darktable thread - /p/

Anonymous12/21/25, 22:30No.4489604Darktable thread

5.4 is out, what do we think bros?

224

Replies

Anon12/21/25, 22:50No.4489610

>crashes say, “thank you open source!”

Anon12/21/25, 23:08No.4489612

Please, tell your next employer about how you are proficient in....Dark... table?

Anon12/22/25, 03:25No.4489648

>Added support for multiple workspace. When the corresponding option is activated on the preferences, Darktable opens a dialog when starting. From this dialog one can select the default workspace (the one created the first time and currently used by everyone by default) or to create a new one. Each workspace has it’s own database and configuration file (collection, last UI defaults…).Perfect timing. I was just thinking about how I could do this with a duplicated AppImage and/or collection. I want to have separate instances for my personal vs. professional shots rather than fuck with tags or color dots.

Anon12/22/25, 04:15No.4489660

i bought capture one two years ago and it is still more capable than darktable for actual photography what with the AI masking that saves literal hours and shit (maybe darktable has better tools for astro and scanning nerds that geek out over demosaicing methods lmao)

Anon12/22/25, 08:49No.4489687

UI is still a mess. Devs must have some form of mental illness to think that shit is usable

Anon12/22/25, 09:13No.4489692

They added yet another base curve module >Added a new tone mapper implementation based on Blender’s AgX display transform.

Anon12/22/25, 10:53No.4489704

It's garbage. I keep wanting to use Darktable and I keep going through the same loop. I install DT, I configure my directories. I realize the editing tools are still garbage and I crack Lightroom instead. I keep trying it at least twice a year. But it never gets any better.

Anon12/22/25, 13:19No.4489713

I've been trying to use it since I want to ditch windows, but it is not what I'd call intuitive

Anon12/22/25, 14:18No.4489718

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atBNxKHZ0ag This young fella is getting AI masking to work on Darktable

Anon12/22/25, 19:32No.4489777

i'm on 5.2 still and i hate that they changed the name filmic rgb to sigMOID, though it's a lot easier to manipulate

Anon12/22/25, 23:40No.4489819

I couldn't figure out how to open raws in dark table so I went back to the proprietary software I was using before.

Anon12/23/25, 19:15No.4489994

never used anything but darktable, I tried rawtherspee for a little but didnt like it its not that hard but i can see how photographers that dont actually know shit about photography would be confused i don't think there are any worthwhile alternatives desu

Anon12/24/25, 14:34No.4490154

I've been using sigmoid for so long it's like second nature. Supposedly AgX gives you more control, but I'll have to figure out how to use it effectively.

Anon12/25/25, 15:16No.4490252

What's the deal with Darktable colors being so consistently dull, muddy and generally awful? It takes like an hour of fiddling to get anything looking even half decent. How do people continue to put up with this shit? Did they improve it in this new version? This is 4.6.1 but it's been garbage since forever so I'm not going to go to the effort to install something new if it's just the same. Rawtherapee on the left, I wish it had a catalog view like darktable has

Anon12/26/25, 04:57No.4490325

>Freetard will die on this hill >he ACTUALLY thinks he is intelligent for wasting his time conforming to the poorly written manual of some shitty program >he ACTUALLY thinks AI object detection is the same as photoshop CS4s magic wand tool lmfaoexactly the kind of fucking retard who thinks he's smart because he uses arch linux, but finds every excuse to avoid doing anything that actually requires intelligence (ie: getting a job)

Anon12/26/25, 14:24No.4490351

Dude got cucked so hard he now triple posts... reminds me of poopco back in the days

Anon12/26/25, 15:23No.4490353

I don't understand any of you spergs. Regardless of the software you use, you're paying with it in one way or another. Any software you name has pros and cons. I mean any software, not just RAW editors. Name one piece of software that is flawless in every way. What a werid fucking hill to die on anons. You should all feel ashamed. It's software not a god damn softtocracy

Anon12/26/25, 15:26No.4490355

which I use btw

Anon12/26/25, 21:01No.4490392

look, I want to discuss the new tone compressor, not babysit paypigs trying to cope with their SaaS remorse

Anon12/26/25, 21:55No.4490404

>boasting about your lack of basic intelligence do paypigs really?

