I Edit YOUR Photos in Darktable - Full Workflow Tutorial

[@anbar5675]

What I liked most, is that your interpretation was respectful of the photographer's work.

[@deepskypics]

Hey thanks mate! That was my goal exactly. I just wanted to bring out the natural elements and remove the defect as well. 👌

[@lugosky02]

Dude, this absolutely needs to be a series. Just found your channel, you've got a subscriber!

[@PerJensen]

Very nice job of explaining your thought process and keeping a slow enough pace for the viewer to take in the changes.

[@deepskypics]

Thank you! I try to be really thoughtful about how I’m presenting all of this and I’m glad it’s lending well!

[@luisarevalo6112]

Great video, how you used a complex Diffuse/Sharpen mask was an eye-opener. Kudos!

[@deepskypics]

Hey thanks mate! I’m glad the diffuse or sharpen module was eye opening! Diffuse or Sharpen is certainly one of the most, if not the most haha, powerful modules in Darktable. Plus, the masking features of DT are quite insane too. Masking can do amazing stuff when applied to almost any module. Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@JusticeExplorer]

Jesus christ this is a legendary video

[@deepskypics]

This is like one of the best comments I have ever received on YT. Hahaha. Thanks mate!

[@JusticeExplorer]

@@deepskypics Well this is one of the best darktable vids so well deserved. I'm new to darktable and this video helps INCREDIBLY with the harsh learning curve .

[@brasmonkei1486]

Definitely more video's like this!

[@ak4good]

Very helpful, thanks! I'm encouranged to play with diffuse/sharpen and contrast equalizer modules after this. More full workflow examples pleeeeease!

[@deepskypics]

Haha more will keep coming up!

[@DalsPhotography]

I love that you took into consideration what the photographer had to say about his photo. Many teachers just take the photo and edit it with out even asking the photographer what he is trying to convay. Kudos my friend, and hugs from Uruguay!!!!

[@camtheatlien3882]

Yea lets see more of this

[@NPJensen]

Interesting. I like what you do. When dealing with snow, I tend to go for a less warm color tone for the ground. So I might add another step to the editing process, masking the ground - with the birds as the cut line and add a more blueish tone to the ground to give an impression of the cold conditions, basically only letting the sun change the colors of the sky to the warmer tones. Warmer above the birds and colder below. But, it is a delicate balance, so it's difficult to do so without making the photo look over edited.

[@deepskypics]

Thank you friend! The bi-color warm/cool color grading is a great idea for this photo. I didn’t think about trying that here. I suppose one could use a mask + Color Balance RGB (4-ways) or RGB primaries (tint) to achieve that effect. Balance and retaining realism is very key when doing that. Thanks for watching and leaving your thoughts!

[@gregmaxt6095]

I learned a lot from that video. Thanks. I'm slowly putting together a personal Darktable 'how to' from various sources. I can't believe it is free!

[@deepskypics]

You are very welcome sir! DT is a absolutely insane isn’t it? Currently working a vid on camera profiles and Color checkers. Can’t wait to upload this stuff.

[@davidmoore2699]

Thanks That looks great

[@josipX]

Wow this video showed me how little I knew about Darktable

[@MoChuang343]

This so helpful. Thank you.

[@ilusoriob]

Thank you. Very interesting.

[@aderz8284]

This is great. I really want to use Darktable more but find it a bit confusing. I really liked your video style and how you explain what you are doing. Subscribed!

[@jakubmatraszek56]

WTF, man, this is a jaw-dropping video. You are def getting a subscribe for this. Thanks

[@deepskypics]

Haha! Your welcome mate! Glad you enjoyed the vid!

[@larrydavis6556]

Hey man keep this content coming! Really love the way you explain things, makes it so easy to understand

[@deepskypics]

@@larrydavis6556 Thank you so much mate. I really do put a lot of forthought into putting this all together in a simple and concise way so I’m glad it’s landing!

[@ayoubthegreat]

I would have liked to see the before and after at the end.

[@deepskypics]

Ahh yes that’s a good idea! Next time ✌️

[@DynastyUK]

Personally I'd have cropped it in half to remove the sun making it a more anamorphic looking image. The sun does nothing for me, since the subject is the windmill and birds. I've never seen Darktable before, looks interesting, thanks for the video :)

[@deepskypics]

Hey thanks mate for the thoughts. Focusing on the important elements within your composition is usually the best thing. I wanted to maintain the artists vision here.,

[@deepskypics]

Darktable is free so nothing to lose in trying it sometime if your curious.

