DXO better than Adobe?

[russellsnr]

So just now there are swarms of YouTube videos telling us that DXO is better than Adobe and use there exclusive code to get 20% off for new users but what they don't tell you is that if you own any DXO product (in my case Pure Raw 6) then you are not a new user even though you are buying a different product, they say it's a buy once keep for ever software better and cheaper than an Adobe subscription. So if you want all of there products DXO PL 9 at £220, NIK collection £149.99, so a total of £370 without the 20% option about £316 with the 20% plus two others that only certain types of photography would be needed plus pay for new version upgrades as and when they are released (obviously you don't have to upgrade) Adobe creative cloud L/R & P/S with 1TB storage on a Amazon prime day option £113 for the year so you would need 3 years of Adobe to near match the price of DXO one year, maybe I am missing something here but seems to me DXO are a very devious company along with those on YouTube trying to make money with a 20% off code?

 

[taxboy]

I wouldn't necessarily say devious but a clear marketing campaign imo. It's interesting to see similar videos of software X Vs Adobe with discount codes all appearing together.

I understand not everyone wants to go down the pay monthly route for software so it is good there are alternatives. However these companies are not charities so the profit has to be built in somewhere be it single capital payment up front or monthly renewals

 

[LCPete]

I wouldn’t say cost would be a reason to pick DXO as you said it would work out similar to Adobe assuming you update occasionally
I do like DXO, the raw conversion is excellent, when i bought DXO 5 a few years ago it was better than Adobe Lightroom but I believe that their isn’t such a difference now

 

[Box Brownie]

In common with many(all?) software purchases your account is, so to speak, tied to your email address.

Therefore, I wonder if you used a different email address to make the purchase using the affiliate discount code all that would mean is that you have two active accounts!

 

[russellsnr]

In common with many(all?) software purchases your account is, so to speak, tied to your email address.

Therefore, I wonder if you used a different email address to make the purchase using the affiliate discount code all that would mean is that you have two active accounts!

That had crossed my mind (email addy) but as I have another year left with Adobe I'm trying to decide if I should download a trial of DXO or buy DXO now discounted at 20% or wait to see what Adobe comes up with after my year is up. Russ.

 

[gramps]

obviously you don't have to upgrade

That's the key, I am still on V5 and have seen no need to upgrade at any stage.

 

[Box Brownie]

That had crossed my mind (email addy) but as I have another year left with Adobe I'm trying to decide if I should download a trial of DXO or buy DXO now discounted at 20% or wait to see what Adobe comes up with after my year is up. Russ.

Well, IIRC it is likely that PL10 will come out in November with the potential for Black Friday discount pricing.

PL 9.9 is the current iteration.

 

[myotis]

So just now there are swarms of YouTube videos telling us that DXO is better than Adobe and use there exclusive code to get 20% off for new users but what they don't tell you is that if you own any DXO product (in my case Pure Raw 6) then you are not a new user even though you are buying a different product, they say it's a buy once keep for ever software better and cheaper than an Adobe subscription. So if you want all of there products DXO PL 9 at £220, NIK collection £149.99, so a total of £370 without the 20% option about £316 with the 20% plus two others that only certain types of photography would be needed plus pay for new version upgrades as and when they are released (obviously you don't have to upgrade) Adobe creative cloud L/R & P/S with 1TB storage on a Amazon prime day option £113 for the year so you would need 3 years of Adobe to near match the price of DXO one year, maybe I am missing something here but seems to me DXO are a very devious company along with those on YouTube trying to make money with a 20% off code?

All the DXO user Youtube channels I follow have clearly stated, and often apologised about, the 20% offer only applying to new users. It's been like this for as long as I can remember, and I think it's a poor marketing decision by DXO.

Maybe you have just been unlucky with the channels you have watched, especially if they have given the impression that you also need to buy the NIK collection.

Long term It can be cheaper than an Adobe subscription.

Based on comments in forums, many people only use the LR part of their Adobe Subscription, and judging from comments by DXO users, many only renew their DXO PhotoLab license every second year, which makes it (after the initial £220) about £50 a year. That is what I have been doing, and DXO seem to still offer new camera support for older versions of PhotoLab, so you can keep going with an older version of DXO without updating for some time.

The reason I think making the 20% discount for new users only is a bad decision is that all the features of all the DXO plugins (PureRaw, Viewpoint, Filmpack and NIK Collection) overlap with features already in PhotoLab, and there is also overlap in features between some of the Plugins. So an existing user of their products won't benefit from buying one of their other products as much as a new user will, but it's the new user that gets the 20% discount.

It would make much more sense to me if they offered a bigger discount to existing users than they do to new users. For example, if you bought Photolab9 , it would make your existing copy of Pureraw 6 redundant.

 

[russellsnr]

All the DXO user Youtube channels I follow have clearly stated, and often apologised about, the 20% offer only applying to new users. It's been like this for as long as I can remember, and I think it's a poor marketing decision by DXO.

