ear Soft ware review
102 Digital SLR Photography July 2019
D
XOIS ONEOF THEmosthighly
regardednamesin softwarewhenit
comestoRawlenscorrectionsand
noisecontrol,andDxOPhotoLab2 is
thelatestRaw-processingpackagefrom
thecompany,providingdirectcompetition
withthelikesofAdobeLightroom,Capture
OneProandSkylumLuminar.Butwitheach
optionstandingoutbyofferingitsown
uniquefeaturesaboveandbeyondbasic
Rawprocessing,let’stakea lookat what
makesPhotoLab2 a worthyconsideration
foryoureditingworkflow.
WhilethenamePhotoLabmaynotbe
familiar,thesoftwareis thenaturalevolution
ofDxOOpticsProandfeaturesa numberof
upgradesthatmakeit a morewell-rounded
optionforimagecataloguingandRaw
processing.PhotoLab2 is availablein two
flavours:Essential,whichcosts£99;and
Elitethat’sa littlemoreexpensiveat £159.
TheEliteeditionincludestheDxOPrime
DenoiseandClearViewamongother
advancedfeatures,makingtheEliteversion
thebetteroptiontotakeadvantageof
everythingDxOhastooffer.Thesoftwareis
alsoa one-offpaymentwithno
subscription,whichmayappealto
photographersunhappywithAdobe’s
subscription-basedmodel.A free30-day
trialoftheEliteversionis availablewithno
restrictionsin featuressoyoucanfullytry
thesoftwarebeforecommitting.
SOFTWAREFEATURES
Whenyouopenimagesin PhotoLab2, one
of thefirstthingsyou’llnoticeis thatthe
softwarewillscanyourimagesandoffer
profiledownloadsforthecameraandlens
combinationsusedto taketheimages.Then,
whenyouopenanimagein theCustomize
tab,a numberof correctiveadjustmentsare
appliedautomaticallyandincludelens
corrections,noiseremoval,hazeremoval,
sharpeningandtonalimprovements.These
canbeleftin place,increasedorswitchedoff
withadditionalmanualcontrolsavailablefor
processingyourimages.
Thepowerhousebehindallthisis itsPrime
technology,whichmakeslightworkof
gettingimagesto looktheirbest.DxOPrime
Denoisingtechnologyreduceschromaand
luminancenoisein highISO shotsto reveal
moredetailandsharpness.DxOClearView
removeshazefromimagesandworkswell,
butlikeDehazein Lightroom,it hasto be
usedsparinglyto avoidaddingtoomuch
contrastto images.SmartLightingreveals
Withpowerfulfeaturesdesignedtospeedupworkflowandmakeimages
looktheirbest,couldDxO'sPhotoLab2 bethesoftwareyou’relookingfor?
Te s t :JAMESA B B OTT
SPECIFICATION
Price: Fro m £ 9 9
Operating system: OS X 10.12 (Sierra) and above /
Windows 7 (64-bit) with Service Pack 1 and above
Website: http://www.dxo.com/dxo-photolab
DXO PHOTOLAB 2
detailin darkandlightareasof imageswith
theabilityto adjusttheeffectmanually.
LocaladjustmentsarepossibleusingU
Pointtechnologyandarea newfeaturethat
hasbeenintegratedintothesoftwaresince
DxO’sacquisitionof theNikCollection.
Alongsidethesecontrolpointsarealsoan
adjustmentBrushandGraduatedfilter,
whichallowyouto controlthelookof
specificpartsof images.Plus,theRepairtool
intelligentlyhelpsyouto removedustspots
andsmallunwantedelements.
P ERFORMANCE AND EASE OF USE
The PhotoLab 2 interface is laid out simply
and clearly in a way that users of other Raw
editing software will be familiar with so
there will be no surprises. The software is
divided into two sections using tabs –
PhotoLibrary and Customize. PhotoLibrary
Interface: The interface is laid out exactly how you’d expect,
and with just two tabs – PhotoLibrary and Customize – it’s
impossible to get lost in a rabbit hole of software sections.