I have used Photolab 5 Elite and haven’t been tempted to upgrade yet. Photolab 8 peaks my curiosity and was tempted to upgrade.
However upon logging in, I found my upgrade cost to be a whopping 1/4 of a grand!!! Basically full price!
What gives? Should I start looking for alternatives now that you’ll be charging £/€250 every year/update?
Unfortunately, DXO only gives upgrade discounts for the users of the previous two versions. That means now that PhotoLab 8 has been released upgrade discounts are only available for users of PhotoLab 7 and PhotoLab 6.
Mark
Maybe I don’t remember correctly, but didn’t DxO used to offer 30%-off sales to celebrate new releases? They don’t seem to be doing that now. I was hoping for that, as I also have to pay full price just for PL8.
In the 7 years I’ve been using PhotoLab don’t ever recall that happening. I believe it’s always been the standard upgrade price. Maybe you’re thinking of the Black Friday pricing. Remember, for years PhotoLab was released only a week or two before Black Friday.
Mark
No, I’ve regularly received 30% off offers in e-mail. That’s probably the only way to receive them. This time around, nothing.
That’s interesting. In all the years I’ve been a user I don’t ever recall getting a 30% off offer when a new version of PhotoLab was released.
Mark
don’t be confused with black friday =]
seriously, i think that’s the only time dxo give discount other than Spring sale event.
I’m not confusing this with Black Friday. This formerly-annual discount predates the introduction of the Black Friday sales, which used to be 50% off.
Update: It seems the practice ended with PL6 or PL7:
DxO also used to give these discounts in December - but not for a while now.
Well this sucks. I’ll to wait for updates worth £250 as it’s not worth that or find an alternative.
The only thing that I see is a valuble update currently is the retouch tool but it’s not as powerful as AI tools I’ve seen in photoshop.
Thanks for the info
DXO very often gave discounts to the first customers. When Photolab 3 was released it enticed me to upgrade right away. Of course on Black Friday I realized I had made a mistake.
This year the announcement is even earlier than all previous years, there are no discounts. Given that, upgrade from version 5 is full price, we need to make sure we buy the new version and not upgrade in the account. Because it makes a difference whether we keep our Photolab 5 license or not.
Overall, I’m not impressed with the new version. The improvements, in my opinion, are not worth 300 euros (how much I have to pay for the latest versions of Photolab and Filmpak). Let’s not forget that there are not only benefits…
P.S.: I think my prediction from last year was correct. DXO will transfer an increasing financial burden to its regular customers because the number of sales is decreasing…
That is interesting. Where did you get this information from?
Don’t forget there is the free trial. I updated from v5 to 7 and found the changes to be significant for my needs.
I like the look of what has been added in v8, so I’m downloading the trial now and may update with the £99 upgrade price I have in my account.
I’ve just checked my invoice from last year when I waited until Black Friday to update from v5 to v7 and it cost me £79. The release date upgrade price was £99 that year too.
I have a lot of work between now and the end of November so if I like what’s been added, I don’t mind not waiting two months to save £20.
Obviously others may value saving money and waiting until BF, we all have our varying needs.
The last time DXO gives a price discount when PL release it was for PL5.
I have the feeling PL8 is out earlier than previous years, no ?
Wait and see if you would like a discount…
PL1 - October 26, 2017
PL2 - October 24, 2018
PL3 - October 24, 2019
PL4 - October 21, 2020
PL5 - October 27, 2021
PL6 - October 25, 2022
PL7 - September 27, 2023
PL8 - September 17, 2024
As a PL 5 user, I’m also miffed. But I had discounted upgrade opportunities for both versions 6 and 7. That’s not altogether unreasonable, and I’m happy to continue using version 5, which I’m very comfortable with. I think it’s still preferable to Adobe’s eternal subscription model.
dxo changed to offer discount to latest 2 version of PL which are 6 and 7. you can also wait and see if they give the regular discount for black friday.
No, they didn’t change, it’s always been like that. DxO have only ever considered ‘current users’ to be those on the latest and preceding versions.
Similar thoughts here. PhotoLab is marketed as being an outright purchase in contrast to the subscription model of e.g. Adobe. Id expect like most software suppliers they want people to keep up to date so they don’t have to support too many multiple old versions, and they might provide incremental improvements for what I hope would be an incremental price. As it is I’m being offered £99 to upgrade PL elite - incremental improvements for nearly 50% of the new cost. I’m also being asked for another £99 to upgrade Viewpoint - which is the same price as buying it new, for again incremental improvements. I’d hope to pay 20% or 25% per year for incremental improvements, and more only if there is major new functionality which extends the product significantly.
(Both £99 prices are reduced to £79 for black Friday deal, but still way more than the extra value on offer)
Value is largely subjective and relative to other options. Without question, the cost of this software is high. But I also know that there is a complex bundle of reasons for that. Consider, for example, that Adobe is a well-established public company with stockholders and a large, diverse market for its products. They could charge less than they do for licenses. However, they’ve moved to a subscription model and their earnings have skyrocketed as a result. Clearly, they are making more money than they need, but enough people are willing to pay. It’s the same with Apple and nVidia and some other tech titans: flush with cash, charging ridiculous prices, but people are willing to pay year after year.
DxO faces some challenges in offering a lower-cost alternative. They are a small company with a limited portfolio of products. Their software works differently, too. However, it’s class-leading in several important areas. I believe the price is kept high by much smaller market share, a complex development methodology, the need to retain their talent, economic headwinds, and the impact of piracy. Since DxO is a private company, we can’t examine their finances. I don’t know how they make money other than through software sales, but it has to be enough to not only keep the company going but help it to succeed and to grow. For what it’s worth. I only manage finances for a small organization - I’m not much of a student of economics or business - so feel free to correct me if I’m too far out of my lane. 
