Feiertag Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Has anyone tried Darktable? Apparently it is a free program.

What are your thoughts as far as an alternative to Lightroom, etc?

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

Darktable does not compete in any realistic way with Lightroom's DAM features. If you need and use Lightroom's DAM features there's no point in looking at Darktable.

Darktable's UI can be ungainly and daunting to learn compared with Lightroom which has arguably one of the most accessible and well-designed UIs available.

However Darktable can more than compete with Lightroom in processing power and final image outcome. If you're willing to make the effort to learn Darktable you can in fact accomplish image processing tasks that will make Lightroom users envious as they yet again run to Photoshop to get done what Lightroom can't do but Darktable can. In this regard Darktable is worth consideration.

Joe

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

Well done, Joe.

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

Since I have a Linux system I can't use Adobe products, so I am not sure of the difference of the two.

Darktable is in fact a RAW file editor and not a file manager. That is not to say that it doesn't offer a very effective method to sort through, categorize, and search RAW files. With Darktable you can tag RAW files upon import or any other time allowing for searches (which are saved), also pretty much any other searchable criteria that is located in or with (sidecar file) that file can be searched on.

The UI is a bit daunting at first. There are great tutorials for Darktable that help the user learn the program and the modules. With Darktable, there are always multiple ways to accomplish similar results, so it is a very complicated program to fully master. But the most common modules become second nature after some use, just like any software program.

I wouldn't say one is better than the other, because everyone has their own opinion and comfort level with their personal workflow. But I will say Darktable is a very polished product for being free (Linux version).

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

I had lightroom 6. It was a pain to set up and most 'alterations' used my PSE as an 'add on'. In a fit of stupidity I put my name on one image and LR decided to put it on all of them...never did learn how to remove it - as links people said were there - i couldn't get to work.

I use darktable because its raw processing appears closer to the jpg than UFraw. I too swopped to linux.....it has a great selection of image manipulation software free to use. It can be run in a partition with Windows.

I have a simple filing system based on year, place, object (person etc)....and delete a lot of images that I am not instantly happy with (I did originally think that I would re-visit them to fix, but frankly life is too short) So having lots of Key word search capability is not my thing....LR does this well!!!if that is your requirement. Dark table will search your files in whatever 'system' you use.

Your image files do not reside in any program.....they get 'associated' with programs to open them. If your images get downloaded to User,home files(or similar) pictures....that is where they will always reside - catalogues only 'lose' images that you move outside of the catalogue. So you can safely use Darktable and if you do not like it - simply uninstall it....your images will be safe!

have fun for free......

In fact try out all the free ones before you spend any cash....depending upon your needs - some of the smaller programs may 'do for you' for a while and you will quickly learn tools and 'effects' and be able to 'think through' the different tool names that each program uses. That bit isn't rocket science------getting the right final image can be.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Darktable is also the RAW processor for GIMP which is another free editor much like Photoshop.

Feiertag Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Thank you for the replies.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I recently watched a video about alternatives to Lightroom.

I've been using LR version 6 for several years... and almost every other version of LR since it was first introduced. It works well. But I don't want to subscribe and pay annual "rent", which is the only way I can update to newer LR versions. So I've started shopping around. If/when I upgrade to newer cameras, I'll need to do something if LR6 doesn't support them (which is a very good possibility).

One in depth review of Lightroom alternatives I found on Youtube did not have great things to say about any of the freebies. The reviewer recommended them only for "light" users, due to their limitations and glitches.

The top two programs he recommended were Alien Skin Exposure X and On1. Each of those cost around $100, but for that you get a perpetual license. In some ways the reviewer felt they were superior to LR.... can pretty much do all it can do, plus have some other tricks up their sleeves (so to speak). He also noted Capture One was top notch and powerful, but recommended it only for high volume, professional studio use due to it's high cost and complexity. One of the features unique to Capture Pro, a magnifying loupe you can use to more quickly select best images among a page full of thumbnails, he wishes some of the others would implement! But other than that, for most users, he felt Exposure X or On1 would handle their needs very well.

Both those are available with free trial downloads, if you want to take a "test drive".

Sorry, but I disn't save a link to that video. You can probably find it pretty easily with a search on Youtube, if you wish.

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

The "best" software is the one that provides the user with exactly what they need or want to accomplish.

I would disagree that free and open source "freebie" software is limited. While I only spent a fraction of time with others like RawTherapee, Darktable is very powerful and can do more than most reviewers spend the time to learn. I am constantly learning something new every time I open it. So much so, that in the 3-4 months I've had it, I have gone back to some of my first photos and made them extremely better with updated knowledge of the tool.

Again, it is all in your preference of software, level of comfort, and to some extent, budget.

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

Agree. As a single raw image editor Darktable is substantially more capable that Lightroom. I get paid to teach people how to use Lightroom. I endorse it as the best option for working professionals because of it's database/business support capabilities and ease of use. But as a non-professional wanting the best raw image processing software I could get I would select Darktable over Lightroom -- even if I had to pay for Darktable.

Joe

ButchS Loc: Spokane, WA

After Windows 10 1809 deleted almost very digital photo I had, I moved nearly all my computers to Linux. Not an issue for me, since my day job is Linux System Administrator. But as the previous poster said, Adobe was not an option.

That meant experimenting with Darktable, GIMP, and Rapid Photo Downloader. I know that everyone else thinks it’s great, but I was never a fan of Lightroom. And along those lines, I’m not much of a fan of Darktable, either. But I am very happy with GIMP. And I love Rapid Photo Downloader. If you try GIMP, be sure to get version 2.10 or later.

BTW Lightroom = LIGHTtable + darkROOM. Darktable = DARKroom + lightTABLE.
BTW(2) I did recover my photos from back ups, but it was a pain in the rear.

Bob Locher Loc: Southwest Oregon

The YouTube reviewer reference above is Joe Cristina - the video is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od6szamW66Q

He has a series about life after Adobe and it is well worth watching.

Cheers

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

I saw that video. He covers a lot of programs and it's good list of what's currently out there. I will say the Windows version is fairly new and will probably take a version or so to work out the bugs. But the Linux versions are very well maintained as this has been the target audience for the past 8 or so years.

Bruce Williams does a tutorial series on Darktable and does a fantastic job explaining the program and spends time delivering in-depth information about specific modules. The link below is for those that want to understand Darktable at a pretty detailed level, it's not a review.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlYWvzmJQTrRq7JrYdD7k3-8-v-uHnhK_

Ron Dial Loc: Cuenca, Ecuador

In the long run you get what you pay for.

ButchS Loc: Spokane, WA

Yeah, that’s what Adobe hopes you will think.