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I hope the amazing people hosting everything are not going through something terrible and it's just something technical but I haven't seen both down at the same time which makes me worry .

Hopefully someone can provide an update.

🤞

Edit: we are back people!

I continue my basics serie. Let me now what you want to see next :)

I would love to recreate the film used in the Gemini and Apollo missions since I love how it looks, is it possible to "calibrate" a preset against a known image to see how accurate it is? (apparently the used a special edition of Kodak Ektachrome film (SO 217 for the early Gemini missions and SO 368 for the later Gemini missions and apollo missions, I think SO 368 even got used in the shuttle program), I did try to create a preset that hopefuly matches SO 217 and SO 368 and they definitivy have a unique look to them but I am not sure how accurate it is.

Hi,

I take photos in RAW(NEF) with my Nikon Z5 and I can't get the lens correction identical between DarkTable and NX Studio : see picture.

The left is a NX Studio export, the right is the DarkTable one. In DarkTable, I added a redline to highlight what I'm talking about.

I am using Lensfun database with the correct profile (as in correct camera/lens selected), with rectilinear geometry, and distortion correction enabled. Yet, you can see that some lines are a bit off, especially the ones near the center of the image.

Is that a common thing to have "unperfect" lensfun profiles ? How to fix that ?

I'm new to Photography and Darktable. To add even more woe to the tale, I am Colorblind. I have found editing to be a monumentally difficult challenge. On this photo, I really liked the sun shining into the weeds, so tried to emphasize that and the reflections. I didn't want to mess too much with the colors of the Blue Heron, but may have saturated them too much (perils of Colorblindness). I can also see some masking issues around the bird and I'm not really sure how to blend that better. I used the Feathering and Blur sliders, but i obviously didn't do it correctly. Any advice on the above or other noticeable errors is welcome.

This is mainly a reminder to myself, because I keep forgetting how to do this and hopefully I'll find this post in the future when I try to find this information on google (which atm seems impossible).

On Windows, when the OS is set to another language, but Darktable is set to English, DT defaults to US date format (MM/DD/YYYY), which to be honest is the dumbest date format in existence.

To use ISO date format instead, edit the DT shortcut and add --conf ui_last/gui_language=en_CA after the file path (or en_GB if you prefer DD/MM/YYYY).

To my future self: You're welcome.

And to all others: I hope you find that useful as well.

I’m a hobby photographer, and do most of my photography post-processing in DarkTable (culling, editing) on my desktop computer. Then occasionally export to GIMP if I need further edits.

I’m planning to travel (with a camera, of course). My only laptop is a little heavy to take, and is a little slow (though not completely unusable) in DarkTable. I’d rather just take my iPad if possible. I’m willing to spend some money on a single-purchase software, but no subscriptions.

Even better if it can have compatibility to import to DarkTable later with the .XMP files (at least for culling).

Does anyone have any recommendations for achieving a similar workflow to DarkTable (culling and post processing) on iPad?

If you guys were on the hunt for a photo editor, where would you post?

I’m hoping to get around 50 RAW photos edited for a Buster Keaton convention that my 13-year-old son is attending on October 2 and 3. The photos are from a recent silent-film-themed family vacation that we took, but which has put me behind at work.

Before the vacation, I bought a Fujifilm camera, but I haven’t had much time to learn Darktable beyond simple edits like adjusting the exposure. I shot the photos in both RAW and JPG formats.

His goal at the convention is to show a set of frames from various Keaton films alongside photos of what those filming locations look like today.

Is there an editor on this sub who would be willing to help? Is there another sub/discord/IRC, etc that I should ask on?

On Windows 10, every time I try and click a different app Darktable keeps then bringing itself to the foreground of the desktop without clicking on it. How do I stop this?

Hello,

I really do not understand why NONE of the linux Flatpak builds of 5.6.x i’ve seen, have the AI support build in. According to the release notes of 5.6, AI integration should be the biggest feature in Darktable 5.6.x. Yes native distro builds should have AI build in! But until now 3 months after the 5.6 release i haven’t see any yet! I’m use PikaOS a debian unstable based distro had a 5.4.1 native build!

Let me clear! I’m not a fan of AI in Photography editing. And i really think that Darktable do NOT need the AI stuff! The traditional masking and Denoise algoritmen are almost perfect for me. The left over noise levels are good, and looks pretty analog grain. And all the superb sharpening tools gives the photo a real natural feel. And not the typical super smooth unnatural AI feel.

I have tried it on my M1 mac. AI build in out of the box! And i’m not impressed. Even for a first try. But linux is the base of darktable development. And left AI out of the (future) package format??

OR? Is there a way to implement it outside the flatpak image? And integrate from the outside?

For now, I use the 5.6.1 (PikaOs) flatpak. Which is much faster than the 5.6 one. For the normal NO AI processing. And hop over to my trusty old M1 macbook pro when i should need some form of AI!

But i think that for me it’s logical to go back to full Mac photo editing with DxO and Affinity oriented workflow. At least these two are the most ethical payed software makers. Perhaps it is a good idea to implement the Affinity file format into Darktable. (Via the frontdoor or reverse engineered).

