I am trying to evaluate PhotoLab as a replacement for Lightroom/Photoshop/Nik Collection.
If I send an image from PhotoLab to the Nik Suite (7) and then come back from there, I understand I get a tiff and it will be in a project or folder (I am not sure of the details) in PhotoLab. But - if I then send that tiff once again to the Nik Suite what is the situation? Can I add a new layer and then I end up with only one tiff - or, will it spawn a new tiff?
“Normally” you export as tiff
and as a result you get a tiff as an intermediate file in the same folder,
which appears changed accordingly after applying a Nik filter.
In case you don’t want a 2nd export you can choose
and apply another Nik filter, which then alters the same tiff file.
This functionality is initially intended to reapply/change something in the last used Nik filter,
if you saved it in that Nik filter as a “duplicate” layer.
@justinwyllie
Above is about PL / NIK. Long-time NIK user (now on NIK 6 + 3.3), but haven’t tried the latest changes in NIK 7. For working with LR and PS (i’m still on old versions), see the latest answers below.
Do you want to know if PhotoLab can replace the trio composed of Lr, Ps and Nik?
Do you want to know if PhotoLab and Nik can replace the Lr+Ps combo?
In case your YES goes to question 1
Nik has a unique set of features that can be approximated by PhotoLab.
You’d probably also want FilmPack for its additional renderings and fine contrast sliders.
Get the ELITE editions, don’t bother with Essential.
In case your YES goes to question 2
Get DPL Elite, don’t bother with the Essential edition. The free trial comes as Elite edition and if you buy the Essential edition afterwards, you risk to be disappointed.
What about TIFF with Nik
A TIFF file is created before it can be edited with Nik.
PhotoLab offers a choice of creating a new TIFF or using the existing TIFF instead
→ Selecting one over the other requires to use the Nik settings, which are present in the dropdown in which you select the Nik plugin. It’s not a huge detour, but a few additional clicks that carry over to future processing in Nik. Therefore, you might need to visit the settings every time, unless you remember exactly what was set the last time.
What about TIFF without Nik
Without Nik, you can work with intermediate TIFFs if you like … but
→ It’s better practice to stick to RAW and use virtual copies instead of using intermediate TIFFs. Using virtual copies lets you re-edit images again and again in PhotoLab … and all you get is a few additional bytes in a .dop sidecar file instead of filling your drive with huge TIFFs.
This process is such a design flaw. Photolab knows the TIFF was edited with a Nik plugin. It should just re-open such a TIFF if you choose the same plugin. Having to go check Nik Settings every time because you never know what was done last time is such an annoyance. It is like if the designers didn’t use this workflow and just throw it in there as an afterthought.
