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Darktable

Darktable developers preparing to ditch macOS support

Feb 10, 2023 by John Aldred Add Comment
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This is not the news that anybody wants to really hear, but it looks like Lightroom alternative Darktable may no longer be available on the Mac soon. According to the developers of the software, it’s just getting too difficult to keep up. While Darktable is an open-source project with contributors in the community, for the last ten years, maintaining and compiling the Mac versions of Darktable has been down to a single person.

That person has done a wonderful job of keeping up with things for the last decade, but now he’s ready to move on and pass the mantle on to somebody else. This means that the next stable release of Darktable, version 4.2.1, is probably going to be the last one available for the Mac – unless they can find a replacement.

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Free Lightroom alternative: Moving your images from Darktable to GIMP

Apr 19, 2021 by John Aldred Add Comment
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This is the final part of a five-part series on the free and open-source Lightroom alternative, Darktable by photographer Chris Parker. Chris didn’t write a post to accompany the fifth video in the series, but we didn’t want to leave the series of posts unfinished, so here we are.

If you missed them, check out parts 1-4, covering Getting started with Darktable, Importing your images into Darktable, Processing your RAW files in Darktable, and Exporting images from Darktable for editing in another application. Another application like GIMP (which is also free and open-source). And that’s what this final video is about.

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Free Lightroom alternative: Exporting images in Darktable

Apr 18, 2021 by Chris Parker Add Comment
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This is part four of five in a series. Check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Now that you’ve completed your editing, you’re ready to share it with the world. But how? Well, the answer lies within this tutorial.

It should be noted that edits to your image are not saved directly to the image file. Instead, the editing data is recorded in darktable’s database and an XMP file if the preference default settings are left unchanged. To share your images, you’ll need to “export” them, and the edits you applied will be included.

If you’re ready to learn how to export your images with darktable… let’s do it!

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Free Lightroom alternative: Processing and editing images in Darktable

Apr 17, 2021 by Chris Parker 3 Comments
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Feeling a little overwhelmed with editing in Darktable? After using Lightroom exclusively for 13 years, I too found myself scratching my head when I first fired up darkroom. A lot of the editing tools are similar to Lightroom. Although, those tools have more built-in features vs. Lightroom. Plus, there’s a bunch of new tools that not even Lightroom has!

This is part three of five in a series. Check out Part 1 and Part 2. In today’s tutorial, I’d like to share some basic edits to help you get started with editing in Darktable. If you’re ready… let’s do it! Oh, and here is the before and after image that I’ll be demonstrating for you…

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Free Lightroom alternative: Importing images into Darktable (quick start guide)

Apr 16, 2021 by Chris Parker 1 Comment
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This is part two of five in a series. You can see Part 1 here. Before you can start editing your images with Darktable, you must first import them! There’s a couple of things we should get out of the way first. One, Darktable does not create a catalog like Lightroom! Two, your image files are not being imported.

So, what you see is a preview of your original file. Therefore, do NOT use Darktable as a way to back up your files… since that’s not what it was designed for. Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let’s explore two different options for importing your images; via your hard drive or your camera.

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Free Lightroom alternative: Getting started with Darktable part 1

Apr 1, 2021 by Chris Parker 4 Comments
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Darktable is a fantastic alternative to Lightroom. It has more tools, and those tools have more advanced features to help you achieve your creative vision.

Today I want to show you how to get started with Darktable. This is part one of five in this series. At the bottom of this tutorial, you’ll find a link to the next article for getting started with Darktable.

Ready to cut the Adobe cord?  Awesome!  Let’s get started…

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Darktable just dropped 3.4.0 with improved tethering and live histogram, and color calibration

Dec 25, 2020 by Dunja Djudjic 6 Comments
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Darktable has just released its 3.4.0 version. As always, it’s completely free and available for Windows, iOS, and Linux. The open-source alternative to Lightroom has been more and more popular among photographers, and the new version brings a bunch of improvements. Some of them are improved tethering and live histogram, as well as color calibration. So let’s dive in and see what you get when you install Darktable 3.4.0.

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RGB vs Lab colour – What it is and how you can use it when processing your images

Jan 30, 2020 by John Aldred Add Comment
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Most of us probably never leave the realm of editing our images in a regular RGB colour space. But many applications also allow you the option to edit your images using Lab colour. What is Lab colour? How do we use it? and how does it benefit us?

Aurélien Pierre, developer of filmic module for the open-source editing software Darktable, recently put together a massive article (English version) covering everything you need to know about working in Lab colour. And while some of the steps might be specific to Darktable, the principles can be applied to many different editing applications.

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Looking for a free Lightroom alternative, check out the new Darktable 3.0.0

Dec 25, 2019 by Dunja Djudjic 24 Comments
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Darktable is an open-source alternative to Lightroom, and it seems to be growing in popularity, especially since it became available for Windows.  The new version is now available for Windows, iOS, and Linux, and just like the previous ones, it’s completely free.

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Here is a comprehensive introduction to Darktable – a completely free alternative to Lightroom

Sep 9, 2019 by John Aldred 7 Comments
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Lightroom is still considered to be the leading software out there for digital asset management and raw processing. But it’s not the only one. There’s Capture One, Luminar, Exposure X4, and a host of others. But there’s one that seems to always be improving in popularity and functionality, and that’s Darktable.

Darktable is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, and it’s completely free. This video from Rico Richardson, coming via Anthony Morganti, is an overview of the basics of this pretty powerful RAW processor, and how to go about getting started with it for processing your images.

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Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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