Darktable: The Tone Equalizer is INSANE - Recovering Shadows and Highlights

In this video, I show you how to use Darktable’s Tone Equalizer module to effectively recover shadows and highlights, while preserving local contrast. I show how the methodology is different in Darktable vs Lightroom. The tone equalizer can also be paired with Darktable’s highlight reconstruction tools.
Check out my video for a basic and powerful Darktable workflow: • Is DARKTABLE Secretly ...
My photography website:
nicklongphotography.com/
00:00 - Intro
01:56 - Image 1: Maroon Bells Sunset - Tone Equalizer Tutorial
06:54 - Image 2 - Kauai Sunset
09:05 - Image 3: My Dog Zeke
11:15 - Conclusions/Outro

[@bernym4047]

I am a long time user of dt. This was a great demonstration of how t use this super module. Two points to add: 1: you can use the mouse wheel whilst hovering the cursor over the region of the image yo want to adjust to directly adjust the luminosity of that region. 2: sometimes the image has a larger dynamic range to get the masking to encompass it fully leaving shadows or highlights off the mask. You can use a 2nd instance of this module to deal first with the shadow end and then separately with the highlight end. Regarding the 1st image, I totally agree that it's best to resist the temptation to over adjust the highlights and shadows as it can end up with a cartoon look. I also use the highlight recovery module before using the TE module which can give the TE module less to do as it were.. Thank you for a very well produced video. I have liked and subscribed.

[@deepskypics]

Thank you! And you are very welcome! Ha, you can use the cursor to adjust the curve. I actually forgot to mention it because I typically prefer to adjust the curve directly. Thank you for pointing it out in comments. And, I’ve never thought about using 2 Instances of time equalizer. Going to usb to try that 🧐.

[@maggiem1323]

Thank you for the tips @bernym Same long time user. Also subscribed.

[@m1k3e]

Such an excellent video. You did such a great job explaining how the module works while making artistic recommendations for creating a good image. I recently switched to DT and it really made me realize how little I knew about image processing (and all of the things C1 and LR do to raw files before I even touch a single slider). Thanks again for the video! Just subscribed!

[@deepskypics]

Thank you my friend! I’m so glad this video deconfused the module for you and that you enjoyed it. And! Thank you for taking time of out your day to watch it and comment as well. Darktable isn’t easy is it? But, it’s such a beast. I grown really to like how honest it is in rendition of photographs. And agreed, LR etc… does so much to your photo before you even touch it

[@noogie13]

thank you nick! really appreciated the video!

[@deepskypics]

Your are most welcome! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@michas4740]

Thank you for explaining darktable 😊 I enjoy watching the image become more vibrant. Could you add before and after editing side by side so its easier see the comparison in the next video ?

[@mikaelholz]

Thank you so much! I'm looking to move my workflow to non-Adobe software and Darktable is kinda scay the first time you open in, but this video shows is great to leran how to use those features!

[@deepskypics]

Of course man! Darktable is very daunting at first! But, I suspect it will get more natural and easy with time. I found it’s UI to make more and more sense as I started to use it more. It’s a really powerful tool and way to good to be free, but it is haha. Happy editing!

[@jasonbokar7482]

Your videos are awesome! I really start to understand Darktable now. I hope you’ll keep doing these! Truly wonderful!

[@theanglohouse601]

Fantastic vid! Thank you!

[@deepskypics]

You are very welcome! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@karimlahlou132]

so clear thanks mate. I have subscribed to your channel and it s a pleasure to hear your explainations.

[@deepskypics]

Hey thanks mate! Knowing my material is connecting makes me smile. And thanks for watching and commenting!

[@slicerman6574]

Thank you Nick .. you have a great ability to make complex things simple .. Many Thanks

[@deepskypics]

Your words are so kind. Thank you! I’m glad you found this most helpful. Enjoy!!

[@terrybrooks395]

Loving the tutorials, I've been struggling to follow other tubers tutorials on it but you explain things better, thanks.

[@deepskypics]

Hey thank mate!! I have been having fun making these. I’m trying to be very thoughtful about making this complex program easier to understand. I’m glad it’s being felt that was by my viewers ✌️. I like how it can be used simply or in more complex ways. Whatever fits the need.

[@stephanieroche4973]

Another great video. Am also new to darktable, have watched zillions of videos but THIS is so clear and simple to follow. Have applied some of your other techniques and am so pleased with the results. Thank you and keep on going ! The waving hands and repeated “heys “ will subside in time as you get more comfortable and frankly I don’t care, I just love the content. 👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@zXhirdygirdyXz]

Great video!!! Thankyou so much!

[@deepskypics]

You are so welcome and thank you for watching!

[@szecek]

Great video! You can actually adjust the curve by pointing directly at the part of the photo you want to edit and using your mouse wheel to change the relevant part of the curve.

[@deepskypics]

Thank you mate! Ha, I know. I prefer to use the tone curve myself, so I forgot tone mention it. Thanks for watching and leaving your kind words ✌️

[@signedelacroix7213]

That is a game changer, thanks.

