DxO launches PhotoLab 6 and ViewPoint 4

PhotoLab 6 brings some important updates, including even more advanced ‘DeepPRIME XD’ processing, a new, wider working color space, a more advanced ReTouch tool and the ability to get Projects better organized with folders, or Project Groups.

ViewPoint 4, meanwhile, has a new-look interface, a new-look interface and the ability to flip and mirror images. It’s good to see DxO updating this software as the previous version, ViewPoint 3, seemed to have been around forever.

DxO PhotoLab 6 new features

The main point of interest in PhotoLab 6 is likely to be the new DeepPRIME XD processing – the ‘XD’ stands for ‘eXtreme Detail. It’s a development of DxO’s impressive AI-powered DeepPRIME noise reduction and detail enhancement process, but refined to deliver even better fine detail in high ISO images. DxO’s noise reduction is unique in that it’s applied alongside the RAW demosaicing process rather than afterwards.

The new wider working color space should, according to DxO, offer better rendering and handling of highly saturated colors, though its value is likely to be for high-end print and publishing professionals who want and need to get precise about color management.

With the new ReTouch tool, DxO is aiming to move object removal and cloning adjustments into its non-destructive RAW editing process rather than needing a separate (destructive) editor like Photoshop. You can now manually modify, mirror, scale or rotate your clone source and effectively remove larger objects not just sensor spots.

The PhotoLibrary panel, which has long been a pretty basic folder browser, gets a significant upgrade too. It’s now possible to ‘nest’ Projects (PhotoLab’s equivalent of albums) to make PhotoLab a more effective day-to-day image organizer. In addition, it supports more EXIF and IPTC metadata than before and adds support for color tags as another way of filtering images.

We saw from the press demo that PhotoLab 6 now incorporates basic perspective correction tools – and about time too! You no longer need to buy DxO ViewPoint to get these – though there may still be some advantages to getting the latest ViewPoint 4 version (below).

Finally, DxO is also announcing a new set of correction profiles for the following lenses:

• Canon RF 24mm F1.8 Macro IS STM
• Nikkor Z 28-75mm F2.8
• HD Pentax-D FA 21mm F2.4 ED Limited DC WR
• HD Pentax-FA 31mm F1.8 Limited
• HD Pentax-FA 43mm F1.9 Limited
• HD Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited
• Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 DC DN | C
• Sigma 35mm F2 DG DN | C
• Sony E 11mm F1.8

As usual, PhotoLab will be available in Essential and Elite editions – you’ll. need the Elite edition to get DeepPRIME XD and the full PhotoLab feature set. PhotoLab (and other DxO software) is sold for a regular one-off license fee. There are no subscriptions.

PhotoLab 6 Essential Edition
• New users: $139/£129
• Upgrade: $75/£65

PhotoLab 6 Elite
• New users: $219/£199
• Upgrade: $99/£89

DxO ViewPoint 4 new features

ViewPoint is DxO’s separate optical perspective and distortion correction tool. You can use it as a standalone application or as a plug-in for Photoshop, Elements or Lightroom Classic. If you have PhotoLab 6 too, ViewPoint 4 will integrate with the interface with its own adjustment palette.

ViewPoint goes far beyond simple lens and perspective corrections. One of its clever tricks is ‘volumetric’ distortion correction, which fixes that phenomenon of ultra-wide lenses, where objects near the edges of the frame are artificially elongated.

New in ViewPoint 4 is a ReShape tool, which is a kind of localized perspective correction ‘mesh’ that’s not unlike the Liquify tool in Photoshop, though with adjustable mesh spacing and control nodes rather than ‘push’ or ‘pull’ brushes.

Other new features include the ability to flip and mirror images, and improvements to the way the Crop and Horizon tools work together.

ViewPoint 4
New users: $99/£89
Upgrade: $59/£55

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