Presets Question

At outset of editing a batch of RAWs - images row up at the bottom of the screen. Can I assume the default DXO Std presets are automatically effected? Or, do I have to hit the Presets button? I normally then select all my files and in Customization I dial in a few items like a bit of Saturation, Unsharp mask, and Prime noise reduction. I then Export. Any suggestions?

It all depends on which preset you have chosen as the default in the Preferences dialog.

Whichever one you choose is applied to all files that you open for the first time.

You could also create your own custom preset and set that as default.

1 Like

Look for Preferences in the Edit menu. You can select default presets.

1 Like

When PhotoLab is installed, the “DxO Standard” preset is active, unless you change the settings like shown here. My choice is to use the “No Correction” preset instead.

If you want to try other presets, you can hit the “Preset” button - and see a preview before you apply the preset - or use the “Preset Editor” tool instead.

Selecting all files and then applying a preset or dialing in a few changes is common practice, which works well if the images are similar. Some images might need individual changes, and then, it helps to make sure that only one image is selected ;-).

2 Likes

Which version of dxoPL do you have? The essential or Elite?
If essential you can create full presets out a self made setting.
Note: All pallettes and tools are taken in to account and overwrite the existing settings when applied on a image. So when you edit a image and then apply a preset on this its defaulted to that preset.

With Elite version you can edit a full global preset to a partial version.
In a matter that you can deselect tools which you not want to be overwritten when applying this partial preset.

In practise you can create presets for different isovalues , highkey and lowkey luminance and hightone and low tone (tonecurve)
Create small finishing settings like sepia porttret, (basic editing and then create a virtual copy which you use to apply a sepia rendering to without changing your local edits and other stuff.

So if you like to batch edit and be nimble enough to finetune this automated system in a fewclick edit. You need Elite. :slightly_smiling_face:

In essential the preset is first choice and click and stay on that.

Hope it’s clear otherwise ask for more detail.

2 Likes

… and to visualize some of the informations from → Home → Customize → Presets
I took a raw file without any correction (= ‘No correction’), then cropped it (vertically) and added a control point (brightened black)

The preview shows you

  • 1 - DxO Standard
    2 - DxO Optical Corrections only
    5 - No correction

would skip crop & control point – and others don’t

  • 3 - Neutral colors
    4 - Black & White

have fun, Wolfgang

As far as I know, before you actually open a RAW file in PhotoLab’s image viewer, these preview thumbnails you see in the image browser at the bottom of the screen are based on the small JPEG files that are embedded in the RAW data. They are not previews of what you will see when editing the RAW data with a preset. You will only see your chosen default preset for RAW files (the DxO Standard preset if you’ve never chosen a different one) applied when you select an image for viewing/editing in PhotoLab.

That is so, but only temporarily. Once PL detects a new image it applies basic/default corrections (assuming you have a standard-preset defined in your settings other than No Corrections) and then you see the corrected result as rendered by PL.

Short answer: Yes.

John

2 Likes

OK. Thanks all. So, I open my Raws and the preseset of my choice does its thing, one by one. When done, I select all and export to a folder as jpgs. When that is finally done (long time - hours), I open the jpgs to edit them. If I hit “New” prior to this, I assume the images will be getting a double dose of preset alterations. Yes?

Don’t understand.

  • Do you want to develop raw-files (e.g. with an applied preset) and export them as jpg
    or
  • ‘overhaul’ JPGs that were taken by the camera?

Why do you want to edit the JPEGs after exporting? Why haven’t you done that to the RAWs before exporting?

Thanks for making the inquiry Joanna. I work off the CF card, and I’m usually processing 400 plus images in sets of 30 focus bracketed shots. Helicon Focus would take 20 times longer to process the sets as RAWs. My last edit is a run thru an HDR program. I believe this routine prefers jpgs, but confess I haven’t tried with RAW.
Considering a CF Express card with a USB 3.2 reader to speed things up in the upload as jpgs.

I’d never work off memory cards because of speed penalties and reduced reliability. Also, memory cards might have file systems that are less well handled than the computer’s native file system.

Thanks platypus. Point taken. I pulled 400 RAWS off card into folder on my SSD and then as “new” into PL. Exporting from there as jpgs into a folder on my B internal drive took about as long (15-18 seconds per image) as it always has, working directly off the card. There may be other advantages, but in mys system, speed would not be one of them.

Processing with DeepPRIME does take its time, no matter how fast the drive is - and if you don’t want or need to keep the RAW files, you can skip the copy process indeed. If you keep the RAWs, copying before processing provides an extra backup.

I’ve only once processed from the card (late at night) and forgot to copy the files before formatting the card. Served me as a lesson :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

The preset processing, including Deep Prime, is fairly quick. It is the mass Export after the processing as jpgs to an internal drive that takes the time (hours).
There is one hitch with processing. Only the thumbs on the screen get processed. I have to use the slider to expose another 10 or 12 rows to get it going again. Has to be tended.
Not always like this, but now it is the rule. Strange.

Opening a folder of new files will make PL automatically calculate previews that depend on what the default preset contains. Some corrections don’t show though, and noise reduction can be one of them. Certain methods of NR will only be applied during export, therefore, export can take a lot of time in comparison to initial preview rendering times.

Export (processing) time varies greatly depending on what noise reduction you use and what your computer’s capabilities for graphics processing are. I’d advise you compare different noise reduction methods (HD, Prime, DeepPRIME) and see which one gives the quality/speed ratio you like best.

The order in which you apply corrections does not matter, PhotoLab will chose the order all by itself.