I just downloaded the free trial to work alongside PL4 but I can’t use my RAW files only exported jpegs. what’s the point of the free trial then?
Cheers
Mike
Which app are you trialing?
Oops
I thought I was in the Film Pack group. So yes, Film Pack plugin.
Which version of FilmPack are you trialing, FilmPack 5 or FilmPack 5 Elite? You indicated plug in, but I want to confirm whether you are trying to process from within PhotoLab or are using the standalone version of FilmPack.
Mark
I haven’t used the Filmpack standalone for a while but I believe that it should have RAW support for the camera bodies that DXO supports, at least for the elite version. If you are using it from within PL4, I know RAW is supported. If you are using it from within Lightroom or some other non-DXO program, I can’t help you. Sorry.
Version 5 I think. Just downloaded from dxo website. It’s the standalone version.
Definitely check out now the additional contrast sliders you get now in DPL - you need to “activate” FP within DPL first
There are two versions of FilmPack 5. The Elite version with more features is also more expensive. Are you intending to use FilmPack 5 with other software or juat with PhotoLab. If you will only use it with PhotoLab then there is normally no need to run the standalone version since all the features are available from within PhotoLab.
Mark
Yes. Activate means buying the product. Hence why I’m questioning the trial version. It’s just limited to jpeg and standalone app.
You have to activate the Filmpack 5 elite program from within PL4 in addition to buying the standalone. I don’t remember exactly how it works but within PL4, check the help dropdown and look for something like activate Filmpack 5 contained within.
As I mentioned, way back before I originally bought FilmPack to use with PhotoLab 1, I was able to see the trial version features within PhotoLab.
Mark
Film Pack Elite Edition supports RAW, Essential Edition does not.
While PhotoLab trials come as “Elite”, FilmPack trials seem to come as “Essential”.
DxO’s apps feature sets depend on such edition variants and it’s good advise to read carefully the page that lusts the differences of the editions. I often find those pages hard to find because DxO changes their site occasionally.
Currently, the differences can only be found if you follow this path:
- open https://shop.dxo.com/en/#
- select product (PL etc.)
- select to see the essential edition, there is a text link if an essential edition exists
- scroll down a bit to find three tabs, the right of which says “compare editions”
- select “compare editions” to somehow see the differences.
DxO has revived the “Bundle” which can be found here. The “Premium” Bundle includes VP and the Elite editions of PL and FP.
I don’t know, why DxO complicates access to such information. From a consumer point of view, this hide-and-seek is most disturbingly awkward.
2 Likes
I agree with regard to the stand-alone versions. However, you should have access to the FilmPack tools within PhotoLab during the trial and if you do you could apply those settings against raw files.
Mark
Yes, I can activate it via the dxo file dropdown menu but activating, i.e purchasing the licence defeats the purpose of the trial.
I think that you should be able to activate the trial using a similar procedure, but I’ve forgotten how to do it. 
There is no way use a trial within PL. only standalone.
https://help-photolab4.dxo.com/en/dxo-filmpack-2$DxO%20FilmPack
To be honest, the standalone UI and overall experience is far more intuitive and enjoyable than PL.
The UI is quite different, true, but seamless integration of FP functionality in PL has some charm too. Again, check out the elite features, they are worth the extra cost imo.
It is interesting how perceptions differ. I never cared much for the FilmPack stand-alone interface, but I fell in love with the simplicity and ease of use of PhotoLab’s interface the very first time I used it in November of 2017.
Mark
When I first trialed PL3 I trialed all three apps PL3 elite, FP5 elite an VP3 at the same time. FP5 elite and VP3 both worked as trial versions from within the trial version of PL3 elite as well as being standalone apps. I bought PL3 and so long as they were activated from within PL3 elite, until their expirations, both FP5 elite and VP3 continued to work as trial versions from within PL3 elite provided that I activated the trials from within the now owned PL3 elite. They also continued to work as standalones. So, at the time of PL3 at least It was possible to trial both FP5 elite and VP3 from within PL3 elite. Perhaps this ability has changed since the time of PL3, but if so I haven’t heard anyone complain about it until now.