(Image credit: Rod Lawton) (opens in new tab) It also offers saved searches and support for a wider range of EXIF and IPTC tags. With the ability now to 'nest' Projects (left panel), PhotoLab 6 has suddenly become a much more serious tool for image organization. So what is PhotoLab 6? You could look at it two ways – as a massively more powerful Adobe Bridge/Adobe Camera Raw replacement, or as a Lightroom alternative with better tools, better output and no tedious import process. It offers ‘soft proofing’ for different output devices too.

PhotoLab 6 has a new, wider working color space too – an indication that DxO takes color management very seriously. A key feature of this is that you can now rotate, scale or transform your clone ‘source, so that if you need to replace a window in a building, say, and the only source you can use is a smaller one nearby, you can now manipulate it to fit the dimensions of the window you want to replace. (Image credit: Rod Lawton) (opens in new tab)ĭxO has also introduced new, upgraded Retouch tool. Here, we've cloned out an ugly drain cover using a flagstone pattern closer to the camera that's been scaled to match the area being repaired. The new ReTouch tool solves an age-old cloning problem – matching the scale and perspective of your clone source. It’s not quite in the same league as Lightroom, say, but it may be all that most photographers need. This is boosted by support for additional EXIF and IPTC data tags. Before, they were useful perhaps for short term tasks but little more, but the new ability to organize and structure Projects means that overnight the PhotoLibrary module has changed from being a simple Adobe Bridge style folder browser into a proper organizing/cataloguing tool. Previously, you could only have a simple linear list of Projects. One of the key new features in PhotoLab 6 is the ability to ‘nest’ Projects in the PhotoLibrary window in a hierarchical folder system.

PhotoLab 6 is primarily a high-end raw processing and editing program, but some steady evolution through successive versions means that its turned into something more.

Version 6 now includes perspective correction controls (at last!) but there's also a DxO ViewPoint 4 standalone program for much more advanced corrections – and once installed it integrates with the PhotoLab 6 interface.

Dxo photolab 5 system requirements