This is my review about DXO Photolab 10, the newest 2026 version of DXO’s no subscription photo editing software. You still don’t need a subscription, but does that also mean it is not good? Or ‘no bueno’?
It’s been 4 years since I’ve reviewed DXO Photolab 6. Back then it had some drawbacks compared to Lightroom, but because you didn’t need a subscription I was quick to forgive it some quirks. Last year I’ve reviewed DXO Photolab 9. And this version wasn’t just good enough to be a no subscription alternative to Lightroom, but it was good enough to completely replace Lightroom for me. I’ve cancelled my Lightroom subscription and haven’t looked back. I still use Lightroom for my day-time job and it still is a very capable editing software. But I like DXO’s Photolab more and find it easier to get great results.
Kaizen, but French?
Looking at DXO’s method of continuously improving their software you might think they are Japanese. It is a French company though. Despite that it feels like they have adopted the Kaizen method for continuous improvement. You can see this in all of their software, like PureRAW, the Nik Collection and also Photolab. They periodically introduce a new version that builds on the good things of the previous version, adds new functionality and refines other techniques. This new version of Photolab is a good example, the good things from Photolab 9 are still here, they have added new functionality and refined some other things. Does this make it worth the upgrade?
DXO’s lens and sensor knowledge
You might know DXO from their work in analysing lens- and sensor performance. This means they have an extensive knowledge about how certain lenses and sensors perform and how they interact with each other. DXO has always been strong in using this information in their Photolab software, and this is still here in version 10. When you open images the software will check the camera and lenses you have used and will prompt you to download the DXO correction modules. The modules have all the information needed to improve your images by correcting lens errors like softness, chromatic aberrations, vignetting and fringing.
The effect is quite pronounced. Turning on the ‘Lens sharpness Optimisation’ will instantly improve your image and make it more crisp. This will give you a great starting point for your editing.
Still here: No subscription for DXO Photolab 10
Let’s talk about one of the biggest advantages of PhotoLab vs. Lightroom: You don’t need a subscription to use the software. DXO PhotoLab 10 is available to buy, you pay once and can use it as long as you want. One of the reasons I didn’t upgrade from DXO Photolab 7 to Photolab 8 was that the old version suited me perfectly fine and did everything I needed it to do. In a subscription like Adobe’s Creative Cloud you pay monthly to get all the new functionality and upgrades. But do you need those upgrades?
DXO Photolab 10 is available as a perpetual licence, meaning you pay once and can keep using the software for as long as it suits your needs. The software does get updates (for instance for stability and performance), but isn’t upgraded to a new version. A new licence costs 249.99 euro/ dollar (or 129.99 euro/ dollar for an upgrade from Photolab 8 or 9 – or use my discount code below for a 15% discount).
For comparison Lightroom will cost you 14,74 euro per month, that adds up to over 175 euro per year. So two years of Lightroom is way more expensive than investing once in DXO Photolab 10. And you can continue to use DXO Photolab for as long as it suits you and your gear.
In my opinion that is a big advantage for PhotoLab. If you use your photo editing software professionally on a daily base a subscription of 14 euro per month is probably not going to be a deal-breaker. But for more casual users it is a lot of money, and you probably don’t even need it. So buy once without reoccurring costs is a great way to save money in the long term.
If you want to save some extra money on the purchase you can buy DXO Photolab 10 or any other DXO product via this link and use my discount code Rick15 in the shopping basket to get a 15% discount on the purchase!
Using DXO Photolab 10
The DXO Photolab 10 interface hasn’t been fundamentally changed. Perhaps some small improvements, but nothing major. And this is a good thing, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The interface will also feel familiar enough if you are coming from Lightroom or other editing software.
One thing that is still different from Lightroom is the importing of images. In Lightroom you have to import the images in the software before you can edit them. This always felt a little double to me. Why import images that are already on my computer? Photolab keeps it simple. Just copy the images to a folder on your computer and select the desired folder to start editing them. No worries, Photolab will still offer non-destructive editing and will not alter your original RAW files in any way.
After selecting the folder with your images in the PhotoLibrary module you can skip through the images to select and grade the ones you like by giving them stars. Performance in the PhotoLibrary is good with the option to quickly zoom in to the image to check for sharpness or other details. I feel Photolab 9 was a little snappier than Photolab 10, but this can also be caused by the updates Photolab 9 got over time. So I’m pretty sure DXO will also speed up Photolab 10 with future updates. A histogram and EXIF information are available on the right side of the screen. You also have the option to add keywords to manage your images and make them easier to find.
Editing in Photolab 9
After selecting the best images in DXO Photolab 10 you can switch over to the ‘customise’ tab to edit the images. The layout is familiar and easy to use. On the left side you have the histogram, a small move/zoom image for orientation when you zoom in, an editing history overview and the preset editor. On the bottom of the screen you have the film roll with the selected images. Here you can also use the filter to select which images you want to see and which ones you’d like to hide (for instance by showing only 3 star or better images).
The right side of the screen has all the editing tools. These are categorised in tabs with light, colour, sharpness and corrections, geometry and distortion, effects (like grain, watermarking, blur, vignetting etc.) and local adjustments. Cropping, straightening images and other tools are conveniently clustered at the top of the screen.
