DxO Optics Pro and Lightroom Interaction

[Robert Boire]

Hi,

I am trying an evaluation copy of DxO Optics Pro and am trying to understand the interaction with LR.

I understand that I can export an image from LR to DxO and that when that export take places DxO only sees the original image and not any of the changes (unless of course I export the image from LR to a jpeg or tiff and re import it into LR first etc).

On the other hand even I do not export the image from LR I can simply manouevre the DxO organizer to the appropriate folder and I can still see and manipulate the image

So my question is, what is the point of exporting it in the first place, if I can manipulate it directly within DxO?

Thanks

[JimAscher]

Hi,

I am trying an evaluation copy of DxO Optics Pro and am trying to understand the interaction with LR.

I understand that I can export an image from LR to DxO and that when that export take places DxO only sees the original image and not any of the changes (unless of course I export the image from LR to a jpeg or tiff and re import it into LR first etc).

On the other hand even I do not export the image from LR I can simply manouevre the DxO organizer to the appropriate folder and I can still see and manipulate the image

So my question is, what is the point of exporting it in the first place, if I can manipulate it directly within DxO?

Thanks

I use Lightroom both as a data base (filing system) and for some processing as well.  I first import my raw files from the camera card to Lightroom, select which raw photos seem "promising" to me, then export those to DxO Pro (converting them first to tif if DxO doesn't handle the raw format of my particular camera).  DxO then sends these processed photos back to Lightroom where I can begin processing them in Lightroom and/or Silver Efex Pro.  Of course, as you mention, I can also work first directly in DxO Pro, then copy the DxO processed photos to Lightroom for further processing.

[Robert Boire]

  Of course, as you mention, I can also work first directly in DxO Pro, then copy the DxO processed photos to Lightroom for further processing.

So, this does not really answer my question. If DxO can work directly with the native raw files, what is the point of exporting them from LR in the first place?

R

[JimAscher]

So, this does not really answer my question. If DxO can work directly with the native raw files, what is the point of exporting them from LR in the first place?

R

My method enables me to evaluate all the photos first in Lightroom before sending a selected few to DxO. 

[fdisilvestro]

If DxO can work directly with the native raw files, what is the point of exporting them from LR in the first place?

R

For a LR user, the LR-DxO plugin is meant to use DxO as an alternate "Develop" module in LR.

[Robert Boire]

My method enables me to evaluate all the photos first in Lightroom before sending a selected few to DxO.

and

For a LR user, the LR-DxO plugin is meant to use DxO as an alternate "Develop" module in LR.

But in either case - whether you look the images in LR first or not - it is not necessary to send (export) from LR for the image to be visible in DxO. DxO will see the images on disk (raw, TIFF, jpeg) and can be used to develop them whether they have been exported to LR or not. So I still do not see the point in the export step. It seems to add nothing.

[sjprg]

My take on this is that for the many photographers that directly import from card or camera directly into LR can now utilize DXO. For those that always copy from card or camera to storage it and then import from storage to LR it has no advantage. For those of us whom use an SQL database probably don't use LR's at all.

[william-porter]

[W]hat is the point of exporting it in the first place, if I can manipulate it directly within DxO?

Robert,

The reason to use both Lightroom (or something else) and DxO Optics Pro — and thus to export from Lightroom or whatever over to DxO Optics Pro — is that DxO Optics Pro is a terrific processing app, but it has virtually no asset management features. Even if you're not a professional event photographer, these days, everybody takes lots of photos, and you need something that can manage them. I use Lightroom for this purpose. And when I process in DxO Optics Pro, it makes most sense to export back to LR as TIF. The DxO Optics Pro plug-in for LR and DxO OP's 'export to LR' command work really well together.

I also use ON1 Photo 10 fairly regularly. It has pretty good asset management features and for a while I thought I might be able to cut the cord with Adobe and use ON1 Photo 10 instead to manage my photos. But alas, Lightroom is just too good for managing and for a little while longer at least I'm stuck with LR.

Will

[PIsaacs]

FWIW, I use DxO almost exclusively, but am forced to use LR (4.4) when DxO won't process my old raw files of pictures taken with, e.g., my Olympus E-1 when I want to rework something from the past. So the interaction has a possible benefit there.

[orc73]

answer to your question: it imports the processed file automatically to Lightroom. And unless you save to tif/jpg format in dxo, you wont be able to see in lr what you did on your raw files, as the raw itselves is unchanged.

[orc73]

i have to add that i was quite impressed how the dxo plugin gets the raw out of lr and export it back again in whatever way you want. no other app does that.
there are some issues though, the additional on top lr adjustments might get lost when you edit the tiffs again in ps or so.

[JoachimStrobel]

DXO does keep most of the edit work done in the linear DNG that it sends back to LR. There is an ongoing discussion in the DXO Forum of what it does exactly keep, the DXO people seem to have trouble finding that out themselves. For sure one needs to attach a camera profile again because LR can not find the original one, or that is lost.

DXO does a fine job returning the photos to LR. Yes. But in LR one can only stack in folders and not in collections. So one has quite some work to do sorting everything back into the collections from where all came from.