What Is a DOP File?

This article describes several file formats that use the DOP file extension, including how to open and convert each type.

What Is a DOP File?

A file with the DOP file extension could be a plain text correction settings file (also called a sidecar file) that holds image adjustment values for photos edited with DxO PhotoLab (previously called DxO Optics Pro).

The file is named exactly the same as the image, but ends with the .DOP suffix. For example, a CR2 file might be called myimage.cr2.dop.

Within a DOP file are many lines of text that refer to specific settings that could be applied to the image. For example, BlurIntensity, HazeRemovalActive, and ColorModeSaturation each have their own value (say, 15, false, and 0) to describe to DxO PhotoLab how those effects should be applied to the associated image when viewed within its software.

Some DOP files are totally different. So yours might instead be a Schneider Electric/Telemecanique HMI project file, XML-based Directory Opus application files, or Digital Orchestrator files used with Voyetra Turtle Beach's now-discontinued Digital Orchestrator audio software. If none of those formats are relevant in your case, your DOP could be used to hold custom PDF export settings.

How to Open a DOP File

DxO correction settings files are used by DxO PhotoLab to store information about changes made to a RAW file with that program, but they aren't intended to be opened directly.

In other words, when you open a RAW image with DxO PhotoLab, make changes to it, and then export the image as JPG (or whatever format you choose), a DOP file is created along with the conversion that stores the changes you made. So long as that file stays in the same folder as the RAW image, your settings will be retained the next time you open the RAW file in DxO PhotoLab.

You can, however, open the settings file with any text editor, like Notepad++, if you're interested in reading the text version of how the program identifies the corrections and adjustments.

If you instead have a Schneider Electric/Telemecanique HMI (human-machine interface) project file, you should be able to open it with Schneider Electric's Vijeo Designer or Delta Electronics' Screen Editor.

Directory Opus, a File Explorer alternative, uses DOP files, too, but they're just stored in the application's installation directory and aren't meant to be opened or used manually. However, since they're just plain text files, you can open one with your favorite text editor for editing or for reading the code.

DOP files that are PDF export settings may be used with other programs, but the only ones we know of are PTC's Creo Parametric and Creo Elements.

The last version of Digital Orchestrator was released in 1997, and we can't find an official download/purchase link, so it's likely that your file isn't in this format. If you're sure it is, you must have that program in order to open it. You can read a little about it on the Digital Orchestrator Pro page at the Videogame Music Preservation Foundation.

Other DOP files may have nothing to do with any of these applications. If you're not sure what format it's in, we suggest opening the file with Notepad++ to view it as a text document, which can sometimes help you find out what type of file it is (document, image, video, etc.) or what program was used to create it.

How to Convert a DOP File

Most file types can be converted using a free file converter, but there probably aren't many that support any of these DOP formats, most likely because there's little need to have any of these files exist in a different format.

Here's one thing you can try: Open the file in the program that it belongs to, and then use the File > Save as or Export menu (if there is one) to convert the file to a different format supported in that software.

Still Can't Open the File?

Have you tried the programs linked above, but still can't get the file to work? You might be dealing with a file that doesn't belong to any of the formats mentioned above. That usually happens when you misread the file extension.

For example, DOC, DOT (Word document template), DO, DOB (Visual Basic file), and D00 (VirtualDrive disc image) all share some of the same letters as DOP, but none of them can open with the software linked above. Each file requires its own specific program.

If you can't get your file to open with the suggestions above, just double-check the file extension. If it turns out that you don't have a DOP file, research the file extension that you do have so that you can find the appropriate program(s) that it works with.