Presets
In DXO Photolab 10 you still have a big selection of presets to get your editing going. Some of these come from DXO’s Filmpack software and will be more creative and have a bigger impact on the image. I’ve always liked the DXO Style – Neutral and DXO Standard best as my starting point in Photolab 9. Luckily these are still available in Photolab 10 and still look great.
It does look like DXO has slightly changed the way the presets effect the images. In Photolab 9 for instance the DXO Style – Neutral was too strong for my liking on my Nikon Zf / Z6III images. So in Photolab 9 I reverted to DXO Standard for my Nikon images and only used DXO Style – Neutral for my Leica’s images. In Photolab 10 DXO Style – Neutral works equally great on both my Leica and Nikon’s.
When editing a family shoot or wedding I love to have a good standard preset as my starting point. This will greatly equalise the images, even when you’ve used multiple camera’s. So it makes for a great ‘one click’ starting point to get editing.
DXO tools in DXO Photolab 10
Besides the presets that will change multiple parameters you also have specific DXO tools. These are found on the right side of the screen among the normal editing options. You have functions like DXO Smart Lighting (increasing dynamic range), DXO ClearView Plus (quick improvement of contrast and sharpness and removing of haze and fog).
Smart Lighting works very good for almost any image, and will quickly do what you normally do with the sliders for highlights, mid tones, shadows and blacks. I always turn this on and fine-tune further with the sliders. ClearView is great for landscape images, but the standard intensity setting of 50 is a bit much for my taste. When set to 10-15 I love the effect and it will clear up your image and increase detail and colours.
New in DXO Photolab 10
Last years Photolab 9 introduced new functionality AI masking, Deep Prime noise reduction, advanced batch image renaming and HEIF image editing. DXO Photolab 10 introduces a host of new functionality that will further improve your editing experience. These include things like:
- Depth Masks
- Improved AI masking for people selection
- Face segmentation selection
- Upgraded local adjustment tools
- Advanced colour grading
- Direct connection to Affinity for advanced editing
- AI sensor dust removal – batch removal of dust spots
Depth Masks
You can see DXO gradually introducing more AI tools in to Photolab. The inclusion of AI image analysis improves functions like masking greatly. One of the best examples of this is the new Depth Masks. This function is great for editing landscape images. The software can analyse the image and creates a depth map with separation between foreground, mid-ground and background. You can easily refine the section and edit just the right part of your image.
Improved AI masking for people
AI masking was already very good in Photolab 9 but in Photolab 10 DXO has greatly improved the system. It can now identify every person in the photo and you can quickly choose which people you want to select and include in you mask. This is a great improvement for editing group shots.
The selecting was already very precise in Photolab 9 and continues to work almost flawlessly in Photolab 10.
Face segmentation
A tool I normally don’t use much, but that will greatly improve the experience for portrait photographers. In DXO Photolab 10 you can automatically select parts of the face like lips, eyebrows and eyes for easier local editing.
The good news is that the existing selection options like sky, subject, background, people, animals, flowers and vehicles are still available. And work as great as they did before.
AI dust removal in batch processing in DXO Photolab 10
This is a function I think many people will love. I try to keep my sensors as clean as possible, but there is no way to always have it spotless. When you’ve just done a shoot any you find (new) spots on your sensor it can be a real pain to remove them. Especially when you have to export a big number of images.
This tool will quickly find, identify and remove the dust spots. And you can set the sensitivity to your liking, at the highest it will find and remove even the smallest speck.
Affinity connection and further improvements
More improvements have been made, that have bigger and smaller impact on the overall experience using Photolab 10. Things like direct connection to Affinity for refined editing. But also the option to use the histogram adjustments in the library and a new as-shot crop function. Not all will be equalliy important for everybody but they still add up.
So, no subscription – no bueno?
Not no bueno, but muy bueno!
Photolab has been my favourite selecting and editing software for quite some time now. A few years ago I still kept my Lightroom subsciption next to Photolab. Lightroom was better at AI masking making more advanced editing easier and quicker. But DXO has steadily but surely been closing the gap. After the move to Photolab 9 last year I immediately ended my Adobe subscrption since Photolab could do everything I needed it to do. And not just as good as Lightroom, but better and easier to use in my opinion. Now DXO Photolab is my only editing for personal projects and I love it!
The improvements in DXO Photolab 10 are refinements, small incremental upgrades and some new functionality. These all add up to make a great photo editor even better. Should you immediatley upgrade if you are using Photolab 9? Only if you need the new added functionality or compatibility for new cameras, otherwise DXO Photolab 9 will still be a great tool.
When upgrading from Photolab 8 or earlier I believe DXO Photolab 10 is well woth the money. The improvements DXO has made in AI masking and other tools in the past years are great and makes it so much quicker an easier to get great results. An upgrade from Photolab 8 or 9 makes you elgible for the reduced 129.99 price which makes it an even better deal.
If you want to save some extra money on the purchase you can buy DXO Photolab 10 or any other DXO product via this link and use my discount code Rick15 in the shopping basket to get a 15% discount on the purchase!