DxO PhotoLab vs Lightroom vs Capture One – which is best for RAW files? DxO PhotoLab 5 editing toolsĭxO PhotoLab work on two levels.This is where DxO PhotoLab really excels, even against the best of its competition. Instead, its real strength is in its image-editing and enhancement tools. PhotoLab’s PhotoLibary window is effective enough for browsing your photos when you already know where to find them, but it’s not at the same level as Lightroom, Capture One or Exposure X for image cataloguing and searching. Besides, version 5 brings support for IPTC metadata (an industry-standard format for adding image information) and keywords, which should make it easier to search for specific images. PhotoLab 5 is still a browsing tool rather than an image cataloguing database, but It’s a simpler approach that may well suit some photographers. You can find pictures according to keywords or shooting information, like lens focal length or ISO setting. folders you’ve visited in PhotoLab or added for manual indexing. You can also search for images in ‘index’ folders, i.e. You can browse folders on your computer (which is all many photographers need, admittedly) but while you can create ‘Projects’ (PhotoLab’s equivalent of ‘albums’), these are displayed in a simple linear list and are really only useful for work in progress rather than long-term organisation. The PhotoLibrary window is where you browse and organise your photos – though the organising tools are quite basic compared to those in Lightroom or Capture One, for example. The DxO PhotoLab PhotoLibrary PhotoLab 5 adds IPTC metadata and keywords to its PhotoLibrary tools – but at heart it’s still a photo browser and not a full-blown image cataloguing tool like Lightroom or Capture One. These are separate add-ons described below in the review. The screenshots also show palettes and tools from DxO ViewPoint and FilmPack. PhotoLab 5 comes in two versions: Essential and Elite. Where Optics Pro was simply a RAW processing and lens correction tool, PhotoLab adds local adjustments to become a much more powerful photo editing tool. See also: Best image editing software – what to look for, how to chooseĭxO PhotoLab started out as DxO Optics Pro, but mutated into DxO PhotoLab when DxO acquired the Google Nik Collection and its local adjustment tools.– Image organising/browsing tools better but still basicĭxO PhotoLab 5 is a raw processing and image-editing program that specialises in high-quality lens corrections and advanced RAW processing technologies, which take another step forward in version 5 to include more advanced local adjustments and – at last – support for Fujifilm X-Trans RAW files, albeit in a ‘beta’ version which does not yet offer full editing features. – Elite version and add-ons push up the price + Now supports Fujifilm X-Trans files Cons

+ Extraordinary new DeepPRIME noise reduction

Dxo photolab elite vs capture one