DxO Photo

[RuleOfThirds]

As for: "one preset does not work for every type of picture."
Well that’s not that strange at all, really. There is no such a thing that „one setting fits all“.
If that was possible, it was not necessary to implement tools and settings menu to change values of different aspects of images within a RAW-converter.

As it comes to „over sharpening“ just lower the values, of sharpening.
- to much halo’s → lower the radius
- to extensive sharpening → lower the intensity

As within DXO Photolab 9 (no experience using version 7) - the base „default“ settings in my experience even are very low / mild.
So no "over sharpening" at all.

Compressed blacks
First of all, within DXO (9) I take over the used camera “rendering” profile. In my case Lumix S1R.
Also I am not using the "Wide Gamut" working color space, but "Classic/Legacy"
Depending to the camera settings - sRGB or AdobeRGB

To get (far) more detail in shadow tones / blacks.
Color/B&W Rendering. - Shift back "Intensity" (maximum back to 0)

View attachment 17814


If that still is not enough to highlight the shadows / blacks:
DxO Smart Lighting. "Custom" function - Shift Intensity to higher value.
Avoid maximum value of 100, as it is "over" corrected, and changed the outcome by a kind of posterization

Still you have other tools under the "Selective tone" menu to highlight the shadows and blacks.

View attachment 17815


Still not used e.g. the "exposure" setting.
Or no corrections done under the Curve menu settings. For highlighting shadows / blacks.
So far enough tools for compensate shadow tones / blacks.

Just make some general corrections for a wide range of pictures, and safe the settings as presets.

Thank you! I tried it on a few pictures and it came out way better... why on earth don't they make this a default. DxO clear view is the one that is default on, and made it very oversharpend but leaving it out made a lot of images appear unsharp. But the classic rendering is a huge part of it, including setting the intensity to 0.

Played with the exposure correction to highlight priority slight, and that was a big help too. But still, things like Lens Softness Correction is awful, and need to be off, if with the sliders to almost 0 it creates halo's.

Only thing is that with the classic rendering flowers for example are (much) less saturated / subdued then the uncorrected image.

 

[Babylonia]

If not needed, you can switch off all "not necessary" tools. Me myself keep most tools "off" as much as possible.
Keep editing settings, to the minimum as possible, as every step "more" takes more CPU resources.
Specially for "between" extra layers, etc. The rest is processed at the end.

Only thing is that with the classic rendering flowers for example are (much) less saturated / subdued then the uncorrected image.

Has to do, by the Colour space of today’s high quality computer monitors in general.
A "classic" Colour space rendering is more based what to expect by "printing" possibilities by "photo" print - sRGB (at a lab),
or by using Inkjet printers (wider range Adobe RGB).

If your intention is to see pictures only at today’s computer monitors, or high quality smartphone LED panels.
(Specially smartphone and iPhone today, the used screens are very good, having a high dynamic range and colour gamut).
Use the "Wide Gamut" setting. You see far more details by high saturated colour, that never can be printed.
"If so" when printing - and using wide gamut setting, high saturated colours are rendered without any detail - "flat" one colour.
This all has to do by using "correct" colour management. (A specialised subject).

 

[RuleOfThirds]

DXO

• Panasonic DC-S5M2
• ƒ/5.4
• 35mm
• 1/400s
• ISO 100

Lightroom, just one click auto.

• Panasonic DC-S5M2
• ƒ/5.4
• 35mm
• 1/400s
• ISO 100

This was one of the images I couldn't get right early 2024 when I just had my Lumix camera. The left side stayed completely black. With @Babylonia settings I can get the blacks normal, and the rendering way better then it was. But what took me now 15 minutes of clicking around was ONE click (auto) in Lightroom. Which is still much better because the saturation and colours is much more accurate. The whitepoint in the dxo is off. Probably my skill deficiency. And yes, it's not the easiest of pictures with the hard contrast.

• Panasonic DC-S5M2
• ƒ/5.4
• 35mm
• 1/400s
• ISO 100

This is the dxo starting point after opening the file, with the compressed blacks etc. and weird colouring. Again, the Lightroom picture is the start point with just one click on auto, no settings changed myself.

 

[RuleOfThirds]

If not needed, you can switch off all "not necessary" tools. Me myself keep most tools "off" as much as possible.
Keep editing settings, to the minimum as possible, as every step "more" takes more CPU resources.
Specially for "between" extra layers, etc. The rest is processed at the end.


Has to do, by the Colour space of today’s high quality computer monitors in general.
A "classic" Colour space rendering is more based what to expect by "printing" possibilities by "photo" print - sRGB (at a lab),
or by using Inkjet printers (wider range Adobe RGB).

If your intention is to see pictures only at today’s computer monitors, or high quality smartphone LED panels.
(Specially smartphone and iPhone today, the used screens are very good, having a high dynamic range and colour gamut).
Use the "Wide Gamut" setting. You see far more details by high saturated colour, that never can be printed.
"If so" when printing - and using wide gamut setting, high saturated colours are rendered without any detail - "flat" one colour.
This all has to do by using "correct" colour management. (A specialised subject).

Normally I show my pictures off at a high quality 75" television in the living room, bit like early days with slides and a projector. And iPad ofcourse. I do send pictures off to profotonet to print sometimes, I do not print pictures myself at home. Prints for in the living room and dining I tend to order prints on canvas 60x40 or larger; like that a lot. Before sending a print job to Profotonet I use their colour profile for proofing on my 27" 5k iMac. (or my MacBook Pro).

 

[Babylonia]

Since your edits essentially amount to general processing without specific requirements,
(like adjusting individual parts of an image using masks and/or or control points).

Record your images in both RAW and JPG format.
Check if you can fine-tune the camera's profile itself in such a way that the camera's JPG output itself is already sufficient for general use.
This saves you a lot of time for additional processing of RAW files.
Only for the relatively few images that still require some extra adjustment, only process the RAW data.
-

 

[RuleOfThirds]

Since your edits essentially amount to general processing without specific requirements,
(like adjusting individual parts of an image using masks and/or or control points).

Record your images in both RAW and JPG format.
Check if you can fine-tune the camera's profile itself in such a way that the camera's JPG output itself is already sufficient for general use.
This saves you a lot of time for additional processing of RAW files.
Only for the relatively few images that still require some extra adjustment, only process the RAW data.
-

I thought about that. I have my camera setup to store raw in sdcard 1 and jpg/video(which I seldom use) to sdcard 2. But voor a jpg centric workflow wb/careful exposure & camera profile selection becomes much more important. My camera gets used mostly when I have my family around, during trips and vacation. I don’t want them to slow down all the time waiting for me to take my pictures. So often I feel rushed photography wise, and a small mistake is easily made. I tend to leave the Lumix in Natural profile.

So now I just ingest the raws, select all, auto exposure in Lightroom and have most pictures 90%+ perfect. After culling I do some level/cropping and fix the one or two where auto failed, and the nicest pictures get some extra special treatment and sometimes posted here. I used to do that after vacation but my MacBook Pro 13” is so small & light + good battery that I bring it with me, and do that already the same day or the following morning before breakfast.

In my Nikon days I uploaded an sReala profile to my D70, and that one was really good so that I could use the jpg 90% of the time and not fiddling too much at the moment of taking the pictures. With Fuji I had C1 and there I shot raw too, mostly in Astia. And for landscape I choose Velvia. But otherwise same workflow as with Lumix. I do miss the film profile selection.