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DxO PhotoLab
Importing Images

Lesson 02 of the DxO PhotoLab Zero to Hero course. Learn how PhotoLab sees your folders, images, drives and memory cards so you can start working with your photographs confidently.

Welcome to Lesson 02 of DxO PhotoLab Zero to Hero. In this lesson we are looking at importing images into DxO PhotoLab. This is one of the first practical steps in the course because before you can edit a photograph, rate your images, apply presets or use tools like DeepPRIME and Smart Lighting, you need to understand how to get your photographs into the software.

One of the most important things to understand is that DxO PhotoLab does not work like every other editing program. In many cases, you are not importing images into a closed catalogue in the same way you might expect from other software. Instead, PhotoLab can browse your existing folders, drives and image locations directly. That makes the process feel very simple once you understand what is happening.

This DxO PhotoLab importing images tutorial is designed for complete beginners who are opening the software and wondering where their photographs are, how to find their RAW files, how to browse folders, how to work from a hard drive or memory card, and how PhotoLab organises images inside the PhotoLibrary workspace.

How DxO PhotoLab Handles Images

DxO PhotoLab is built around the idea of browsing and editing the photographs that already live on your computer or connected storage. That means you can use the PhotoLibrary to move through folders and image locations without needing to overcomplicate the process. For beginners, this is helpful because it keeps the workflow close to the way many photographers already organise their files.

If your images are stored in folders on your laptop, desktop, external hard drive or SSD, PhotoLab can browse those folders and display the images for you. This is why it is useful to have a simple folder structure before you start editing. For example, you might organise your photographs by year, location, shoot name or camera. The cleaner your folder structure is, the easier it will be to find images inside PhotoLab.

When you open a folder in DxO PhotoLab, the software can read the compatible image files inside that folder and display them in the filmstrip or image browser. From there, you can select the photograph you want to work on, move into the Customize workspace and begin editing.

Importing From A Memory Card Or Drive

If you are working from a memory card, the cleanest approach is usually to copy your images from the memory card onto your computer or external drive first. Create a folder for the shoot, copy your RAW files into that folder, and then use DxO PhotoLab to browse to that location. This creates a safer and more organised workflow than trying to edit directly from the card.

For travel photographers, street photographers, landscape photographers and creators, this is especially useful. You might come back from a day of shooting with hundreds of images. Rather than rushing straight into editing, copy the files into a clear folder, open that folder in PhotoLab, and then begin the process of reviewing and rating your images.

This keeps your RAW editing workflow simple: copy your images, find the folder in PhotoLab, review the images, rate your favourites, and then move into editing. That is the workflow we will build on throughout the rest of this course.

Why Importing Images Matters

Importing or locating your images correctly at the beginning saves a lot of confusion later. If you know where your photographs are stored, how to find them in PhotoLab and how to move between folders, the editing process becomes much more relaxed. You are not fighting the software. You are simply moving through a clear process.

This is also the beginning of your wider DxO PhotoLab workflow. Once the images are visible, you can move to the next stage: rating and selecting your best photographs. That step is important because you rarely want to edit every single image from a shoot. A good workflow helps you find the strongest images first so your editing time is spent on the photographs that matter most.

By the end of this lesson, you should understand how to locate images inside DxO PhotoLab, how the PhotoLibrary helps you browse your folders, why copying images from a memory card to a proper folder is useful, and how this stage fits into the full DxO PhotoLab Zero to Hero course.

Continue The Course

Once you know how to get images into DxO PhotoLab, continue to Lesson 03, where we look at rating images and finding your best photographs before you begin editing.

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