Get Organised! How to Import, Cull, and Organise your photos in Darktable

[@EricLiebBrz]

Awesome explanation. Simply the easiest and simplest methodology I've seen so far! Thanks!

[@MrBoothdude]

An added tip: when grading, hide the left and right menus to maximise screen real estate. Excellent process. Thanks!

[@MichelSchmitt]

Thanks! This was a great overview for managing photo's with darktable. Tip: you can save the import parameters so you don't need to set the initial rating to zero with every new import.

[@juanpablohurtadolopez6986]

Oh my gosh this tutorial is great. Thanks a ton for creating this video, it gives me hope in being able to learn how to use darktable. I just left Lightroom Classic, and to be honest, darktable seems daunting yet insanely powerful.

[@DarktableLandscapes]

Glad it was helpful! You might like this video too, it's a guide specifically aimed at those coming from LR: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bITJnX6Ia6-MqM0

[@rockyrudolph8648]

Fantastic video, thanks for taking the time to make it and help us out.

[@Zuzzt]

Great! It was explained very clearly.

[@themullerfiles]

Great explanation, appreciated. I really enjoy using Darktable. Once the initial steep learning curve scare wears off, one realises just how powerful it is!

[@alquimista000]

Wow, great video and great software!! Thank you so much!

[@DarktableLandscapes]

You're welcome!

[@Sprawloutboy]

I'm finally committing to learning darktable and this video was such an amazing resource to get me started! Thank you so much!

[@DarktableLandscapes]

Happy to help!

[@taylorr7010]

Great, I needed this tutorial, thankyou very much

[@DarktableLandscapes]

@@taylorr7010 you're welcome, glad it came in handy.

[@mikrokosmfotos]

I've been using DT for years, but I've learnt quite a lot more than i expected since i started watching your videos. Thankyou!

[@DarktableLandscapes]

@@mikrokosmfotos that's great, happy to help!

[@jeffstraw466]

Superb! Finally a good explanation of tagging!

[@ginoredden]

Rather than zooming in to look at individual images, I just hit F on the keyboard to toggle preview mode. I can rate the images there, and hit f again to go back to the grid view.

[@tomcaton8932]

Thanks. This is so well explained. I am now coming out of the darkness!

[@DarktableLandscapes]

That's very kind, thank you. Glad to hear enlightenment is imminent! 😄

[@JSTEVIL]

Very good explained👍

[@martyjwalker]

It's good that these tags get added to the xmp files as it makes working on multiple computers possible.

[@sadowskylukasz]

nice idea. I using Adobe Bridge to organise but good to know How easlie find photos in Dark table (i just starting to learn this alternative for Lightroom because Adobe is too expensive for amateur).

[@michaelh3090]

Great video, lots of valuable information and useful techniques.. Subbed

[@DarktableLandscapes]

Awesome, thank you!

[@cosmo0080]

well done thank you

[@rafilewin4644]

Thanks! I just didnt understand (@02:16) why you choose 'select none' if you ARE going to select files from your card?

[@DarktableLandscapes]

@@rafilewin4644 to deselect everything before selecting just the ones I wanted 🙂

[@rafilewin4644]

@@DarktableLandscapes Gotcha!

[@rafilewin4644]

@@DarktableLandscapes Another issue is that though I have defined tags as Categories (and they show up under Tagging on the right in Italics) - they are still under the 'Undefined' definition on the left (under Collections > Tag).

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

For the culling the focus indicator is too busy for my taste - so, I miss a loup to check sharpness, or alternatively a zoom function. In critical cases I open the image in Darkroom and use the 100 percent zoom there. If you know how to zoom in beyond screen size in Lighttable please let me know.

[@DarktableLandscapes]

@@Eigil_Skovgaard you can press F to go to fullscreen view then ctrl+roll the mouse wheel to zoom in.

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

@@DarktableLandscapes Wow, thank you!

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

Actually this shortcut: "F and Ctrl + mousewheel", is more useful than I first anticipated. It's possible to select a number of images in Lighttable (typically a series looking almost identical judged from the thumbnails) and activate the whole group with F, as the leftmost image is opened in full screen. Then zoomed in to e.g. 100 percent with Ctrl + mousewheel, the point of interest can be placed in the middle of the screen with the cursor, and this combination of enlargement and positioning will survive browsing to the next and previous images using the arrow keys. A very welcome functionality.

[@trazzi]

Full disclosure.. I’m new to darktable so my comments / questions might just have a simple answer. Setting up tags based on location .. is that really necessary when photos already have the GPS coordinates in their metadata? My camera add GPS data. Can just simply search for location used that? Maybe GPX / Map / Geolocation is a topic you might want to explore in a video. I liked your video on organisation. Having used other products in the past I find it’s one thing I wish I had know more about when starting to use a tool. On the same subject… I know darktable changes / edits go into a separate file. Is this is or is there an additional database too. If so, how does one deal with this.. backing it up, moving it between PCs, merging it from multiple PCs.. if that is at all possible. Another topic for a video perhaps? Thanks for this one. Keep ‘em coming. I like your style.

[@DarktableLandscapes]

My camera doesn't have GPS so I don't use that option, but you could for sure. However, I don't know how broad your location can be for that - you might end up with 30 different collections if you've been all over the place even though it's one "shoot".