Can you set a default tool selection?

DxO PhotoLab
1

Hi there,

I’m a bit of a newbee - a Lightroom refugee - so forgive me if this is a silly question.

The very first thing I do when I go to the Customise module is to crop. Is it possible to set a default so that crop is preselected?

Many thanks,
Sean

2

Welcome to the forum @Winterdune

You can define a PRESET that includes the settings that you want or need.
Read about some of it in the online user guide.
https://userguides.dxo.com/photolab/en/menus-preferences-and-functions/
Note that the guide is evolving and its search functionality is limited.

You can then make your preset a default preset which will be applied when PhotoLab sees an image for the very first time.

Presets come in two flavours: full and partial

  • Full presets define the settings of all tools. When a full preset is applied later on, all previous settings get overwritten.
  • Partial presets can be tuned to set a limited number of tools.
  • Search the forum for hints about how to edit presets.
3

Many thanks for your reply. Yes, I have made a preset for my work flow, which includes things like ensuring the crop tool is unconstrained and a few other things.

But the issue is I can’t seem to set the crop tool to be the tool automatically pre-selected when I open the Customise tab - it is always the hand tool. Am I doing something wrong?

4

PhotoLab has no such way as far as I know.

  • In PhotoLab, we need to be in “customise” view for “R” to engage the crop tool.
    And the keyboard shortcut to go to “customise” usually needs two hands.
  • In Lightroom, we can press “R” to switch tabs AND open the crop tool.
    Little things like these make Lightroom so efficient.

:man_shrugging:

5

OK thanks. Annoying :confused:.

6

Hi @platypus

It seems to me that you also know another address :wink:

Pascal

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7

Welcom @Winterdune

Take some time to read this :wink:

Pascal

8

Thanks Pascal. Unfortunately the article does not offer me a way to do what I want to do.

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9

If you press the “R” key (keyboard short-cut) the crop-tool will be immediately activated.

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10

Yes that’s what I do. It’s still annoying not to be able to have it as the default tool as in Lightroom though.

11

Sean

I’ve given you the general recipe, create a Partial preset and declare it as Starting preset.

Pascal

12

Pascal, @Winterdune knows how to do that…but it’s not about including the tool or setting it to some value, it’s about making the tool (in the toolbar) active when switching to customise view.

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13

Why doesn’t Adobe apply the same choices as DxO?
What I mean to say is that I’m shocked by the demands to reproduce - without nuance - the behavior of competitors.

Pascal

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14

No need to be shocked. Lightroom is simply more efficient in this case. Let’s look at the following scenario: You have a bunch of images in Library view and want to crop them to e.g. 1:1.

Lightroom:

  1. Select image(s)
  2. Press “R” (no need to let go of the mouse)
  3. Set ratio and select area, hit ENTER.
  4. Done

PhotoLab:

  1. Select Image(s)
  2. Press option-command-2 (I need both hands for that combo)
  3. Press “R”
  4. Set ratio and select area, hit ENTER.
  5. Done

Lr step 2 is replaced by PL steps 2 and 3 which does not sound like much. But the selected key combination forces me to use both hands which is disruptive from an ergonomic point of view. Instead of pressing one key, I have to press four keys and need both hands and the necessary movement of the arm. Maybe we can replicate the key sequence with the help of some additional software? :roll_eyes:

Back to the shock: isn’t it shocking how unergonomic PhotoLab is? Add font size and low UI contrast…but that was already discussed in other threads.

Bottom line: Adobe has the background of years of pro use of their products and some of that was taken into account and shows, e.g. in how efficiently their products can be used.

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15

As I mentioned, Pascal, I’ve already created a preset. But the hand tool remains the default tool. It’s not a question of copying Adobe - it’s a really simple thing - to be able to specify the tool you want to start your work flow with.

1 Like