Viewpoint 5 within Photolab 8

[Stefanjan (Stefan)]

I have upgraded to Photolab 8 and am trialling Viewpoint 5.

When I drag the perspective parallel lines in Photolab 8 I do not get a magnified circle. When I do the same thing in standalone Viewpoint 5 I get a magnified circle.

I’m wondering whether this is normal behaviour or whether something wrong with my installation. I’ve asked DXO but I don’t think support understand the issue.

I don’t have long left on my trial and if the Viewpoint perspective tool doesn’t magnify in Photolab when moving the cross then this is probably a dealbreaker for me.

[Egregius ([Greg] (Micro 4/3 + Win11))]

Normal behavior. The magnifier is only in standalone ViewPoint. See here for more info, including a link to a feature request that you can vote for:

Can’t see magnifiers in VP within PL3

I don’t know if I’m missing something, but when I try to position the eight-point lines when using ViewPoint as part of my normal raw processing in PL3 Elite the ‘circles’ used to drag the lines don’t act as magnifiers to facilitate accurate placement. However, they do precisely that if I open VP as a standalone program and then open a file. However, the latter procedure is a bit of a pain since it entails navigating through files to open the raw file.

[Stefanjan (Stefan)]

Thanks for the link. I won’t be buying Viewpoint then.

[Joanna (Joanna Carter)]

Truth is, you don’t need to use the “handles” to align on the corners. I find they get in the way anyway. I just drag the handles and watch where the lines go

[Pat91]

@Egregius

The magnifier is only in standalone ViewPoint.

Another example of the “what-you-get-depends-on-the-way-you-use-the-product-and-on-what-licenses-you-purchase” policy of DxO.

DxO, please give us a single all-in-one app containing all your know-how and stop with this irritating, frustrating and bizarre marketing policy. 40 years in the software industry and I have never seen such a weird marketing approach.

[KeithRJ (Keith - Perth, Australia - Win11, PL8, VP3, Canon, DJI)]

The way I work is to position the handles and then zoom to whatever zoom factor you want then position the handles while planning the image with the middle mouse button - works pretty well.

[John-M (Melbourne, Australia - Win10)]

Reminder:

Since release of PLv6, all the basic Perspective tools are available within PhotoLab without the need for a VP license.

• 

Which makes VP a “must have” only if one needs/wants any of the following;

• Deformation correction … which I do find useful
• Flip (vertical & horizontal) … also useful to have
• ReShape, of course … tho, I’m yet to be convinced of its “must have” benefits (?)
• Miniature effect … Who uses this ?? !!

---

Regarding effective use of the Perspective tool-set, try this …

• Step 1. Simply activate its “magic wand” - instead of selecting a tool-type
  – Like this:

• PL will apply a default perspective correction - which you may find is good enuff !

• Step 2. Now select the tool-type you propose to use - and you will find that PL has applied default settings for that tool … and they often need only small refinement.

[wilsberg]

@John-M

Deformation correction … which I do find useful

That would be my main-used-feature too, but only therefore give the whole price…
The same with FP7 (I have FP6) only for the luminance mask…

I think DxO isn’t nice to the PL-users.
A cheaper version should be there for the users who don’t use the stand-alone versions, not only for the upgraders.

[tnp75 (thomas pedersen)]

the new deformation tools for wide angle corrections are fab in VP5 so much easier to use for me. slider for translating effect across is a massive benefit