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In collaboration with Gilles Theophile
This tutorial, following the one for beginners about first steps
in DxO Optics Pro 9, takes you beyond the automatic corrections
that
constitute the starting point for using the software, and gives
you an overview of the many available correction tools that are
manually
adjustable.
In the First steps with DxO Optics Pro 9 tutorial, you learned
that as soon as you open your images, the software automatically
applies a
default preset that corrects tone, color, and noise, and also
applies the DxO Optics Module adapted to your equipment so as to
correct
optical defects and optimize image sharpness. And again, these
operations are entirely automatic.
Of course, DxO Optics Pro 9 also lets you manually correct your
images by using the many tools in the Customize tab. In this
tutorial, we
will follow a classic correction workflow by going from white
balance all the way to cropping, going through corrections for
tone, hue,
noise, sharpness, etc.
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DxO Optics Pro 9s Customize tab, with all of the tool palettes
displayed.
To follow this tutorial, you will need:
DxO Optics Pro 9
A RAW image
Contents
1 - The workspace
2 - Correcting images:
3 - Going further
1
The workspace
When you open DxO Optics Pro 9 for the first time, and in
particular the Customize tab, only one single tool palette will be
open by
default: Essential Tools, where you will find the tools that we
will be discussing in this tutorial.
1.1 - The Customize tab
The Customize tab contains all DxO Optics Pros correction tools.
The palettes are divided to the left and right of the Viewer, and
the
Image Browser below displays the contents of the folder or the
project that you select in the Organize tab.
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The Customize tab when opened for the first time.
1.2 - The Essential Tools palette
The Essential Tools palette is located on the right in the
Customize tab. It contains the collection of basic tools that is,
the tools that are
most frequently used, such as white balance, exposure
adjustment, noise reduction, horizon leveling, etc.
The Essential Tools palette.
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The Essential Tools palette with all of the tool sub-palettes
displayed.
Note
The DxO Optics Pro 9 interface is completely customizable: you
can detach and move it, reorder its palettes, and save your
customized
workspaces. (See the User Guide for more information.)
2
Correcting images
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DxO Optics Pro 9 automatically corrects images as soon as they
are opened in the application. Of course, you can adjust the
corrections
after theyve been applied, but you can also modify the behavior
and settings of the automatic corrections themselves.
Note
Technically, the order of the corrections is not set in stone:
the end results will be the same. Nevertheless, for a consistent
workflow, we
recommend that you follow the order suggested here.
2.1 - White balance
By default, DxO Optics Pro 9 uses your cameras white balance
settings. Correcting the white balance lets you accurately recreate
the
colors of the scene youve photographed, or to neutralize a
dominant that can be introduced by certain light sources.
To adjust the correction, go to the Essential Tools > White
Balance palette:
Click on the eyedropper icon in the sub-palette or in the upper
toolbar.
The Viewer display changes to comparison mode (left: before
changes, right: after).
Move the mouse pointer (now in the form of an eyedropper) into
the left-hand image and click on a neutral area (white or
gray).
Validate by clicking on Close (on the bottom right under the
Viewer).
The White Balance sub-palette.
Correcting white balance by using the eyedropper (left-hand
image, under the window).
Note
If you are having trouble finding a neutral area in your image,
or if you have trouble correcting white balance generally, you can
try one of
the presets in the Setting menu (depending on the lighting of
the scene: Cloudy, Tungsten, etc.), or make adjustments using
the
Temperature and Tint sliders.
2.2 - Tone
Tone encompasses everything that concerns the exposure or the
luminosity of an image, with the goal of exploiting the full tonal
range of
the image i.e., the information contained in the shadows,
highlights, and midtones.
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To accomplish this, DxO Optics Pro 9 offers you a large number
of tools with different automatic modes, such as Exposure
Compensation
(which affects the overall exposure of the image) and DxO Smart
Lighting (which optimizes the dynamic range), along with more
traditional tools such as Selective tone, whose sliders let you
act on the different tone ranges in the image, and the Tone
Curve.
DxO Smart Lighting also works automatically and is applied by
the default preset when you open your images. Its automatic setting
by
default is Slight. If you want to recover even more details in
the darker and too-bright areas in your image, here is an easy,
quick, and
effective way to do so:
In the DxO Smart Lighting sub-palette, select in the Mode menu
the Medium or Strong setting, which will brighten the darker
parts of your image.
