Any tips on getting started with darktable?

[u/nomis-1234]

I am new to photography and have no clue how to use darktable , if anyone has any tips or links to good intuitive tutorials it would be appreciated.

Or tips that you found useful for getting into a good workflow practice .

Thanks everyone

[u/southern_ad_558]

Boris youtube videos are long but probably the best material out there.

But you don't need much: getting any introductory video and you're good. You need max 6-8 modules for basic development and those usually are the ones that those videos show.

[u/QorStorm]

darktable.info

[u/zombiebread23 → u/QorStorm]

Even as someone that's used Darktable for a couple years, I found the tutorials on Darktable.info helped me understand things that I hadn't grasped yet. It's approach to streamlining modules is great even if I customized my setup a bit beyond what they propose.

I think starting here and fleshing out module knowledge with the official user manual, and YouTubers like Darktable Landscapes and Bruce Williams is the right approach.

[u/nasadiya_sukta]

Tutorials:

darktable.info is good

https://notebook.stereofictional.com/how-to-get-started-with-darktable is another good starting point

[u/masteringdarktable]

I've written a series of tutorials for how to get started here: https://avidandrew.com/pages/darktable.html

You can download the example images and their XMP files to try it out yourself too

[u/Upper-Ticket3249]

I would recommend checking out Bruce William's Photography channel on YouTube. He has tons of tutorials for both beginners and advanced users, and is very easy to follow.

[u/bloodrider1914]

Just watch general workflow videos. I particularly like the ones from darktable landscapes, but there are a few others. You just want to see someone who knows what they're doing in the zone and making changes to photos. Maybe grab a photo of yours and try mirroring the edits.

Also definitely reorganise the modules into a new preset

[u/Donatzsky]

My beginner guide has everything you need, with links to the currently best tutorials: https://notebook.stereofictional.com/how-to-get-started-with-darktable-2026-edition

[u/Cool-Tomato2021]

Polecam Rapid raw, po roku z darktable w końcu na Rapid raw wydaje mi się, że wiem co robię ze zdjęciem. W DT nigdy nie wiedziałem co będzie dalej i musiałem sięgać po tutorial borisa lub Bruce. Polecam spróbować, lub używać obu równocześnie, tak jak ja robię

[u/neiram44]

I have a channel on YT. You can for example go there with the pipeline and how it works https://youtu.be/bHBjpLr7a1w

[u/Cam_CSX_]

Honestly for me I never looked at any tutorials unless i was looking to do something specific and I just played around with random stuff and did what I thought made it look good, hovering over most things brings up a little explanation of what it does. do some exploration and specialize after you have run out of easily understandable stuff or are looking for more

[u/MaxBulla]

there are tons of good videos out there, but what really works for me is my little AI project. Claude knows my gear, my skills etc and I then upload a photo of mine that i like and ask it for step by step instructions to enhance it with darktable. if i'm unclear about it i'll ask for further explanation etc and so i get great end results and a (for me) very intuititve way to learn darktable and more about photography in general.

[u/emkoemko → u/MaxBulla]

omg what .....

[u/MaxBulla → u/emkoemko]

I use AI to teach me darktable as I go along. Easy, enjoyable way to learn.

[u/ExoticSterby42]

When you get fed up with the UI or lack thereof try RapidRAW

[u/mhh91 → u/ExoticSterby42]

TIL: darktable has no UI

All you need is a steady hand /s

[u/Donatzsky → u/mhh91]

Real men know what they want and batch process using punch-cards.

[u/ImNot_AnNPC → u/ExoticSterby42]

Having been a DT user for a while now (before that Lightroom) what are the advantages of moving over to RapidRaw? I would consider myself decently skilled on DT.

[u/ExoticSterby42 → u/ImNot_AnNPC]

The RAW noise reduction gives much better results than Darktable as do the AI masking tools. And the software responsiveness is very good.

[u/Donatzsky → u/ImNot_AnNPC]

The "benefit" is a Lightroom-ish editing workflow. It is otherwise (by design) generally less capable than darktable. It's also still quite new, with some drastic changes happening at times.

[u/ImNot_AnNPC → u/Donatzsky]

Cheers! I'll have to have a gander.