DXO info request please

[heicron]

I am finally moving away from LightRoom 6 after using it since v-4 alongside Imatch. I have looked at other candidates and recently installed a trial of the current version of DXO.

I am an enthusiast, not a professional. I only need a capable app for raw processing and printing or web content. I do a lot of cropping too. I see from the IM forum that DXO works well with IM, or IM works well with DXO. For many years I copied my IM indexed files to another drive as a backup and used that to import into LR and keep the processed files there. I also made external backups of both.

How are DXO adjustments and workflow working out for you? Any quirks or caveats?

Thanks for your input

[bekesizl]

There are more advanced users of DxO and IMatch than me, but it works generally great together.

DxO displays Keywords and Star rating given in IMatch.
You can filter inside Photolab for star rating coming from IMatch.
You can define DOP sidecars as buddy files and they get carried and renamed together with your raw files.
You can define DxO exports a versions of your raw files.

What I don't like is, that Photolab exports the complete XMP record with your exports (or no EXIF at all). This way face tags and other position relevant information of the original image will also get exported to the cropped exported images, with wrong coordinates.
Others also don't like, that the star rating of the original will also get exported.
But IMatch versioning can take care of the last one and in the face recognition module you can delete existing faces and rescan the file.

[JohnZeman]

About a year ago I left Lightroom 6.14 and PhotoShop CS6 and purchased DxO PhotoLab 2 (have since upgraded to version 3).  Plus the ViewPoint plug-in which I regard as essential.

No regrets.

IMatch takes care of all of my DAM needs so the only thing I use PhotoLab for is raw processing.  I export my raws (CR2 and DNG) from PhotoLab as 16 bit TIFFs which I open and optimize in Affinity Photo before doing a final export back to IMatch in a high quality JPG format.

In IMatch I use versions, buddy files for the PhotoLab .dop files, and stacking.  So my final optimized JPG image is the image I see when I look at one of my raw files with IMatch.  Unless of course I actually want to view the raw in IMatch which I occasionally do.

I send my raw images to PhotoLab using an IMatch favorite and it works great.  I just select the images I want to send to PhotoLab and press the "Send to PhotoLab" favorite button.

As far as my PhotoLab workflow goes the only problem I've occasionally had is when processing skin tones.  If I have the ClearView adjustment set too high the skin can appear blotchy.  Normally reducing the ClearView setting solves that.

All in all I'm glad I made the switch and upgrade prices are reasonable.

One final side note, for brand new images I use FastRawViewer to do my initial culling before sending the keepers to IMatch.  Also, I'm not a pro, just an enthusiast like the OP.

[jch2103]

I'm a long-time user of both IM and DxO (I'm not a professional). They do indeed work very well together. I use a simple workflow with both:
- I ingest images (mostly Nikon RAW NEF files, but also scanned images) into date-based folders (e.g., yyyy_mmdd).
- I add metadata in IM, including Ratings, location data including coordinates where appropriate, keywords, etc. (DxO recognizes the Ratings I've assigned in IM.)
- I use IM to select images for processing based on Rating, and drag those selections onto a IM Favorite I've created for DxO. Those selected images open as an external selection in DxO; among other things, this means that DxO then presents me with just those selected images, rather than all the images in a particular folder. It also means that I can select a group of images in IM based on criteria such as Categories from multiple folders and process them in DxO all at the same time. Very flexible.
- I use what I believe is now the default NEF buddy file definition in IM, which means these buddy files (e.g., NEF, JPG, DxO .DOP files, etc.) are all transparently handled together for things like file copying.
- I keep original and processed images in the same folders. If I wanted, I could use stacking to simplify the File Window view of folders, but I don't, instead filtering on file type/rating/etc. as needed.

DxO copies relevant metadata from the raw file to the output file, which is very useful (some raw processors don't, leading to a need to copy metadata from the raw to the processed output files). It's true that if you crop an image in DxO and export it, position-relevant information like face tags will have incorrect coordinates in the exported file. However, I think that's a common issue for raw processors, not just DxO.

Let us know if you have other questions.

[plastikman]

What I don't like is, that Photolab exports the complete XMP record with your exports (or no EXIF at all). This way face tags and other position relevant information of the original image will also get exported to the cropped exported images, with wrong coordinates.
Others also don't like, that the star rating of the original will also get exported.
But IMatch versioning can take care of the last one and in the face recognition module you can delete existing faces and rescan the file.

Feeding the exports back as versions is the best solution. I like this process in general. Although I also know some people who only use IMatch with finished exports and not with raw or intermediate products (e.g. TIFF or DNG conversions).

[Jingo]

Although I also know some people who only use IMatch with finished exports and not with raw or intermediate products (e.g. TIFF or DNG conversions).

🙋‍♂️ - JPG (and a few videos) only database here!

