RAW is a popular image format when taking pictures, providing high image quality and sharpness. However, you need a dedicated software to open it. And Darktable is the ideal free option.
Adobe Lightroom is a popular RAW photo editing application, but there are plenty of reasons for you to have a cost-effective, yet cost-effective alternative. Darktable is free, open source software, capable of significantly replacing the tools in Lightroom .
Darktable is a program for viewing and editing RAW image files. RAW files are images that haven't been processed or compressed yet. You can't even send or show them without specialized software.
RAW files are like a movie that's still under development. Darktable is where you develop this digital photo. A prominent advantage of using Darktable compared to GIMP is that you can edit RAW without changing the original file. This feature is called non-destructive editing.
Darktable has two main workspaces: Lighttable and Darkroom
Lighttable is where you export images, edit metadata, tag, process names, and rearrange photos. You can import photos via the control panel on the left side of the screen. Just drag photos from camera and organize them into gallery. You can also view detailed information about each photo.
Here's how to use some of the main tasks in Lighttable:
The most important option is to export the RAW image to a format you can share. To do this, select the drop-down menu - Export Selected . More options will appear, including the name, location and desired file format.
Even if you do not want to edit anything, Darktable is still worth using every time you want to convert RAW files to JPG to send it to family members or upload to the web.
If you want to share photos, you may need to insert the photographer's name. This is extremely important, especially when it is part of your job.
The Metadata Editor provides you with the space to name and describe the content of each image. You can add photographers, publishers and photo licenses.
Removing metadata from photos is important when you want to ensure privacy. You can refer to Things to know about EXIF data and how to delete it from photos for more details.
Tag is extremely useful when organizing internal files, helping you determine whether the edited image is faster or if you want to split the profile photo from the horizontal image.
You can add tags by clicking on Tagging. Darktable already has some tags. You can create or import tags already in the Darktable installation file, and then attach it to the selected image.
Adding location tags to images is very simple when using Darktable by visiting Geotagging to add the GPX tracking file to the image.
Darkroom is the image editing section in the application. Here, you can do everything to make your photos come alive.
In the right-hand corner, you can make corrections to upgrade less-than-perfect photos, such as sharpening blurred frames, accurate white balance and cropping of frame noise. You can use your imagination to blow "life" into the image. Adjust the contrast to bring out the subject. Play with colors, adjust brightness, insert effects such as motion blur or texture.
Darktable sorts this whole task according to modules. Some display by default and are organized into categories such as Favorites, Basic, Tone, Color, Correction, Effects. More modules are listed in More Modules . Click on the option, it will be automatically added to the display item by default. Click again to remove it from that location. This feature gives you easy access to commonly used tools and hides unwanted selections. Thanks to that, the application interface is less cluttered, and you do not need to dig deep into the menu to perform the necessary tasks.
In the left hand corner, you can see a timeline of changes made on the current image. Clicking on the History section , you will be surprised to see that Darktable has automatically applied some tweaks to the image. You can undo them by returning to the original image. In addition, the software also provides an instant imaging option.
Several other tasks are ready to serve you in the lighttable workspace such as Tagging, Image Information.
After editing and exporting image files, you can click Other to find more ways to present your work or configure more photos.
This section displays the location of photos tagged location on the map. You can create map sources from different websites, the default is OpenStreetMap, but you can also choose Google Maps .
Print provides you with photo printing tools. Choose a printer, set page size, color configuration, etc. Darktable provides a live viewer so you can see how images are displayed on the page.
You do not need to download another application to present your photos as slides because Darktable can do this too. However, don't expect too many options because its features are quite basic.
Tethering allows you to directly connect the software to the camera and use Darktable as a capture area selection tool. Darktable uses the gphoto2 library to manage the connection, which is something to keep in mind when you encounter problems or to check if the camera you are using is supported or not.
Overall, Darktable is a great application, not only because it is free but also versatile, making the process of editing RAW images extremely simple.
Hope the article is helpful to you!
Windows has powerful built-in command line troubleshooting tools. The Windows Maintenance Tool simplifies things by consolidating these tools into one easy-to-use menu.
Installing Windows with WinToHDD is very simple, no need for USB or DVD containing the installation file. You just need to use the ISO file and then WinToHDD will proceed to install Windows.
DISM (Deployment Imaging and Servicing Management) is an important tool along with SFC (System File Checker) to handle many system issues in Windows 11.
Inaccessible Boot Device is a blue screen of death (BSOD) error. This error usually occurs on Windows 10 after users use the Reset This PC feature to restore Windows 10 computer to default settings or to refresh (reinstall) Windows 10 without losing files or after upgrading the system to Windows 10.
While Windows 11 certainly comes pre-installed with a few useless apps, it also hides some incredibly powerful tools right under your nose.
Adding free space from one partition to another is the best way to make full use of hard drive capacity. The extra space in the large partition will not be wasted, and the problem of lack of memory in the smaller drive will also be solved.
A top-of-the-line gaming laptop will never match the performance of a similarly priced gaming desktop. But that doesn't mean you can't play the latest games on a laptop.
If you don't like Photos on Windows 10 and want to view photos using Windows Photo Viewer on Windows 10, follow this guide to bring Windows Photo Viewer to Windows 10, helping you view photos faster.
No matter where you are or what computer you're using, you have everything you need to work, troubleshoot, and stay productive.
Changing the name of a Windows network does not affect the configuration and makes it easier to identify the network. There are several ways to change the name of a network on Windows.
Changing your WiFi password to special, complex characters is one way to protect your family's WiFi from being used illegally, affecting your family's WiFi speed.
Currently, Windows 11 has been officially launched and we can download the official Windows 11 ISO file or Insider Preview version to install.
The mouse pointer has disappeared from your Windows device and you're wondering: How do I get the mouse pointer back? Or, the mouse pointer always decides to disappear when you type.
Windows File Explorer does the job, but only just. No quick previews, clunky cloud access, and tedious batch operations make day-to-day file management more difficult than it needs to be.
Windows 10 support is coming to an end, and if your computer can't run Windows 11, it's headed for the scrap yard. But there's a clever tool that can get Windows 11 running on your old computer, thanks to a simple hack.
