I try to stay current but I’m not really clear as to what are the improvements from 8.9 to 9.xx.
Any thoughts?
Have you run the trial - that is the best way?
There are over 20 new and upgraded features besides the new AI mask. Too many to go through with you here. It is by far the largest feature upgrade that DxO has ever given us. However, there are two upgraded features worth mentioning. First is that the results of Lens Sharpness Optimization and the Unsharp mask settings are visible at any zoom level, not just at 75% zoom and above. Second, the results of the DeepPRIME variants are finally available full time in the entire editing window at any zoom level. These are two of the most requested updates over the years.
Mark
2 Likes
Welcome to the forum @chrisdb
One way to get informed is to read the release notes. Find them on support.dxo.com. Once you think the new features are what you need, run the trial.
There are caveats though:
- One trial only. If you don’t test thoroughly, the trial is wasted time.
- As you can find in several posts , PL9 is a bit rough around the edges. Requirements have been raised too (for AI masking and the updated de-noising features).
- If PL8 does what you need and you’re happy with it, why upgrade? And why do it now? Maybe it’s a good idea to wait for Black Friday or Xmas discounts?
Whatever you decide to do, make sure to get and save the installer of PL8 before you upgrade. Both apps can run side by side and maybe you want/need to fall back. On a Mac, you can easily duplicate PL8 and upgrade the duplicate - that’s what I’d do for upgrades AND updates.
I keep duplicates for a while with new releases, put them in a folder each and give that folder a version number like so:
2 Likes
I like you method…
It is a good common sense plan and I’ll be taking your advice- thanx!
The main new enhancement is provision of AI masks for Local Adjustments, which are causing some problems with some GPUs - - I strongly suggest you run a trial to see if it works OK on your system.
Other than that, tho, most(*) other new features/enhancements (of which there are quite a lot in the PLv9 update) are useability improvements / not image processing improvements … which you may find useful, or not (personally, there’s not much in them for me!)
(*) with notable exceptions mentioned, above, by @mwsilvers
1 Like