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DxO PhotoLab 10 review: excellent, expensive, specialised
Verdict: 4 stars PhotoLab 10 brings a number of new features, mostly around masking options. But while the new depth masking is excellent, the Control Brush is interesting and the people/feature masking is powerful, the masking choices and interactions are getting ever more complex. Outside of that, there’s really not a lot that’s new except for color grading and AI dust removal. Definitely worth having, but other programs have them already. Fundamentally, PhotoLab 10 remains a powerful, technical tool for ultimate raw image quality, but lacks in-depth image-organising and effects tools. It’s excellent at what it sets out to do, but it might not do everything you’re looking for.
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DxO PhotoLab 10 launched, with new AI masking tools, depth masks and colour grading
DxO leans heavily into more advanced masking tools in this latest release, though color grading, dust removal and new connectivity with Canava Affnity bring some more general updates for photographers.
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Lightroom Classic’s Parametric Curve: what it does, why it’s different
Lightroom Classic’s Tone Curve panel has two modes. There’s the regular Point Curve mode, where you click to add control points to the curve and then move them around to change the curve shape – experienced photo editors will know this tool inside out – but there’s also a Parametric Curve mode. Is this just for beginners, or is it a new and better way to make curves adjustments?
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Lightroom Generative Expand would be really useful if it worked more than half the time
Generative Expand was added to Lightroom as part of an August 2026 update. It’s been available in Photoshop for a while, but now it’s in Lightroom too. The idea is that you can expand your crop outside the current image boundary and Adobe Firefly will use AI to add surrounding details. It’s handy if you need a different aspect ratio to the one you shot in, for example, and you don’t want to crop existing detail. Just don’t expect too much…
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Does anyone know what’s happening with Exposure X7? – UPDATE
It’s one of my favourite all-in-one photo organising, editing and effects tools, but Exposure X7 was launched way back in 2021. Exposure X7 is still on sale on the Exposure Software website, but there have been no new blog posts since 2022 and all of my attempts to contact the company by email (I can’t find a phone number) have failed.
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You can use Lightroom without importing images into a catalog and you don’t need to store images in the cloud
The trouble with Lightroom Classic is that you have to import images into its catalog, and the trouble with Lightroom (the web version) is that you need (or think you need) to store images in the cloud. What if there was a workaround that gave you simple ‘live’ folder browsing on your computer but still with all of Lightroom’s editing tools?
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Lightroom now uses Topaz AI Sharpen, following Adobe’s acquisition, but at 10 AI credits per operation!
This happened in the June 2026 Lightroom update, so that you can now use an AI Sharpen option powered by Topaz AI, and there’s an optional Topaz Denoise checkbox you can use alongside it. It shows Adobe’s determination to dominate the AI landscape, but at what cost? (Not to Adobe, of course, but to us.)
