Help a newbie integrate PL5 and iMatch

[mark.levineonline]

I am evaluating iMatch so I'm busy pouring through documentation. I cannot get DxO Photolab 5 properly integrated and could use advice.

I have set PL5 as the Windows default application for RAF files. In iMatch, when I select a RAF thumbnail and click Ctrl-Enter, I properly activate PL5 with focus on the proper image. However, I am in the PhotoLibrary tab with a filmstrip of all images in the folder containing the RAF file. (I desperately want to avoid the PhotoLibrary tab!) When I perform the same action in Photo Supreme, I am properly place in the PL5 Customize tab with only 1 image selected.

I'm only getting used to editing preferences in iMatch. I think this is the most complex part of the application! Is there a change in my preferences that will allow me to pass the currently select RAF image properly to PL5?

[Mario]

IMatch uses a standard Windows protocol to "open" files in other applications.
Windows starts the other application if it is not running and then tells is to open the files you have selected in IMatch.

If the other application does that, and how, is totally up to the other application. Windows/IMatch has no control over this.
As you've learned, PS handles this different than PL and Lightroom handles this different than Photoshop.

Try dragging files from the IMatch File Window onto the PL5 icon in the task bar or the PL5 window if it is already running. Maybe it then does what you want?
Maybe you have to drop the files at a certain spot / tab / panel?

If none of this works, contact the support of PL5 and ask them if they could change how they implemented the Windows drag & drop protocol for HDROP.

[mark.levineonline]

Thanks for replying.

I dragged a RAF thumbnail from iMatch and dropped onto an open PhotoLab5 Customize tab and got a better result but there is still a problem. The filmstrip beneath the customize tab lists thumbs of all the images contained in the folder along with the RAF file.

When Photo Supreme does this, it seems to create a temporary collection containing only the currently selected images, so the filmstrip contains as few as one file.

I am concerned about this because I fear that PL5 is a memory hog. Currently when working with batches of files, my system slows until it must be rebooted. I don't know the impact of having unneeded thumbs in the PL5 filmstrip but I worry (without evidence) that it will exacerbate any memory issues.

[Mario]

IMatch has no control over how DxO Photolab behaves with dropped files. That's up to DxO and how they implement this feature.

Dragging a file into Lightroom also opens the folder (!) containing the file in the Developer Module. That's just how these applications are designed to to work.

Tip: If you select a file in IMatch and press <Ctrl>+<C>, IMatch copies the full file name into the Windows clipboard.
You can then sue the "Open File" dialog in your other software and paste the file name into the "Open File..." dialog.
This is usually only needed with applications which don't handle any of the standard Windows drag & drop protocols, but maybe it works better with DxO than dropping files.

I have not used DxO in a while, but there are many other DxO users here in the community. Maybe they can comment on this.

[mark.levineonline]

Thanks for you help, Mario. I know the integration can work better because Photo Supreme has the correct behavior. I am hopeful that I can change some settings somewhere to fix the issue. Perhaps there is a member of the community who has faced this problem and corrected it.

[JohnZeman]

Welcome to the amazing world of IMatch!

If you create a Windows shortcut that sends the selected image(s) to PhotoLab and drag that shortcut to the IMatch Favorites panel, then selecting image(s) in IMatch and clicking that favorite will open those images in a PhotoLab external selection in the Customize section.

That's the way I process all of my raw photos.

[stefanjan2]

Like JohnZeman I also process all my files in Photolab using a favourite in imatch.

I select one or more images in imatch and then click on the photolab favourite in imatch. Photolab opens with the first of the selected images opn in customize.

Only the selected images are visible in Photolab.

If I then wanted to view all the images in the folder, I can right mouse click and select load original image folder.

I have setup a preset in Photolab so I can export processed images back to a "Processed" subfolder of the original folder.

I think the workflow works really well

[Mario]

See Favorites for details about Favorites in IMatch and Applications Favorites for instructions for how to create a shortcut for Photolab in IMatch.

[jch2103]

Like JohnZeman I also process all my files in Photolab using a favourite in imatch.
...
I think the workflow works really well

Likewise!

[mark.levineonline]

This is exactly what I'm looking for but I'm having trouble creating the Favorite. Could you treat as an incompetent old man and post a screen shot of the settings for your Photolab favorite or point me to Photolab documentation that helps with parameters to pass files into the Customize tab. Thanks!!! In the meantime, I'll keep searching and post the settings if I find them on my own.

Like JohnZeman I also process all my files in Photolab using a favourite in imatch.

I select one or more images in imatch and then click on the photolab favourite in imatch. Photolab opens with the first of the selected images opn in customize.

Only the selected images are visible in Photolab.

If I then wanted to view all the images in the folder, I can right mouse click and select load original image folder.

I have setup a preset in Photolab so I can export processed images back to a "Processed" subfolder of the original folder.

I think the workflow works really well

[stefanjan2]

Make sure that the Favourites panel is visible:

View > Panels > Favourites OR shortcut F9,F

Add an applications tab to the Favourites panel (create one if it doesn't exist):

In Windows search, search for the Photolab start icon, right mouse click, Open file location, drag the Photolab shortcut onto the Applications favourites tab.

Then you can multi select images in the imatch file window and  then click on the Photolab favourite to open in Photolab

If this is not clear, let me know

[mark.levineonline]

Thank you! I thought that I had done that and I thought that the favorite was continuing to show all images in the PhotoLibrary tab. But then, it started working correctly. I don't know why but I'm a happy camper. I dragged and dropped a Windows desktop icon into the Favorites pane. Thanks all. I am impressed with the community support!

[stefanjan2]

I am impressed with the community support!

Yes the support on this group is great, imatch is very feature rich but can be a learning curve. I have received so much help from the forum so try when I can to repay that help. Have to be fast though to beat Mario to the answer!

[Mario]

Have to be fast though to beat Mario to the answer!

I keep an eye on (a slightly pimped version of) the IMatch News app. It lists new community posts automatically.

[Belenos2017]

Thank you John Zeman and stefanjan - that is my workflow too, but how do I programme the call of the Favourite so that exactly only the images selected in Imatch are loaded in DXO?

[Mario]

Thank you John Zeman and stefanjan - that is my workflow too, but how do I programme the call of the Favourite so that exactly only the images selected in Imatch are loaded in DXO?

Application favorites automatically send the files selected in the active File Window to the application linked to the favorite (e.g. opens all selected files in Photoshop or Affinity Designer). See Create an Application Favorite

[jch2103]

As Mario suggests, files selected in the active File Window via a Favorite are opened by PhotoLab. In the case of PhotoLab, they're loaded as External Selections. This makes it easy to open a group of images (selected images from a single folder or images from several folders) to process at the same time in PhotoLab.