As this correction will slightly augment the luminosity of the
sky, go to the Exposure Compensation sub-palette and choose
Highlight Priority Medium in the Correction menu.
You can refine these two corrections manually by using the
Exposure and Intensity sliders.
The Exposure Compensation and DxO Smart Lighting
sub-palettes.
Original image.
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Correcting with Exposure Compensation and DxO Smart Lighting
keeps the details in the sky and brightens the urban landscape
without
altering the mood of the photo.
Note
If you have any problems understanding how any of DxO Optics
Pros tools work, click on the small ? pictogram in the upper right
corner
of each palette to display an explanation about that tool.
2.3 - Microcontrast
The Contrast sub-palette contains two tools that are radically
different in the way they are used. The first slider, Contrast,
lets you adjust
the difference between the brightest and the least-bright
elements in the image.
Since the previous step (using the Exposure Compensation and DxO
Smart Lighting tools) sets the global contrast, we are going to
focus
more particularly on the second slider, Microcontrast.
This slider acts in a localized manner, letting you strengthen
the presence and texture of the micro-details in the image,
resulting in more
punchy renderings for architectural, landscape, industrial, and
other kinds of photos. Conversely, if you set the slider to
negative values,
the micro-details will be more diffuse, which can be useful for
softening portraits.
The Contrast sub-palette.
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The Microcontrast slider lets you boost the details in the image
(here enlarged to 100%).
2.4 - Vibrancy
The Color accentuation sub-palette contains two sliders that
allow you to reinforce the color saturation in your images:
Vibrancy: Use this tool to bring out the colors, notably the
blue of the sky, without excessively affecting the other colors in
the image.
Saturation: This slider increases or desaturates all of the
colors in the image, without making any distinctions.
The Color accentuation sub-palette.
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Original image.
Color accentuation with the Vibrancy slider.
2.5 - Noise reduction
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Digital noise affects images more and more as the ISO
sensitivity increases. It manifests as graininess (luminance) and
as clusters of colored
pixels (chrominance noise), notably in the dark areas of the
image.
As soon as your image opens in DxO Optics Pro 9, the High
Quality noise reduction is automatically optimized for the kind of
camera and
the ISO sensitivity you use. High Quality mode is suitable for
most photos, or for when you need to work quickly.
However, DxO Optics Pro 9 also offers a new denoising
technology, DxO PRIME, that is even more effective, since it makes
it possible to
preserve the all the details as well as the color fidelity. DxO
PRIME can be used for images at very high sensitivity (above 3200
ISO)
such as for shots of night-time sports and shows, etc. It can
also be used for photos taken at lower sensitivities and thus with
lots of noise in
the shadows, which can be a problem when you try to brighten the
dark areas. In such cases, DxO PRIME will correct the noise
perfectly
while guaranteeing the preservation of image details.
High Quality denoising:
Even though the default noise correction is very efficient, if
you want to adjust it manually, go to the Noise reduction
sub-palette and
proceed as follows:
Activate the side-by-side display in the upper toolbar to be
able to easily compare the corrected image with the original.
Zoom in on the image to 100% by clicking on the 1:1 button
located in the upper toolbar. (We recommend that you enlarge the
view
to this size to be able to truly see the effects of the
correction.)
In the Noise reduction sub-palette, verify that High mode is
activated (you may have to click on the corresponding button).
To smooth out the grain a bit more, move the Luminance slider to
the right (excessive settings will affect the details in the
image).
By default, the Chrominance and Low frequency sliders are at
their maximum settings (100%). Diminishing the values will only
reintroduce noisy pixels and colored artifacts.
To return to the automatic correction setting, click on the
magic wand to the right of the relevant slider.
The Noise reduction sub-palette.
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Comparing the original image (left) and the image processed with
High Quality denoising (right) at 100%.
DxO PRIME denoising:
Due to longer processing time, using DxO PRIME is a bit
different, since you will only be able to preview the results for a
small portion of
the image rather than for the entire image. (To see the entire
image, you will have to export the photo as a TIFF or JPEG when
processing is
completed.)
