrade this included PL5 Essential License to a PL6 Elite license and if yes, if it’s going to cost the “normal” 99€.
I am a long term user of PhotoLab and currently use PL 6 Elite. I also have a license for Photolab 5 Essential that I got when I last purchased the Nik Collection upgrade. I have never downloaded or installed that free copy of PL 5 since I am already an Elite user. I just checked my account and it indicated the cost to upgrade from from PL5 Essential to PL6 Elite would be $139USD. That comes to around 127€. I don’t know what the exact pricing would be for you but I am guessing it would be more than 99€.
Mark
If you can wait until November 2023, you would be able to upgrade your PhotoLab 5 Essential to PhotoLab 7 Elite at a substantial discount. Essential is not good enough though as it’s missing Fine Contrast which is the best detail enhancement in PhotoLab. For more of the colour profiles (which I do use) one must also have FilmPack 5 or 6.
ViewPoint is no longer essential as the core perspective corrections are in PhotoLab Elite (where they should be).
Unless I am mistaken, I believe that access to Fine Contrast still requires a license for FilmPack Elite.
Mark
The fine contrast option is only available if you buy FilmPack.
I’m assuming a purchase of PhotoLab Elite for DeepPrime and DeepPrime XD noise reduction and recommending a purchase of FilmPack Elite for the Fine Contrast slider.1 I’ve written it before, but the non-Elite versions of PhotoLab and the rest of DxO software are basically a waste of money and a marketing trick to suck low-ball photographers into the eco-system. I don’t really blame DxO for this. Heaven knows Adobe’s list of dirty marketing tricks is a whole lot longer and more serious. PhaseOne has surprised me (and their advocates) with just how much they are willing to abuse their customers.
While DxO annoys us sometimes, at this point, it’s either DxO or Adobe. PhaseOne actively drives away customers seeking either value or non-subscription software.
1. I also use a fair number of the colour profiles, but could probably get by with the profiles in non-Elite, I’d have to see the list and am not willing to uninstall FilmPack and attempt to trial non-elite to find out.
No need to uninstall, Just move the license file out of /Library/Applucation Support/DxO…/Licenses. Keep the file to move it back after your test.
@mwsilvers: Thanks for checking! It seems like the Euro-Price will be 139€.
If you can wait until November 2023, you would be able to upgrade your PhotoLab 5 Essential to PhotoLab 7 Elite at a substantial discount. Essential is not good enough though as it’s missing Fine Contrast which is the best detail enhancement in PhotoLab. For more of the colour profiles (which I do use) one must also have FilmPack 5 or 6.
Thanks for your suggestion, is the upgrade price for 2 versions the same as for 1 version? If so, I could try to go with PL5 until November. Not so sure about waiting to get FilmPack, as I really like some of the Film Simulations as a starting point for my edits.
It has been like that to date but that doesn’t mean it will be like in the future. Even so, I’m going to wait until PL7 is out before I decide on whether or not to upgrade from PL5.
Could you post a screenshot of what Film Simulations are available without FilmPack? I can let you know if some of the good ones are there or if all the good ones are in FilmPack Elite.
There’s three status of PhotoLab and FilmPack:
I’m not sure which Film Simulations comes with each level or if any come without FilmPack.
Check out the screens in this file
Archiv.zip (1.6 MB)
Time machine presets are not included, but they often build on the renderings.