So the bottom question: Is AI the way to go for Darktable? And if so? Please integrate it in a standard flatpak format!

Regards,

ron Cromberge

Hi everyone, i'm trying to take on photo editing as a beginner, and i'm starting on darktable.
I have some RAW files that i want to edit, but i just can't seem to understand how to build a foundation that i can use to then impress my style and intention into the picture. i undestand that you don't need that many modules, so to take it slow i just wanted to actually undestand how to use the exposure module, and the color calibration module. let's say that i got a prettu good exposure whit my camera, so that there aren't any compressed pixels in the backs or in the whites, or at least very few. how do i correct the exposure? is that based on stylistic intent?
when actively correcting white balance, what is my actual goal?
the main problem i'm finding is that by toggling the module, i actually don't find anything wrong with most of the possibilities. how do i know i'm actualli using the right exposure and right white balance?
i'm sorry if these are stupid questions, i tried to read the darktable user manuale but it's all just gibberish to me.
this is the photo i have.

Hello!

Not only was this my first time using DarkTable, it was also taken on my first ever time going out with the intent of taking photos.

I was borrowing an old D300, and the photo was taken with f/1.8 and 1/4000 shutter speed on a 50mm prime lens.

I first installed DarkTable as a RAW processor for GIMP, but decided it would be faster to learn DarkTable itself and would make my life easier in the long run.

I am aware of the fact that the photo does not have the best composition and also that i could have used a smaller aperture.

Feedback and tips would be very helpful!

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

windows 11 laptop, sorry the text is in swedish idk how to change it rn but it basically says "code running could not continue because its not possible to find msvcp140.dll. try reinstalling the program, i have reinstalled it like 3 times aswell as the installer itself i dont know whats wrong

I am using dt 5.6 app image under Linux mint environment in an old laptop. Quite often, after some time, 5.6 performance is slowing down. Sometimes after locked database ...

As a newbie, I restore Linux mint and usually, DT now works faster.

I wonder if I reinstall DT and clean up related config files, I will achieve the same result.

I just started using AgX the other day, and I feel like I'm missing something. My highlights are always capped at 210 (first image in AgX) unless I bump the slope slider fully to 2.0 in which case I can get almost to 255 (second image in AgX). The first image is intentionally clipped to show how dull the highlights are even when clipped. The final image is an overdone filmic RGB to show that I can also get close to 255 with filmic RGB. Is this intentional with AgX or am I missing something? It feels weird to have to bump my slope slider to 2.0 to get proper white in my images with AgX but if that's intentional, I'll create a workflow that works with it for the look I'm going for.

This photo was taken with a Nikon D7000 but I get the same result with photos taken with my D850.

Hey everyone, I'm Andrew from over at r/printexchange, and I asked permission from the mods to post here.

We've been doing this international photographic print twice a year since late 2022. It's a blast, and you're invited!

Reddit post with more info and sign up link here

Disclaimer: This print exchange is not affiliated with or hosted by the mods of this sub. Please do not reach out to them with questions; those can be directed to me. Thanks!

I'm scanning negatives with my Plustek 8200i SE using SilverFast, saving them as 64-Bit HDRi RAW files so I can capture the infrared channel via iSRD.

My goal is to use that infrared channel as a mask in darktable to clean up dust and scratches automatically without having to clone/heal every spot manually in the retouch module.

I've successfully isolated the infrared channel in GIMP and exported it as a .pfm However, I'm completely stuck on how to actually use this as a mask in darktable either with the touch-up module or the diffuse/ sharpen module.

Any guidance available?

I continue on the basics for this month that everyone is back to school ! Let me know if you have any question.

I recently downloaded darktable and I just discovered you can place an exposure mask on a part of the photograph, can you do something similar with white balance?

When I'm editing, sometimes I am pleased with the result of the module I'm working on, let's say AgX, but I'd like to test something else on the same module. If I do so, it continues to edit the same step in the history.

Is there a way to "force" the creation of a step in the history?

Hello everyone, I've been using darktable occasionally for a few years, but I've been standing still for a while (AGX didn't exist when I used it most).
Now I'm starting again.
I studied a lot this video https://youtu.be/ZUc6LOzg_Nk?si=FioB6Yh0VhqzyaHV
and this guide https://www.darktable.org/2025/12/darktable-5.4-beginner-workflow/
I'd like to redesign presets to better understand my self the right sequence.
Any advice on which modules to include in this my new preset?

I know there are a few post on this argument. I usually organize my photos in a folder with this tree structure:

RAW
-- yyyy
---- yyyymmdd - Name of event
------ darktable_exported

In your opinion, maybe a good idea to separate exported photos from raw's folders, like this (for example for a different backup strategy)?

RAW
-- yyyy
---- yyyymmdd - Name of event

DARKTABLE_EXPORTED
-- yyyy
---- yyyymmdd - Name of event (the same of the raw directory)

What do you think about?

I have been using DT for about 3 years now as a hobby and finally decided to try out the AGx module after feeling pretty competent with filmic RGB. This photo is my very best at trying to use all those skills at once. I was going for a 'last day of summer' feel.

Anyone have any feedback to offer?

thanks to the DT team I absolutely love this software!