Is is possible to disable automatic rotation/orientation in PhotoLab?
I have made a series of top down macro photos and now some of the images are portrait in PhotoLab, unclear if it’s clockwise or anti-clockwise. I can’t reset the rotation because it resets to the exif data’s rotation.
You can rotate CW or CCW in the menu. But photolab is just trying to observe what the camera perceived as upright when the image was taken. Usually this is captured in the Exif orientation flag. You can use Exif tools to reset the orientation flag on those images before the first import and PL will display them as they were captured on the sensor.
Thanks 
Judging by your reply it’s not possible to disable exif based orientation in Photolab.
I think it’s not.
indeed, and your best bet for future use is to disable the rotation in the camera too. pointing the camera up or down can confuse the orientation sensor. It’s mostly not made for 3D. Also: attach your camera carefully, or the sensor might pick an unwanted orientation.
Yes I just turned it off in camera 
I’ve already had display rotation off but not exif. Strange that it’s not possible to turn it off in Photolab though (and other software too actually! Tried Bridge - also not possible!) Weird…
Two of my test images were taken with rotation off in camera settings. DPL has always respected this. I think your issue is caused by the respective orientation metadata which can change easily when photographing straight up or down. After all, orientation tag values are limited.
1 = Horizontal (normal)
2 = Mirror horizontal
3 = Rotate 180
4 = Mirror vertical
5 = Mirror horizontal and rotate 270 CW
6 = Rotate 90 CW
7 = Mirror horizontal and rotate 90 CW
8 = Rotate 270 CW