fbpx

DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

Submit A Story

Free Lightroom alternative: Processing and editing images in Darktable

by 3 Comments

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…

[Read More…]

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

by 1 Comment

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.

[Read More…]

Free Lightroom alternative: Getting started with Darktable part 1

by 4 Comments

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…

[Read More…]

Nikon takes on Lightroom and Capture One with new photo editing software

by 18 Comments

Nikon has just launched NX Studio, all-in-one software that lets you view and edit your photos, including both photos and video. It’s made to help you edit everything in one place, and it’s completely free for download, so let’s see what you can expect from it.

[Read More…]

Filmulator is an open source raw photo editor based on the film developing process

If you’re looking for a free raw photo editor, a new option has just appeared online. Filmulator is a simple raw photo editor based on the process of developing film. It’s easy to use, and it’s an open-source app, so it’s free for everyone to download and use it.

[Read More…]

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

by 6 Comments

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.

[Read More…]

No, AI editing will not ruin photography

by 1 Comment

AI is the #1 buzzword in the digital photography world.

Skylum, which has ridden the AI photo editing craze better than any company, is about to release Luminar AI. ON1 now offers ON1 Portrait AI. DxO announced DxO DeepPRIME, which it describes as “an artificial intelligence technology dedicated to editing photos in RAW format.”

Adobe just made AI a major centerpiece in the latest version of Photoshop, declaring that Photoshop is “the world’s most advanced AI application for creatives.”

Reactions within the online photography community seem split. It feels like there’s a loud minority proclaiming AI to be pure evil. But there’s another side thinking about the convenience factor of one-click fixes.

So let’s talk about it.

[Read More…]

ACDSee creators get into motion with their new Luxea video editing software

by 8 Comments

ACD Systems, makers of the popular (and long-running) ACDSee imaging software have announced that they’re making the move to video with their new Luxea video editing software. Their goal, they say, is to simplify the video editing process to save time and allow users to focus on the content, and not the editing.

Luxea supports resolutions up to 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) and frame rates up to 60 frames per second. you can also mix videos with still images and add audio tracks, text, transitions, effects, animations, filters and even do some chroma-keying if you ever fancied playing around with green screen.

[Read More…]

What happens when more than 1,000 edit the same photo?

Last week, landscape photographer Nigel Danson published an interesting challenge. He invited photographers to edit three of his images, which he shared as raw files. The response was overwhelming with over 1,000 people submitting their edits! As you may assume, they range from subtle to extreme, and it’s a fantastic example how each of us has a different vision even when working on exactly the same task.

[Read More…]

Apple is giving away three months of Final Cut Pro X for free

The coronavirus has put around 1/3 of the world’s population in isolation, and many individuals and companies are trying to make it easier for everyone. So, after Adobe CC apps and whole Affinity suite, there’s now something for Mac users as well. Apple has extended the trial period of Final Cut Pro X, so you can now get three months of its video editing software for free.

[Read More…]

Recent Posts