Anon12/27/25, 06:15No.4490459

>i spent 15 hours figuring out darktable and now you cant tell i did >did i just not want to use masking on these blown highlights or did i get sick of using darktables magic wand select? you will never know! weird flex but ok gettin m43 shill vibes >*misses focus, max iso, shaky hands* tell sensor size

Anon12/27/25, 12:20No.4490505

good to know majority of /p/ users is technically illiterate who like to blame anything but their own skills

Anon12/27/25, 13:06No.4490510

here's my dt workflow, maybe it will help someone: 1. enable denoise (profiled) and lens correction 2. use crop and rotate modules if needed 3. set exposure by clicking the eye dropper symbol and drawing a rectangle over your subject, it will automatically set exposure so your subject is close to middle grey. do manual adjustments, if needed. 4. set white balance via color calibration, if needed. use the eye dropper and draw a rectangle on a neutral white or grey part. I rarely have to do this, since I try to get white balance right in camera. 5. in AgX, click on auto tune levels 6. now activate color balance RGB, set global vibrance to 20-50%.Now you have a solid starting point and can make further adjustments to taste. I suggest continuing dialing in your contrast and colors in color balance RGB. You can also copy this module 1 or more times and use masks to work on specific parts of the image.All this shouldn't take more than a couple minutes. I can see how dt can be confusing at first, since there are so many modules. once you know which ones to use, it's easier.

Anon12/27/25, 13:18No.4490515

holy based macOS! it even auto-highlights the "move to trash" option for you :)

Anon12/27/25, 14:26No.4490522

i mainly use dt for converting film negative scans, which is pretty easy. i've tried it for digital photos but i haven't learned how to get anything close to the sooc jpegs

Anon12/27/25, 14:36No.4490524

I use ACDSee Ultimate 2026. It's $100 during their holiday sale going on right now. Seems like pretty good software.

Anon12/27/25, 20:05No.4490619

Alright lads there's a new major module on the table now. I'm going to be honest, when Sigmoid became the default earlier this year, I didn't hear any compelling reasons to switch to it. Now that AgX is a third tone mapping module, there's another reason to bring up discussion on the fundamentals.Is it best to learn just one after trying all three? Should I know how to use each one for specific types of shots? Can anyone describe concrete, testable differences in outputs? Can you post an example if so? Are there any more tone mappers (or similar) I should be aware of? I feel like the Tone Equalizer has been a saving grace for fine tuning tone where I needed it. How should I be thinking about using a tone mapper vs. Tone Equalizer?

Anon12/27/25, 23:55No.4490675

I feel like the actual Darktable dev is posting here.

Anon01/14/26, 06:12No.4493695

why should i use this and not lightroom

Anon01/18/26, 06:52No.4494236

After playing around with 5.4 today after being on 5.0 for a while, AgX is laid out and works in such a way that the slider controls feel way more intuitive and understandable than s*gmoid's shitshow, and results superior to filmic. I'm able to get to a workable photo much quicker. Neat.

Anon01/19/26, 12:23No.4494447

quick comparison filmic vs AGx, processing is identical except changed filmic to AGx and fiddled the AGx sliders a bit Kind of subtle side by side but makes a huge difference, the filmic is just generally unpleasant

Anon01/25/26, 19:25No.4495282

It's up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-z1equqIg0

Anon01/27/26, 01:59No.4495446

>get new camera >cracked lightroom doesnt support the raws >dont want to pay for subs so try darktable >feel retarded trying to use this is darktable worth the learning curve or should i just pay for a LR or C1 sub?

Anon01/27/26, 20:08No.4495525

>lightroom doesn't support teathering for my camera >darktable does and it works flawlessly pretty cool desu

Anon01/28/26, 02:36No.4495562

You guys are editing your photos outside of windows photo viewer?

Anon02/01/26, 22:03No.4496105

How do I actually update existing Darktable installation? Install over same folder?

Anon02/20/26, 19:05No.4498249

I'm having issues getting tethering to work. I've plugged in and mounted my Canon Rebel t5i. When I go to to the tethering page, it brings in photos from my last camera roll which is confusing. I also can't figure out live view or capturing. Has anyone had luck with this in the past?

