Using DXO Nik plugins in DXO PhotoLab 2

[Thornton]

I am currently trying out DXO PhotoLab 2 and as far as I can see the "Brush" button is missing (? -or am I just missing something obvious?). I know that the Nik filters can be applied selectively using control points, but I find brushing in quite handy at times. The Nik plugins, including the brush feature, work fine with the latest PSE, so it seems odd that the feature doesn't seem to be available when using DXO Nik within a DXO product.

Julian

[Manfred M]

I am currently trying out DXO PhotoLab 2 and as far as I can see the "Brush" button is missing (? -or am I just missing something obvious?). I know that the Nik filters can be applied selectively using control points, but I find brushing in quite handy at times. The Nik plugins, including the brush feature, work fine with the latest PSE, so it seems odd that the feature doesn't seem to be available when using DXO Nik within a DXO product.

Julian

So far as I have ever used the Nik Collection (and I've owned it for many years from the time that Nik was an independent company, before it was bought by Google and then later by DxO), that functionality has never been part of the software. Nik started off life as a Photoshop plug-in and it still serves that market well. The functionality you are looking at are part of an editing tool set and not necessarily something that one would expect a plug-in to deliver.

Photo Lab is still very much a raw convertor with some limited local editing capabilities. I do use it when working on images with high noise as I have not found an better tool than it. I don't find it a particularly strong editing tool and will do most of my edits in Photoshop, where the functionality for very fine edits is built in.

Nik is a plug in that has to run well in software other than Photo Lab, otherwise DxO would not sell a lot of copies. Using the output from Nik as a Photoshop layer gives me the control I need to get the most out of that tool.

[Thornton]

Thanks Manfred. I didn’t phrase my question very well, since I meant to say “when using the Nik filters from within DXO PhotoLab 2, the brush function is missing”, though I think you realised what I was trying to say.

I have since learnt that hitting the “Nik Collection” button in PL 2 simply exports a TIFF to a standalone version of the Nik filter because, as you point out, PL 2 is essentially just a raw converter. In view of this, although PL 2 looks attractive, it is certainly not something I really need. At present I am doing most of my raw conversions in Affinity Photo, then (if using Nik) exporting an 8 bit TIFF to PSE where the Nik filters work fine, including the “Brush” feature (which is just a layer masking function). One day, hopefully, Serif will sort out the issues Affinity has with some of the Nik filters (bad colour rendering etc).

I know that using “proper” Photoshop would be the best solution, but if Affinity just sorted this issue it would be very good for my useage, especially for someone trying to keep costs down. The latest beta version of AP beats PSE into a cocked hat for lens correction. I can of course also use Affinity-produced TIFFs standalone, though not a seamlessly as with PL 2, but for web use the Affinity/PSE combination seems best at present.

[Donald]

I downloaded the new Photolab and had a look at the new button to go direct to NIK filters.

I cannot see that I would ever use that. As Manfred say PL is a raw converter. The best in my opinion. That's what I want it to do. I'll go elsewhere to do other things.

It seems as if DXO built this in becuase they could. I don't see it having many practical uses.

The fact that you can't use the brush is because, I assume, you're going from (and to) PL and not Photoshop or PSE.

[davidedric]

On the other hand, if you have settled on PL as your main RAW converter AND editor then it makes sense. It's close to the Develop module of Lightroom plus Nik, which is a perfectly sensible combination.

What doesn't make sense to me is the price that DxO are asking for the upgrade to the next version, which also comes bundled with a copy of the basic version of PL. It seems muddled.

Dave

[Thornton]

I downloaded the new Photolab and had a look at the new button to go direct to NIK filters.

I cannot see that I would ever use that. As Manfred say PL is a raw converter. The best in my opinion. That's what I want it to do. I'll go elsewhere to do other things.

It seems as if DXO built this in becuase they could. I don't see it having many practical uses.

The fact that you can't use the brush is because, I assume, you're going from (and to) PL and not Photoshop or PSE.

Thanks Donald. In fact I have spent this morning trying out PhotoLab and was just about to search out my credit card before I logged back into C in C and found your reply. I am very impressed with PL 2 now. I'd like the pricier version. Decision time!

Julian

[Donald]

I'd like the pricier version. Decision time!

I think you'll like it.

[Thornton]

I think you'll like it.

I checked the offer Dave refers to above and went for the cheaper option which I think gives me all the functionality I really need, and this, together with the upgraded Nik package, was only fifty quid, so I’m pretty pleased. Best of all, though PL2 apparently doesn’t support recent Fuji raw files, it works fine with my old X100 raws.

Julian

[Donald]

I checked the offer Dave refers to above and went for the cheaper option which I think gives me all the functionality I really need, and this, together with the upgraded Nik package, was only fifty quid, so I’m pretty pleased. Best of all, though PL2 apparently doesn’t support recent Fuji raw files, it works fine with my old X100 raws.

They've just started to support the LUMIX DC-LX100 Mk2 files. I'm sure they'll get around to yours before too long. You can put in a request for your camera.