An impression of the DxO PureRAW4 plugin for Lightroom

Friday 13 December 2024, 13:26 by Nando Harmsen | 3,531 views | 6 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

By a happy coincidence, I got the chance to use DxO's PureRAW4 software. This software is designed to apply optical corrections to RAW images. In this article, I share my first impressions of the software, which also works as a plugin for Lightroom Classic.

DxO is the supplier of a photo editing programme that can be compared with Lightroom Classic. This is DxO PhotoLab. It is also the supplier of the popular Nik Collection software. DxO PureRAW4 is the software for applying image corrections.

First, a short note about the cost of this software. Unlike Adobe's software, you pay for it once. You get a lifetime licence. New versions will have to be purchased again, but you are free to decide whether or not to do so.

A licence costs 119 euros as a one-off payment. Unfortunately, the software cannot be downloaded in Dutch.

DxO PureRAW4 does more than lens correction. Noise reduction is also applied and lens softness corrected.
DxO PureRAW4 is specifically designed for lens corrections. Think of vignetting, distortion and lens softness. It works as stand-alone software, but also as a plugin for Lightroom Classic. If you use Lightroom, the latter is naturally a great option.

To use DxO PureRAW4 as a plugin, it must offer added value over the image corrections already built into Lightroom. Using the plugin takes more time and effort compared with what is already available in Lightroom.

To call up the plugin from Lightroom Classic, choose the option 'export with preset'.
DxO PureRAW is very simple to use. Instead of 'edit in', the plugin has to be loaded by choosing 'export with preset'. You can apply PureRAW4 directly, or load the entire programme.

Preview and Process

This option takes you to the programme itself, where you can set and adjust all the details of the image correction. DxO PureRAW4 works fully automatically in principle, choosing the best settings based on lens profiles that are downloaded automatically.

All settings are largely automatic, with the option to change things yourself if you feel it is necessary.
The various parameters can be adjusted as desired. Once you are happy, it is simply a matter of exporting to a DNG, TIFF or JPEG file. If desired, this can be done in a separate folder, with an import into Lightroom.

There are several options for saving the corrected photo. You can also place it directly in a collection in Lightroom.

Process Instantly

The other option is a faster method. The DxO PureRAW4 programme does not need to be opened fully for this. The settings are applied directly. This limits the number of steps and makes the process much faster.

You still have the option to change the settings if necessary. The only thing missing with this method is the preview window.
You do have the option to change the settings. The only thing missing is the preview window where you can view the result of those changes before applying them.

Better results than in Lightroom Classic

The results from DxO PureRAW seem to be much better than the lens corrections in Lightroom Classic itself. At first glance, the difference seems small, but it becomes noticeable when it is used for star trail photos.

Star trails with lens correction in Lightroom Classic (left) and DxO PureRAW4 (right). Besides the absence of banding, noise reduction has also been applied. I do suspect that the fainter star trails have disappeared.
With lens corrections in Lightroom Classic, banding appears when stacking photos. This simply makes the result unusable. The lens profiles from DxO PureRAW4, however, show no banding after stacking.

An additional advantage of DxO PureRAW4 is the option to correct lens softness. This can make a considerable difference to sharpness.

First impressions

I am pleasantly surprised by the capabilities of DxO PureRAW4. Especially with the growing need for lens corrections in modern lenses, this is a valuable programme and/or plugin.

For anyone photographing star trails with lenses that need correction, the absence of banding after stacking is particularly valuable. I still need to find out how noise is kept under control when correcting vignetting.

You do not have to edit the photos one by one. You can also process them in batches.
There is one disadvantage compared with the lens corrections performed in Lightroom Classic. If you do this in Lightroom Classic, it is performed non-destructively on the RAW file. With DxO PureRAW4, you get a new file.

If you apply PureRAW4 to many files and want to retain maximum editing options, you end up with DNG files up to six times larger. A 30MB RAW file soon becomes a 180MB DNG file.

DxO PureRAW4 is an interesting programme, including for Lightroom Classic users. It offers advantages, but also some disadvantages. It is time to take a closer look at it.

And who knows, DxO PhotoLab8, an alternative to Lightroom Classic, may also be worth looking at. Especially because it does not require a subscription. You buy the programme once. Perhaps it is even worth making an entire course about it for Photofacts Academy.

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