DxO Releases PhotoLab 9 with AI Masking and Expanded Local Adjustments
DxO has announced the release of PhotoLab 9, the latest version of its RAW photo editing software, available now for macOS and Windows.
The update introduces AI-powered masking, designed to create automatic selections for local adjustments. Masks can be generated by clicking on parts of an image, drawing a box around a subject, or choosing from predefined categories such as sky, people, faces, and hair. These masks can be combined with DxO’s existing U Point tools, control points, lines, and brushes for more complex selections.
PhotoLab 9 also extends local adjustments to include denoising, demosaicing, and lens sharpening. This allows users to apply DxO’s DeepPRIME noise reduction and Lens Sharpness Optimisation to specific areas of an image rather than globally.
Other changes focus on workflow. The software now includes image stacking, a favourites system for folders and projects, and direct access to the project palette from the editing interface. Relocated folders can be easily reconnected, and a batch renaming tool has been added. The renaming system can draw on metadata, EXIF data, or custom text, with options to save presets for consistent naming conventions.
The release also brings support for Apple HEIC/HEIF and ProRAW image formats, enabling files from iPhones to be processed within PhotoLab.
For Fujifilm users, PhotoLab 9 introduces DeepPRIME XD3 for X-Trans sensors. First previewed in DxO PureRAW 5, the technology is now available in PhotoLab and can process RAW files from all X-Trans cameras.
Price and availability
DxO PhotoLab 9 is available from the DxO website. A new licence costs €239.99 / £219.99 / $239.99, while upgrades from PhotoLab 7 or 8 are priced at €119.99 / £109.99 / $119.99. A 30-day trial can also be downloaded.
More information is available at dxo.com.
You can use the code: ThomasFitzgerald15 to get 15% off your purchase at DXO.com
My First Impressions
I’ve only played around with this a little so far, and so once I’ve had a bit more time with it, I’ll do a full post covering it. But my first impressions are that the AI masking seems solid. It seems to work reasonably well, and is certainly better than some other software. I need to do more testing, but the sky selection and object selection seem similar to Lightroom. Again, take with a grain of salt as I was away and haven’t had a chance to try this on many images.
Another thing I noticed is that they have a new option in the display setting that keeps using the high-quality preview when making adjustments. In previous versions, when you go to adjust something, the resolution would drop, but now you have the option to keep it full quality. The downside to this is a fairly substantial performance hit. So if you’re trying this and you notice a slowdown, go into the settings and turn it off. Another important new setting in here is that it can now preview Deep Prime, which I think means it renders a Deep Prime preview full screen. This has long been one of my issues with the software.
iPhone support is there, but there are a couple of caveats. Because many Apple ProRAW files are HDR, they can import underexposed. You will need to tweak them considerably to compensate for this. Also, it only supports Apple ProRAW and docent support RAW formats from other camera apps. At least those from Adobe Indigo don’t seem to work. Oh, and one other thing, Deep Prime is not supported on Apple ProRAW files. I guess this is to be expected as it requires demosaicing, and ProRAW files are demosaiced.
I haven’t tried any Fuji Files yet, but as this is the same as PureRAW, the results should be good. Incidentally, that also received an update today, and now the Deep Prime X-Trans version should work with all X-Trans files, including those from X-Trans 5. I will try this shortly, so stay tuned.
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