[@deepskypics]

Your very welcome!!

[@signedelacroix7213]

Lightroom has the same. I just installed my old LR 4. What a releif. I wanted 1 years on Darktable. I could never get the same result.

[@habafantja2029]

I am new to dt and actually to editing photos with any program. This helped me very much to see how to adjust the luminosity without using masks. Even I could follow and hope to apply this helpful tutorial steps on my photos. Great KZbin suggested this video ! Thanks so much :)

[@deepskypics]

Hey thanks so much mate! I’m glad this video was really helpful and it helped demystify the module. Thanks for watching and taking time to leave your thoughts!

[@telebruce221]

Very nice video! yes this module is amazing! I never realized just how much one can adjust the tones, and so precisely. Another way you could adjust the values - instead of dragging the curve where you want it, rest the mouse cursor over the area you want to change; and use the mouse wheel to adjust the tone up or down. the tone curve will reflect the changes. For new users, the DT manual for this module is well worth reading through. There are a LOT of features available for it. Your video is brilliantly simple, and a great starting place for learning the ropes.

[@deepskypics]

Haha yes Exactly! I should have mentioned adjusting the tones with the mouse scroll, but I think I forgot because I prefer a ring the curve. Thanks for the kind words! I did put a lot of forethought into this video so it’s makes me happy to know people are finding it helpful ✌️ Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@charliehubbard4073]

Thanks, Nick. This was really helpful. Honestly, I had NO IDEA what to do with the tone equalizer, so my solution was to do nothing with it! I can see it's very powerful. I'm still a little fuzzy on how to set up or what to do with the masks.

[@deepskypics]

The mask just needs to expand as much as possible without having the yellow caution on right it left side. Clicking the auto tools a few times usually fits the mask perfectly. The purpose is to make sure the curve can have as much control as possible.

[@sonjamedic634]

I'm happy to have stumbled across your channel. Your explanation of the tone equalizer was very helpful to me. Darktable is a mighty software but not very easy to understand. As an idea for future videos: could you show more of how basic adjustments are done in darktable in comparison to lightroom (just like you did in this video with the tone eq)? The modules are overall so different between these two programs, it would be useful to know how to make the transition from lightroom to darktable. I will definitely check out your other tutorials!

[@deepskypics]

Darktable is a beast of a program is it!? I’m so happy this video clicked with you and made the tone equalizer equalizer easier to understand. Thanks for taking the time to tell me this too. For your suggestion, are you thinking like color, contrast, color calibration, sharpness etc… that kinda thing? I was thinking of expanding on those ideas even though I touched on a foundational basic workflow in my LR vs DT video. And good to know comparing it to LR was helpful! I had a hunch that help make it make sense ✌️

[@sonjamedic634]

@@deepskypics Yes, that is what I meant, basic things like white balance, color adjustments, sharpening, denoising, etc. (what you partially did already in your other tutorial, a good starting point). The introduction of the scene referred modules and corresponding workflow made things complicated for me, all over again. Many modules that I used to use are deprecated now. I am just an amateur and hobbyist who does photo editing ocassionally and it was bad timing for me when I stopped using darktable for a few years (not doing any photo editing at all) while darktable's developement advanced so quickly. I was overwhelmed by the new modules and the new workflow. Filmic, diffuse or sharpen, color balance rgb, color calibration, tone equalizer, etc. - it made me think darktable is a completely different application now. I almost gave it up again (as a linux user there are not many alternatives to darktable and Adobe Lightroom is too pricey and too inconvenient for my use case). That's why tutorials like yours are so appreciated - they make me understand a bit more and keep at it.

[@The_Monkey_King]

Thanks Nick! I’d like to create an orange and teal colour grading. Over used I know, but I’m an amateur and doing this for myself only.

[@deepskypics]

I don’t do orange and teal grades with my photos much, but I bet you can get there easily by using colors zones and doing some hue shifting. Give that a whirl! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@danielspenner3683]

Yes, Tone Equalizer is truly a powerful tool. However, it does require some getting used to. In the dog image your mask didn't cover the darkest shadows, indicated by the orange line, that appeared in the masking-histogram when you hovered over the eye region. You can see (in the masking histogram) that the mask has a peak on the left border. To be able to lift those shadows you could increase the mask-exposure or decrease the mask-contrast slider, until the masking histogram completely fits into the range of the equalizer bands. That often happens when using the auto adjustment in high contrast images.

[@DylanPStephens]

I’ve been scratching at the surface (somewhat unsuccessfully) of DT for some time now and not really knowing what I’m doing with it. I’m going to give this a try. You’ve got me interested so I’m going to stick around for more …thanks!

[@deepskypics]

Thank you for watching and leaving your thoughts! It might be worth checking out my recent DT vs LT video, where I put together a basic workflow on using DT. Give the workflow there a try and see if it helps simplify using DT effectively ✌️

[@DylanPStephens]

@@deepskypics thanks Nick I’ll check it out

[@RewDowns]

Wheaten Terrier! Cute dog Zeke!

[@deepskypics]

Zeke is very adorable hahaha thank you!

