It requires a studied eye to judge when you’ve got it right. This is where you correct shapes that may have gotten distorted. A slip of the mouse may ruin your work, so before taking any further steps, use Undo to restore the latest geometric correction and continue from there.Īnother option is called Volume Anamorphosis. The lack of a History panel and Snapshots makes it necessary to work diligently. The various keystone correction tools may override each other, so be careful. Start by drawing a rectangle on the “before” image and watch the changes practically in real time as you then morph angles until the shapes and lines align properly, which includes leveling off the horizon line. As with several tools in Optics Pro, select it and the view changes to before (uncropped), serving as a sketch pad, and after (modified). It’s essentially every keystoning parameter in one. The Force Rectangle tool is a bit tricky. This may require some finessing, and sometimes it’s better to leave a little keystoning in so as not to cut off important parts of structures. Just draw two lines, one on either side coinciding with a slanted vertical line, and the image comes to attention. I find that viewing the image at 100 percent often works best when fine-tuning these corrections.įorce Parallel is the easiest to use. Other applications may apply similar fixes when the image is opened, but for me here’s what sweetens the pot: the “Force Parallel” and “Force Rectangle” keystone correction tools. I had no qualms about opening the shadows (exaggerated here for effect), knowing that Optics Pro could easily tackle both luminance and chrominance noise in these areas and throughout the image, with NR at Auto levels (see cropped detail).ĭxO Optics Pro gives you some of the best tools for correcting perspective distortion, although they can prove confusing to the uninitiated-and more time-consuming at first.
Optics Pro 7 has one of the best Noise Removal (NR) engines I’ve seen, if not the best. (Check the DxO website regarding Raw files and features supported for your camera.) The widest camera and lens support is found in the Elite edition (reviewed here), which covers pro and prosumer D-SLRs, as well as a slew of amateur cameras covered in the Standard edition.
In several instances where the provided profile did not adequately correct for barrel distortion, for example, I found that manual input did the trick. You may be able to use a module for a similar lens if the one you need is missing or you can manually input the corrections-usually a fairly easy process. They can be added later, when Optics Pro recognizes a need for them as you view relevant images. I had no problem saving files as JPEG, 8/16-bit TIFF, or DNG, but you can’t open files saved as DNG.ĭxO Optics Pro employs custom profiles tailored to the cameras and lenses that you use. The final step in the DxO Optics Pro workflow is “Process,” where images are exported and saved. Here you see the split-screen view, and on the panel to the right are some of the key settings I used for a custom Preset, including the modified Tone Curve. The EXIF data is a bit sparse for a program that is otherwise quite detailed. The left panel includes a Histogram, EXIF data, and Preset Editor. Click on a frame to place that image front and center for editing.
The “Customize” workspace can be tailored to your needs, but I’d recommend the Advanced User workspace, as it offers the full array of editing tools. (In addition to Presets, you can also copy and paste correction settings.) Interestingly, you can use Presets in the Organize pane, even before you start customizing (editing) the image.ĭxO Optics Pro 7 “Customize” Workspace (Mac Platform) (Note: Make your choice at the outset, or the program will apply its own default Preset.) You can tailor and save Presets and use them at any time while in Customize. Now, you can set Preferences to select the No Corrections Preset so that no changes are made as you embark on this journey, although you still have the option of choosing any image-altering Preset as your default. In the past, the program imposed a Preset that modified every image that was opened, like it or not.
Beyond this point the Mac and Windows versions part ways in one key respect: the Windows version runs faster than the Mac version, which continues to be laborious. Double-click on an image and that takes you right to the nondestructive editing phase, in Customize. Now you go straight to work after opening a folder. The Select pane is gone, so you no longer have to deal with tedious Projects (unless you want to). Optics Pro Version 7 is a dramatic departure from earlier releases.