Maybe you have just been unlucky with the channels you have watched, especially if they have given the impression that you also need to buy the NIK collection.

Long term It can be cheaper than an Adobe subscription.

Based on comments in forums, many people only use the LR part of their Adobe Subscription, and judging from comments by DXO users, many only renew their DXO PhotoLab license every second year, which makes it (after the initial £220) about £50 a year. That is what I have been doing, and DXO seem to still offer new camera support for older versions of PhotoLab, so you can keep going with an older version of DXO without updating for some time.

The reason I think making the 20% discount for new users only is a bad decision is that all the features of all the DXO plugins (PureRaw, Viewpoint, Filmpack and NIK Collection) overlap with features already in PhotoLab, and there is also overlap in features between some of the Plugins. So an existing user of their products won't benefit from buying one of their other products as much as a new user will, but it's the new user that gets the 20% discount.

It would make much more sense to me if they offered a bigger discount to existing users than they do to new users. For example, if you bought Photolab9 , it would make your existing copy of Pureraw 6 redundant.

Hi, you say that "all the features of all the DXO plugins (PureRaw, Viewpoint, Filmpack and NIK Collection) overlap with features already in PhotoLab" I thought you had to purchase the NIK collection as a separate plugin to Photo lab? sorry if I misunderstand you here. Russ.
13:30hrs. Downloaded the trial and seems the option is to buy yet more software as in NIK collection not included in Photolab 9.

 

[myotis]

Hi, you say that "all the features of all the DXO plugins (PureRaw, Viewpoint, Filmpack and NIK Collection) overlap with features already in PhotoLab" I thought you had to purchase the NIK collection as a separate plugin to Photo lab? sorry if I misunderstand you here. Russ.

Sorry that was badly worded, The key word here is "overlap" not "all" and it was the basis of the argument for existing users deserving a bigger discount than new users.

You do need to buy NIK as an extra plugin for PhotoLab, but some features of NIK are already in PhotoLab, and some features that appear in both are more powerful in PhotoLab and some are more powerful in NIk. Some features are only in NIK, and some are only in PhotoLab.


So if you are an existing user of either NIK or Photolab buying the other program is less value for money than it is to a new user. Yet the existing user isn't getting a discount.

Beyond this value for money argument, I think you need to think carefully whether NIK Effects offers anything of value beyond the tools that are already get in PhotoLab.

DXO have been slowly adding some of the NIK Effects tools into PhotoLab, while also adding and removing tools from NIK Effects, so unless NIK Effects offers a clearly valuable capability over and above those already in PhotoLab, NIK may not be of much value. For example NIK used to have advanced perspective control tools, not as good as DXO Viewpoint, but better than those in PhotoLab. But they have removed them from NIK, and put them into PhotoLab.

NIK still offers lots of reasons to buy it, but I was surprised at the way you bundled PhotoLab and NIK together, when comparing the costs with Adobe.

I recently trialled NiK effects, and concluded it would be "nice to have", but not worth the money. I might still buy it if DXO offered an attractive discount (50% off on Black Friday). It's a great plugin for Photoshop, and arguably works better as a plugin for Photoshop than PhotoLab

I didn't find the NIK presets very useful, even though it offers a far greater choice than PhotoLab, but you can always make your own presets in PhotoLab.

The adjustment tools in NIK (used to make your own presets or modify existing ones) are very good and very focussed on the task in hand. I found the sliders in Silver Efex to do some clever things that made it quicker to process black and white images than in PhotoLab, LR or C1.

NIK also offers some features more commonly found in pixel editors e,g blending options.

Depending on your needs and expectations, you may well be very pleased with Nik Effects, or wonder why you bought it.

 

[Box Brownie]

FWIW

A while back I added VP3 to my PL and also FP7 to benefit from additional controls IIRC in the processing.

Nik has very limited appeal though I do have the very old Google free version because I use "SilverFX" every so often.

As @myotis says DxO do have crossover between products where some FP & VP features are added into PL. NB AFAIK the PL installation has both VP & FP built in but hidden until you buy and activate it/them via the Help sub menu. Nik I am not too sure about in regard to the same underlying 'activation integration '

 

[russellsnr]

FWIW

A while back I added VP3 to my PL and also FP7 to benefit from additional controls IIRC in the processing.

Nik has very limited appeal though I do have the very old Google free version because I use "SilverFX" every so often.

As @myotis says DxO do have crossover between products where some FP & VP features are added into PL. NB AFAIK the PL installation has both VP & FP built in but hidden until you buy and activate it/them via the Help sub menu. Nik I am not too sure about in regard to the same underlying 'activation integration '

Thanks, I do have the old version of the sharpen for MAC , found it yesterday and was going to try it in Affinity unfortunately the MAC system won't let me install it as to old.