[@danielesc]

Excellent video. I use Raw Therapee to edit my raws and I don't know yet if I have to switch to DT, what would you recommend?

[@deepskypics]

Hey! I think since both are free and open source, give DT an honest try for a few days - look at my recent DT vs LR video for a basic workflow. The worst thing that can happen is it confirms your current use of RT and then you stick with the tool you know. I tried RT in the past and personally found DT to be the better performer, but RT I know has improved a lot since then. It’s all open source goodness. I actually just downloaded RTs film emulations and have been experimenting with them in DT haha. Does this recommendation help? Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@JonathanPolliMoreno]

Please, please, please, pleasaasseeeee! Make a public playlist of your Darktable videos, if I do that instead you, I have to update it each time you release a new video about, rather the case when you do that and I include to my library, it's gonna follow your playlist updates, as well the new videos you may add after I save yours into my playlists. ❤

[@deepskypics]

Hahaha. I’ll see if I can put one together soon mate ✌️

[@Zuzzt]

Excellent. I have a photo that I find very tricky to adjust. It is about HDR with sun and ice on the sea. For landscape photographers, it could be interesting. Can I send you that file and let you consider doing a tutorial on how to edit?

[@deepskypics]

Darktable’s tools are amazing for landscape photography! Sure mate, your the first viewer to request an edit. I was thinking of doing a more comprehensive workflow video. Maybe it could go here? I’ll see what I can do with it. Send it to [e-mail]. Since RAW file is probably large, maybe send it as a google drive link?

[@Zuzzt]

@@deepskypics OK. Thx. I will try to get it over to you.

[@deepskypics]

@@Zuzzt for sure!!

[@Zuzzt]

@@deepskypics I did use WeTransfer (the first time for me). Hope you got it. I would like the snow in the air and the sun to be shown. You might have other ideas. Feel free to do what you think suits you best.

[@deepskypics]

@@Zuzzt Got your photo! Should have time to review and tinker Tuesday night.

[@ayoubthegreat]

For some reason the shift + scroll feature does not show up for me. Does anyone else have this issue?

[@tjmanou6422]

is this a plugin? does it work on macOS? where do we try it out? thank you very much

[@deepskypics]

Hey mate! It’s a full Raw Editor akin to Adobe Lightroom. There’s an PC, MAC, and Linux versions of the software. It’s free + open source ✌️. Check out the main page here: www.darktable.org/. My other video on Dartable vs Lightroom will give you more insight into a basic workflow.

[@tjmanou6422]

@@deepskypics thank you very much

[@deepskypics]

@@tjmanou6422 You are very welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@deroflem7148]

Hover your cursor over the area to adjust and use mouse scroll wheel to raise or lower curve.

[@deepskypics]

Ha! Yes you can do that! Forgot to mention in video. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@gossip6112]

You know you can just scroll on image, instead of remembering which zone to pull and then pulling it? Open tone equaliser, move cursor to some dark area, scroll up and it will brighten it.

[@deepskypics]

Ha yes! I forgot to mention they because of typically prefer to use the curve itself. Thanks for putting that in the comments for others to see and thanks for watching!

[@barracuda976]

Tone eq is for me a must in each editing. First orientation and crop - White balance through colour calibration - exposition and then tone eq.

[@signedelacroix7213]

Join me to the dark side of photography.

[@deepskypics]

FEEL THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE Haha there’s a hidden Star Wars joke in my most recent video about color checkers

[@chuckmorton8823]

Stop waving your hands around; it's distracting

[@deepskypics]

Hey mate! I think I totally get why moving my hands around a lot could be distracting or even exaggeratory. Many of the pro KZbin coaches say to be animated with your hands because it really helps with audience retention and engagement and to push through camera anxiety - not making boring videos. I guess like with anything in life, balance is key yes?

[@pooheadlou]

@@deepskypics it's funny you should say that about the youtube coaching, because when I saw you moving your hands like that, that was my first thought. That your trying so hard to do what ever it was you where coached to do, Don't. Just be you. If you feel like moving your hands then, cool do that but if you've just do it to do something you think you should be doing then....... not so much. I thought it was funny but fun. Good video.

[@deepskypics]

@@pooheadlou Hey mate, glad you enjoyed my video! And thanks for the feedback ✌️

[@lanonimozeneisecanadoclaud8887]

I'm Italian, if he doesn't wave his hand I don't understand clearly 😅

[@deepskypics]

@@lanonimozeneisecanadoclaud8887 thanks for watching friend!

[@terrybrooks395]

Nope, still too way over complicated for the majority of people to want to adopt darktable,, but thanks for trying, lost me as soon as you went into the masking.

[@deepskypics]

It’s a very complex piece of software indeed! Give this a shot! 1) use a guided filter mask. 2) use auto selectors to have DT auto create the mask - should encompass most of the range of the bar, but not have yellow indicators on right it left side. 3) adjust tone curve to your liking. Maybe once you toy with it a bit more it will make sense? ✌️. Hope thus helps mate!

[@Bocsaphoto]

Just use the auto mask it works perfectly 99% of the time