DxO PureRaw3 or Photolab 6 - New user options

[R99C99]

I'm new to post processing and only have OM Workspace and Pixelmator Pro. Both seem to be good enough for Raw editing individually but don't sit easily in to a workflow with batch editing (or at least editing large numbers of photos in one sitting.

I know Adobe Lightroom would be a great addition to my workflow but I don't like to subscription model and don't like the idea of my 'library' being held with Adobe.

I decided to try the trial of DxO PureRaw3 and love it. Will likely buy it just for the ability to shoot high ISO and not worry about the noise. I saw you could get Photolab 6 for an extra £85 on top of the £115 for PureRaw3.

Does anyone use Photolab 6 and is it worth getting it just to have noise reduction and editing all in one workflow/package?

Thanks all.

[Downwind Dec]

I use PL6 and am generally very happy. As a hobbyist, I don't do batch editing and haven't felt the need.

I like like how PL renders my Oly images. You might find when you first fire it up that the default settings are extreme, favouring "punch", but you can set it for 'optical corrections only' as a starting point. I previously used PS Elements and Workspace, so I'm not sure how PL6 compares with Lightroom (opinions differ).

I find the editing process quick and relatively intuitive. It can take a bit of figuring out, for example, the local editing tools, but there are good tutorials made by enthusiasts. The built-in NR tools are great, of course; I usually back off on the default settings there too. I often find that a little hint of Deep Prime is helpful even when there is no objectionable noise in the image.

You've nothing to lose by trying the 30 day trial for PL6. If you decide to buy, and can wait, they always (so far) throw 50% off for Black Friday; that might tempt you to pick up the excellent NIK tools at the same time.

Perhaps someone else can comment on the batch editing side of things. Having never used Pure RAW as a plug-in, I'm not sure if it's "worth getting it just to have noise reduction and editing all in one workflow/package?"; however, I can say that it fits my editing needs to the extent that I rarely need to resort to another tool (NIK excepted).

Keep us posted
Declan.

[Rob Trek]

I recommend PL6 Elite version. You get the DeepPrime denoising along with many other things with it. I've started making some PL6 tutorials on my channel. Here is the playlist.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyBjgg0NvOrPObBf4ku-bfilBoFKYjeuL

[griffljg]

Thanks for those Rob. I'll definitely work through them.

[R99C99]

Thanks both. I’ll check out the videos as that will give a sense of how it can work for me. Cheers.

[RobEW]

I'm a user and fan of PL6 elite edition. I tried quite a few other systems including Lightroom and find they all suffer from the same problems - far too many feature whose effect is poorly if at all articulated / described in manuals or help literature, and poorly understood even by enthusiastic users. Most people use only a small number of the bewildering many features. And having lots of features leads to ridiculous lack if usability, I swear you can pilot a Concorde with fewer buttons and gadgets than you get presented to you in the appalling user interface of a typical post processing programme. You could spend a lifetime learning Adobe and still never finish. PL6 (Elite) is somewhat less bewildering, and most of the features are reasonably easy to use and to understand, And it gets great results.

[R99C99]

I’ve been trialing PL6 this week and sadly it’s lacking two features already that I love in OM Workspace - the ability to view JPEG and RAW together as 1 file when sorting, and ability to group sequenced shots (invaluable when using burst mode).

buy totally agree with RobEW that it seems straightforward enough in use. Still on the fence at this point.

[R99C99]

Sorry to resurrect my own post, but I have been trialling PL6 this month since my Pure Raw 3 trial expired. I’m starting to get on with it quite nicely but can’t seem to find out if there is a way to use Pure Raw 3 separately from PL6.

What I mean is, I liked Pure Raw 3’s ability to drag and drop a bunch of images and it would apply denoise and save the files in a batch. More like a file explorer file feature separate to a software editing programme.

Does anyone know if there is a way to do with if I purchase PL6 or is that only available if you buy the stand alone Pure Raw 3? Thanks.

[Rob Trek]

Sorry to resurrect my own post, but I have been trialling PL6 this month since my Pure Raw 3 trial expired. I’m starting to get on with it quite nicely but can’t seem to find out if there is a way to use Pure Raw 3 separately from PL6.

What I mean is, I liked Pure Raw 3’s ability to drag and drop a bunch of images and it would apply denoise and save the files in a batch. More like a file explorer file feature separate to a software editing programme.

Does anyone know if there is a way to do with if I purchase PL6 or is that only available if you buy the stand alone Pure Raw 3? Thanks.

I don't see a way to do that in PL6.

You could edit one image, then copy the settings to all the other images you want. Then you'd have to export them.

I created a preset that does (distortion) optical correction, Chromatic aberration, lens sharpness, autocrop, and DeepPrimeXD. I highlight all the thumbnails at once and then apply that preset.
I then export them all as DNG (or any other available format).
This is how I process a batch of files that I need to edit later in Photoshop.

Hope that helps.
-Rob

[R99C99]

Thanks so much. I thought the present and batch export would be the likely way to go. It’s not a bad process at all but I just liked the drag and drop style of Pure Raw 3.

I’m actually really liking PL6 for my image sorting and organising as much as editing. I just learned the ‘hidden’ keyboard shortcuts shift/control/7 and s/c/9 for quickly picking and rejecting photos from my filmstrip. I could get through 450 images yesterday in quick time to sort out the few to keep and edit.

Thanks again.

[Gerry]

Have you looked at Affinity Photo? It has versions for PC, MAC and iPad, has batch processing among other things and also is not "Rent ware".

[rustyarrow]

Have you looked at Affinity Photo? It has versions for PC, MAC and iPad, has batch processing among other things and also is not "Rent ware".

I use it all the time, does everything I need