Click on the PRIME button in the Noise reduction
sub-palette.
Next, click on the Magnifier center button on the upper right of
the preview pane.
Place the Magnifier center frame in a place in the image where
you would like to see the effects of DxO PRIME denoising.
Animated circle arrows in the preview pane indicate that DxO
PRIME is processing the noise reduction in the chosen area.
If you select another location, or if you change one of the
setting sliders, DxO PRIME will resume its calculations, as
evidenced by
the indicator in the preview pane.
To apply the denoising to the entire image, you will need to
export it.
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DxO PRIME noise reduction lets you achieve much greater quality
by completely eliminating granulation while still preserving the
image
details and original colors.
Note
DxO PRIME denoising only applies to RAW files.
2.6 - Sharpness
If your equipment is supported by a DxO Optics Module, it will
automatically take care of correcting vignetting, distortion,
chromatic
aberration, well as optimizing the sharpness of your lens. Your
image will not only be sharper, crisper, and more detailed, but the
algorithms
will also ensure the uniformity of the sharpness between the
edges and the center of the image. (Lenses are always a bit less
powerful on the
periphery than in the center of an image.)
The automatic DxO Lens Softness corrections are generally
sufficient for most images, but if you want to adjust the
corrections, here is how
to proceed:
Go to the Optical Corrections palette, and then into the DxO
Lens Softness sub-palette.
Zoom into the image at 100% using the 1:1 button in the upper
toolbar. (Enlarging the image makes it easier to see the
sharpening
effects.)
You can strengthen or diminsh the overall sharpness by using the
Global slider.
The Detail slider acts on the sharpness of the small details and
textures.
The Bokeh slider limits the accentuation of the artifacts in the
background.
The DxO Lens Softness sub-palette is part of the Optical
Corrections palette.
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By pushing the Global slider a bit more, you can achieve an
image that is even more detailed, crisp, and sharp without
artifacts. On the
left, the image showing the results of the sharpness default
setting (enlarged to 80%).
Note
If your equipment is not yet supported by a DxO Optics Module,
you can still enhance the sharpness by using the Unsharp Mask
sub-palette (in the Detail and Geometry Advanced palette).
2.7 - Horizon and cropping
To finalize your image, you may need to straighten a slightly
tilted horizon, which will also mean a slight cropping of the
image. You may
also want to modify the composition of your image, particularly
if your subject is too far off from center. Heres how:
To straighten the horizon:
Click on the Horizon button in the upper toolbar.
The mouse pointer will change into a cross as soon as you place
it in the image.
Hold down the mouse button and draw a reference line in the
image.
Once you let go of the mouse button, the image will right
itself.
If the Crop sub-palette is active and in Auto mode, your image
will be cropped automatically.
To validate, click on Close on the lower right.
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Pour redresser l'horizon, vous pouvez aussi tracer la ligne sur
une rfrence verticale, si l'horizon n'est pas visible.
The original image (left) and the straightened image
(right).
To crop:
Click on the Crop button in the upper toolbar.
The mouse pointer changes into a cross as soon as you place it
in the image.
Hold down the mouse button to draw a frame within the image, and
then release the mouse button.
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You can adjust the size of the frame to your liking by using the
handles on the sides and in the corners of the frame.
You can change your image composition by moving the crop frame
within the image.
The height-to-width ratio of the original image is respected by
default, but you can use the Aspect Ratio menu in the toolbar
below
the image to select a different ratio.
To validate, click on Close on the lower right.
The Crop tool and the rule of thirds grid.
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The original image (left) and the straightened and cropped image
(right).
3
Going further
We have just gone over some of the most common corrections that
photographers are most likely to use, either to refine the
automated
corrections of DxO Optics Pros default preset and DxO Optics
Modules, or to manually control corrections partially or
completely.
Of course, weve only touched on DxO Optics Pro 9s many possible
corrections. The tools we have presented here have many more
options and features, and there are many other tools that we
have not presented which allow you to remove dust specks, convert
color
photos to black & white, apply different presets, etc.
To learn more, we invite you to visit DxO Academy, where you
will find even more specialized tutorials, along with webinars and
user
guides.
Photos credits : Gilles Theophile / DeMarcus Woods
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