DxO PhotoLab 7 for Infrared Photography

In this video, I'll explore DxO PhotoLab 7 for infrared photography and the key features for IR editing, including white balance capabilities, color swap options, and contrast adjustments. I compare the Essential and Elite editions of DxO PhotoLab and discuss the additional plugins and collections offered by DxO. If you are interested in infrared photography, here are my insights to help you decide if DxO PhotoLab is the right tool for your needs.
0:00 Intro
0:55 White Balance
3:16 Channel Mixer & Invert
4:37 Hue shift
6:42 LUTs
8:45 Contrast
10:26 Noise Reduction
11:07 Luminosity & Local HSL
11:49 Summary
Software used: DxO PhotoLab Elite 7.2.0
DxO PhotoLab: 590.red/dxo-ph...
Infrared Book: www.infraredbo...
Lightroom Infrared Color Swap Profiles: 590.red/lr-ir-...
Infrared Profiles, LUTs, & Presets: 590.red/profiles
Infrared Blog: 590.red/blog
Infrared Newsletter: 590.red/news
Infrared Coaching: 590.red/coach
Diffraction Calculator: www.diffractio...
Infrared Lenses: 590.red/lenses
Infrared Editors: 590.red/raw
Email (no attachments): [e-mail]
Send images: 590.red/share
Tip Jar: 590.red/tip
Instagram: 590.red/ig
Vero: 590.red/vero
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Affiliate Links
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Camera Conversions & Filters
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Kolari Vision USA and worldwide: 590.red/kv
LifePixel Infrared USA and worldwide: 590.red/lp
Full Spectrum International EU and worldwide: 590.red/fsuk
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Gear
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KEH Camera - Used Cameras and Lenses: 590.red/keh
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Raw Editors
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ON1 Photo Raw - Get 20% off with code ROBSHEA20 590.red/on1
DxO PhotoLab: 590.red/dxo-ph...
Nik Collection: 590.red/nik
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#infrared #infraredphotography #infraredcamera
Close Captioned

[@montxsuz]

I use DxO Photolab Elite with all of my MFT (Micro Four Thirds) cameras, as the denoising is second to none, important for small sensors. I use Capture One for editing my Nikon DSLR, as I like being able to use presets. I have used DxO for Infrared in the past, and like you said it is solid, but this year I have upgraded On1 for that purpose, just a little more flexible.

[@robshea]

Good call-out on the benefit of denoising for smaller sensors. Thanks!

[@ernyr516]

Well done Rob, good review . the good thing about Photolab is that you can quite easily send things to photoshop or to nik collection , for silver efex 6 or clour efex pro 6 and you can absolutely go nuts with colour and any other efex you wish to use . Works for me .Cheers mate.

[@stevehageman6785]

Thanks Rob, I also appreciate you providing some sample images with different filters for us to play around with. I actually like Photolab IR color swap better than the photoshop options - You just 'Pull' the popsicle around, and then you can fine tune the final color rendering to suit. The NIK Collection Silver Efex is just superb to help convert the false color IR photos to really good B&W's.

[@robshea]

Another improvement that I would like to see added to the PhotoLab Tone Curve is to display the histogram in the background of the Tone Curve, which would allow you to visually see the relative amount of each tone.

[@photo-markus]

I use photolab and bought version 7, and I also use Color efex a lot. Did not try DxO photolab particularly for ir, but for sure I will!

[@MrCaliber30]

Great video. Think i`m going to use Photolab instead of Lightroom for IR photography.

[@stevehageman6785]

I like the way DXO does the local adjustments with control points.

[@MrCaliber30]

@@stevehageman6785 Will try that. Tanks for the tip.

[@elmafudd9703]

I wish it could change the size of some of the dialouge boxes. The histogram box is hard work on a 4K monitor. I like to increase the size to create less eye strain. Dragging over the names of things, i.e., CONTRAST, instead of tying to hit the tiny buttons would also be another improvement. I can only assume Adobe has a copyright on such things. It's a great program, and I'm glad to be free of the Adobe subscription.

[@robshea]

You can vote on new features. Here is an example: forum.dxo.com/t/better-user-interface/20230

[@mdturnerinoz]

I have ALL the DXO products (yes, I am a gear nerd), but I have not yet used PL7 for IR; thanks, a greatly helpful video! BTW Any thoughts on using Photomator or Capture One for IR? Perhaps a video on both?

[@robshea]

Here is a video on Capture One: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fou7dZaNi9d2qsk Here is a video on Photomator: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqu7g2ihpLdlaqs

[@davidschachter3104]

Great Video Rob. Would like to see your IR photo processing using Photolab with the Nik Collection plug ins. I do have one question. Do you feel one gets better quality IR RAW photos when shooting IR with auto WB, or to set a custom WB, on grass or the likes? I shoot with a fully converted Sony a6000, using mostly an 720nm filter, for mostly monochrome/B&W images. Thanks.

[@robshea]

When shooting RAW, the WB you set in camera doesn't impact the quality of the image. You will have full control of the WB while editing. While shooting, set whatever WB helps you to preview the image in your viewfinder.

[@trashenstein8732]

hi Rob. Thanks for answering some of my questions wrt to editing IR files. I have yet to use a trial version but did try version 6 before deciding on On1 2024. My question is: can edits made to one file be copied and applied to another file in a sequence? Can an edit be saved as a preset specific for 590nm or 720nm?

[@robshea]

Yes, you can copy/paste settings between images and save settings as a preset.

[@MrCaliber30]

Sometimes when transfering picture from Photolab til LR as DNG the picture does not look like in Photolab (in LR) when comparing (for ex not the same colors). Other times it`s an exakt match. Anyone who knows why? Have not figure out which workflow that is the best.

[@robshea]

This sounds like a color space issue. Ensure that you are using the best color space in each program. LRC uses ProPhoto RGB in the Develop module; this is fixed. In DxO PhotoLab, you have two options: DxO Wide Gamut and Classic (Legacy). I recommend trying Wide Gamut.

[@MrCaliber30]

@@robshea . Will try. Appreciate your reply.

[@MrCaliber30]

@@robshea . I forgot to mention that the colors are always correct when exporting as TIFF. The problems only occur when exporting DNG.

[@Sourav1973]

Does this version support Samsung S22 Ultra dng files?

[@robshea]

www.dxo.com/supported-cameras/

[@Sourav1973]

Thanks! The RAW support is not there. It's extremely limited and backdated as far as supporting RAW files from mobile devices. @@robshea

[@elobilo1]

@@Sourav1973 few to no mobile devices are or will supported from the recent years as there really isn't anymore a true "raw" image from these cameras, due to the immense amount of post processing / merging of individual pictures and AI "manipulation" that they all do, even to get what thy call their native raw images. Photolab needs raw sensor data, mobile phones do not supply this even using their "RAW" output.