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Comment by benrbray | Hacker News Reader

Well, this is as good a time as any then to try out Darktable [1]!

Definitely, darktable is fantastic. Haven't used Lightroom in years now, but at the time darktable was ahead in what it could do, editing-wise (Lightroom seemed better at organization to me then though). I posted this in the recent darktable thread, but here is a list of other FOSS photography software [1]. And I'd love any notes on new software or things to update, since this is from a few years ago now.

[1] https://9bladed.com/post/foss_photography/

I did this a while ago. I was super excited to try out a digikam + darktable workflow. But the learning curve for darktable is so steep. I am just an amateur photographer who takes landscape photos. I used to make small edits using Lightroom and some panorama stitching. It seemed so straightforward in Lightroom. I am still struggling to figure out how to edit my photos and what modules to use in darktable. I am looking at YT videos and posts on pixlus, but I still have not been able to wrap my head around all the concepts. One day I will hopefully get it...

Don't blame yourself. If you're perfectly capable of using LG that's just clear indication the usability issues are with Darktable.

Agreed. I've been on Lightroom since v1.0 and long-ready to get away, but I need to replace the cataloguing and manipulation. Digikam was great to begin with, but then just stopped working smoothly, and Darktable has so many issues that I cannot understand all the suggestions to convert. I wish I could contribute to the codebase.

I've tried Affinity Photo, Pixelmator, no dice. Tried Capture One but it's like a slug dragging a ball-and-chain and the cataloguing workflow turns me upside-down. Image manipulation is blindingly good, however.

Darktable is an incredible piece of software. Far exceeds the capabilities of Lightroom.

But the UX is not great. I actually got a lightroom trial a few months ago and edited more photos in that week than I did in Darktable for a year. I hope it continues to grow and succeed but it’s UI and flow really need some work :)

Hm yeah new decade new tool

I used Lightroom (Classic) all of last decade and its time to move on

Crazy to think I used “newfangled non destructive non layer based editing” longer than I used photoshop the decade before

Yeah time for something new

Obligatory: https://pixls.us/articles/darktable-3-rgb-or-lab-which-modul...

+1 for this. I used Lightroom in school, tried Darktable on my Linux machine at home and found it perfectly usable, though with a bit of learning curve of course.

Last time I attempted it on MacOS it was not terribly functional: I think only one person was working on it, part time; I don't know whether that's changed. It's a nice option on MacOS but probably doesn't function well as a DAM.

Sadly for my A7ii all the RAW files come out exposed incorrectly since the last few updates :( And by almost 3 EV too. I know it's not because of the file, since they look just fine in Lightroom.

Mind posting the RAW files? I use the a7ii and darktable and it is perfect for me.

Sure! Here you go for the RAW file : http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=04290873673274490201

Here is the SOOC JPG for the same image : http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=88911356095628235668

Google Chrome might warn you of the risk for malware, but it seems to do for every good, free filehost :/

For reference, here is the screenshot : https://imgur.com/a/6RkiGyH

It doesn't do this for every photo either, which is even more baffling.

I hope you'll excuse the poor composition, but I didn't want to publish a photo I might put on an account with my name on it :)

https://imgur.com/a/0Pj2lex

Weird. I just did +1EV exposure and filmic rgb as is recommended, and it looks just fine to me.

What version of darktable are you using?

I tried two versions, 3.3.0+185, and 3.2.1-1, one through pacman and the other compiled from source.

That's really wacky. do you also have the sidecar file? May be a bug.

Yup, here is the sidecar file: https://x0.at/uSx.xmp

I think it might be a bug too. Which is too bad, because Darktable is soooo close to the perfect photo editor (except for CA correction and sharpening, but that's neither here nor there)

Just saw this. I'll take a look after work :D

Thanks!

Rawtherapee is another top contender. I use it in conjunction with Affinity Photo and have been happy with the workflow.

The UIUX is horrible. The devs are cool and the wiki is really good though.

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