[claudermilk]

I've been using DxO for many years now and it's worked very well beside IMatch. The XMP sidecars move the rating data between the two seamlessly, and that's really what i care about. I have the processing sidecars defined as buddy files, so any movement (infinitely rare for me) is handled automatically.

Amusingly to me, my workflow has been similar to John's and is moving to nearly identical: FastRawViewer to cull, DxO to process, Affinity Photo for additional work if needed, and IMatch to manage.

[heicron]

Thank you all for your replies.

I have been going through both IM and DXO forums to pickup more info.

I have a semi-retired pc that is capable of running IM 2020 so I loaded an older db backup and DXO and have been working with them the past several days. Aside from learning the adjustments of DXO I now have to work on buddy files and versions in IM. I worked with LR on a separate drive and kept all the edits within LR.

I guess I will change that part of the workflow now. I always copy my files from the sd card to an empty folder via windows file explorer and remove the card. I don't format it again until all files have been safely stored. I use Nikon cameras, so I have been using Nikonview the last few years to cull my images. They then go to two separate drives, one for safe storage and the other indexed by IM. Both use a date centric folder hierarchy and stay as nefs.

So far DXO works well for raw processing and saving back to IM and I have made a version link on a processed tif file. I save as a tif or jpg as needed. I have a few Topaz plugins to work with too.
Hopefully now I'll be able to leave LR behind and not be required to subscribe to their software.

Thanks for your continued support for IM and DXO.

[plastikman]

I've been using DxO for many years now and it's worked very well beside IMatch. The XMP sidecars move the rating data between the two seamlessly, and that's really what i care about. I have the processing sidecars defined as buddy files, so any movement (infinitely rare for me) is handled automatically.

Amusingly to me, my workflow has been similar to John's and is moving to nearly identical: FastRawViewer to cull, DxO to process, Affinity Photo for additional work if needed, and IMatch to manage.

You only import the finished exports into IMatch? I currently go FastRawViewer (straight on the memory card or via a temp folder on harddisk) > IMatch > PhotoLab > Affinity Photo (sometimes) > back to IMatch as version but am contemplating to also only have JPEG in IMatch. I like having complete metadata even on my RAWs but the problem is that I now tend take longer before I start the creative process.

[Jingo]

I've been using DxO for many years now and it's worked very well beside IMatch. The XMP sidecars move the rating data between the two seamlessly, and that's really what i care about. I have the processing sidecars defined as buddy files, so any movement (infinitely rare for me) is handled automatically.

Amusingly to me, my workflow has been similar to John's and is moving to nearly identical: FastRawViewer to cull, DxO to process, Affinity Photo for additional work if needed, and IMatch to manage.

You only import the finished exports into IMatch? I currently go FastRawViewer (straight on the memory card or via a temp folder on harddisk) > IMatch > PhotoLab > Affinity Photo (sometimes) > back to IMatch as version but am contemplating to also only have JPEG in IMatch. I like having complete metadata even on my RAWs but the problem is that I now tend take longer before I start the creative process.

I am another JPG only IMatch user... I see little value in having my RAW files in IMatch since I hardly ever go back and edit them again.  My JPG's are the editing output that makes the most sense to me.. and it is such a simple way of dealing with all these files.. no need for versioning, buddy files, sidecars, WIC's, etc.

My workflow: Photo Mechanic (memory card to RAW drive) -> Capture One (cull, edit, export to JPG on Output drive) -> Import JPG's to IMatch.  My RAW drive and Output drive use the same exact naming structure and the RAW/JPG file names are identical as well.  If I need to make an edit in C1, I just pull up the catalog, navigate to that image and export a new version..  Works well for me!

[claudermilk]

I've been using DxO for many years now and it's worked very well beside IMatch. The XMP sidecars move the rating data between the two seamlessly, and that's really what i care about. I have the processing sidecars defined as buddy files, so any movement (infinitely rare for me) is handled automatically.

Amusingly to me, my workflow has been similar to John's and is moving to nearly identical: FastRawViewer to cull, DxO to process, Affinity Photo for additional work if needed, and IMatch to manage.

You only import the finished exports into IMatch? I currently go FastRawViewer (straight on the memory card or via a temp folder on harddisk) > IMatch > PhotoLab > Affinity Photo (sometimes) > back to IMatch as version but am contemplating to also only have JPEG in IMatch. I like having complete metadata even on my RAWs but the problem is that I now tend take longer before I start the creative process.

D'oh. Yes. Raw files go into IMatch and get categorized. Then pulled to DxO from there. Metadata is automatically propagated to the developed JPG files with the file relation setup (also created years ago and rarely touched).

[jch2103]

D'oh. Yes. Raw files go into IMatch and get categorized. Then pulled to DxO from there. Metadata is automatically propagated to the developed JPG files with the file relation setup (also created years ago and rarely touched).

Likewise.