Anon02/21/26, 04:03No.4498282

I was using Darktable for a few months while I tried out Bazzite. Apart from the bullshit of modern Linux usage being flatpak first, I think Darktable is a subpar experience when it comes to catalog management. Firstly, I couldn't figure out a way to have multiple catalogs. I feel that this is a major oversight for people who might want to separate their personal work from professional work. Secondly, although I like the xml files holding all the edits, I don't like that they're in the same folder as the base images. Browsing through the actual folders, which is a valid way of looking through your files, is a lot more tedious because of them. Thirdly, the Lighttable is a clusterfuck. Going between Lighttable and Darkroom causes your filters and your view (folder, tree, date, etc) to reset to whatever inane defaults Darktable thinks are good. This makes general navigation a pain in the ass. Lastly, the filmroll naming during import isn't as flexible as it should be. Pretty gay that I can't make arbitrary subfolders using / to have a better hierarchy for my imported files.

Anon02/21/26, 14:02No.4498290

It has much better results than 10 years ago, colors improved a lot but still not quite good. Workflow is dogshit, even worse than 10 years ago. Why would you need an MsC degree in CS and engineering to even understand what the settings are? Also Highlights and Shadows module is fucked up WTF?? I have an engineering degree and even I don't understand half of the UI and settings. Also Photography is Art and Aesthetics, as an engineer I can understand that and deal with it accordingly, how come a bunch of Linux Nerds can't understand a picture is not a bunch of numbers and good results are not derived from mathematics but from them looking good? Oh. Yeah. Nerds.The bottom line is it is no real substitute now to Lightroom from 10 years ago.

Anon02/22/26, 13:56No.4498351

Why would anyone ever be proud of their ignorance? Is it finally the fabled "ipad generation" that turned 16 and started posting? >why doesnt it crank saturation automatically? Obviously I want that in every shot just like the camera app on my phone >help it has settings >oh god now they tell me the settings on my camera also makes a ddifference but that was days ago it literally cannot affect my editing process >I cant understand any of this only stupid people can understand it

Anon02/23/26, 19:07No.4498496

I'm seeing a strange issue with the Retouch module. It seems to be outputting inconsistently when I zoom in or out. I'm performing the operation at 800% or 1600% to remove a logo. Zooming out or most notably exporting ends up looking very bad, as though I completely botched the cloning/healing.My gut says it has something to do with the scaling, but this seems particularly egregious. All screenshots in the collage were taken without modifications to the photo. I wouldn't be so bothered if the jpeg export, bottom center, wasn't the worst looking of all.

Anon02/24/26, 06:44No.4498562

>teenager stabs himself with scalpel while trying to slice bread >I dont get why anyone would use a scalpel lmao piece of shit cutting tool. The store has presliced bread lmao scalpeltards backed off once again

Anon02/24/26, 08:21No.4498570

open source bs is made by fucking retardsi m at work need some light weight photo editing software to just level the horizon get paint.net get photo demon get infranviewno gridlines lol. need to install plugins to draw gridlines and insert them as an additional layer then rotate the photo layer then remove the grid layerif gridlines it opens in a sub window made for ants where you can't see shit to make a decent alignment no real time adjustments, you chose and angle click ok/save, is not enough/too much, open the submenu again readjusteven fucking windows photo viewer has Realtime rotation option but some weird gridline implementation

Anon03/11/26, 08:54No.4500389

I like the scene refered agx module, I have made this the default. Massive improvement on sigmoid, very powerful when you learn how to use it.

Anon03/12/26, 01:02No.4500481

I paid for these fucking software gougers for twenty years and got shitty old buggy half-baked software out of it while they paid themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars and put swimming pools in their fucking offices, I’m not giving them another fucking dime. Fuck these cunts and their grossly unethical ai trash, I’ll freeload on the cracked versions that already exist for the rest of my days just fine, fuck all yall.

Anon03/23/26, 21:36No.4501909

Although I have encountered some superficial bugs, I am a huge fan of the workspaces. I can have one for my product photography and one for hobbyist photography. The biggest annoyance I've run into is that since the workspace is a new .darktablerc file, all my UI settings I've done over the years are reset to default. I think I'm going to just leave it as is, save for some panel resizing.

Anon03/27/26, 03:28No.4502321

I have to be honest, AgX is a little difficult to understand. I don't feel like I have a grasp over what I'm doing relative to Filmic RGB. Skipped Sigmoid.

Anon03/28/26, 07:46No.4502474

so I have those Picture Control settings in my camera https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/d3500/ru/10_psam_modes_05.htmlHow do I make Monochrome mode look more like a film?

Anon03/31/26, 19:01No.4502995

I use affinity.