[@DynastyUK]

@@deepskypics Thanks I'll give it a go when I have a spare mo :D

[@noogie13]

This would be a great series! I'd definitely send in some photographs for you to edit too. Also, it would be interesting to see your version compared to the photographers version at the end too

[@deepskypics]

Haha awesome! Ya know, he didn’t share his edit, but that’s ok. I’d welcome your photos. Send 1-2 over to [e-mail] maybe in a google drive since raws are big. And if your interested in something specific type it in comments here do I can screen shot it.

[@randall.chamberlain]

Thank you Owen Wilson 🙂

[@Zuzzt]

Nice editing. Lots of interesting details you share here. Thank you so very much.

[@deepskypics]

Your are very welcome good sir! It was a honor.

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

I would welcome this concept for future videos.

[@deepskypics]

Awesomeness! I would welcome your photos mate! It interested send 1-2 over to [e-mail] maybe in a google drive since raws are large?

[@RagingFury]

great videos, you make clear and enjoyable (sometimes funny). Unfortunately I am a complete beginner and still find darktable daugnting. I was orginally a lightroom user, then moved to captureOne, but am not willing to be forced buy yet another a new license following a camera upgrade, was tempted to back to LR but their policies (as well as cost), really pushed me in this direction. Hope I can master it..Obviously very powerful, hope i can learn to use it. many thanks!

[@deepskypics]

Of course man! Thanks for the kinds words and comments. I hope that as you play and discover more about Darktable, you find that it fulfills your needs! It is a steep learning curve but it becomes more natural with practice. As I delved more into it, I found it’s UI to progressively make more sense

[@selwynleacock6601]

Wow, for me that is over my head, but I certainly like to see more videos like this one. This year I am determined to learn the ins and outs of Darktable.

[@deepskypics]

Darktable has some functionality that can be very complex, but you can also get great results outa using it in simple ways too! More videos like this coming up!

[@deepskypics]

Hey mate! Thanks for always checking out my vids.

[@selwynleacock6601]

@@deepskypics your welcome 🤗

[@selwynleacock6601]

​@@deepskypicsgreat, I will keep my eyes opened on your channel

[@DominikMarczuk]

Nigel Danson made an "editing your photos" video recently where he focused on ten or fifteen images submitted by viewers. Maybe it's a format you'd like to explore. Obviously, due to the number of photographs, you'd need to restrict the edits to more basic adjustments and offer a direction rather than showcase individual power tools in darktable. That being said, whether you do one or multiple images, the format itself is very interesting. I'd be happy to see more videos like this in the future. Maybe even challenge you with one of my photos ;)

[@deepskypics]

Definitely like explore a format more like what good sir Nigel did if I can get multiple photos. So far based the the recent comments people seem interested! I’d like to edit multiple and ficus on the most important part for each photo. I’d be happy and excited to be challenged with one of your photos. Stayed tuned! Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@terrybrooks395]

Excellent, thanks

[@deepskypics]

You are most welcome!!

[@williamstatt8651]

What a great video.😅 Finally, somebody explains how to merge the filters instead of just telling you what a filter does. Here is a thought for you. I would pay a patreon fee to get videos like this that also include the raw file. What do you think about that? One or two weeks that's all. Thank you.

[@deepskypics]

Thank you so much mate! I really do put a lot of for thought in taking something complex and trying to make it simple, which is a gap I noticed in many other vids. 😂 Do you mean whenever I make a DT tutorial to include the RAW file? Like to access the RAW file you have to pay the Patreon Fee? I have thought about setting up a Patreon because I put so many hours into making these vids it be cool to get a bit more $$$ back then what YT is giving me. I didn’t think about the RAW file part now that is a thought!

[@IvoTichelaar]

I struggle with the versatility of Darktable. I feel more at ease with Rawtherapee's global edits and limited local edits. But this is a great showcase and demonstration of why Darktable is worth the effort to master!

[@deepskypics]

Hey thanks mate! I appreciate it. It’s all open source goodness ✌️. I have found with Darktable that once I settled on a workflow that I liked it became easier and streamlined. You can make styles (presets) that streamline that workflow. Enjoy mate!

[@danielspenner3683]

I feel the photo unfortunately lacks good composition. The windmill could use some additional space to breath. Also the position of the sun would allow for a nice juxtaposition opposing the windmill. This would have made for a much more balanced image. From what you had to work with, I really like your editing process.

[@MikeRinz]

Pretty sure that's just snow, Nick.

[@richarda6435]

Just found your channel and really enjoy your Darktable tutorials. Question - do you take editing work for hire? I have a wedding photo from a Nikon D70 (.nef) taken back in 2004 that I've struggled editing a bit and would love to pay you to edit, and then create a style that I could use to apply to the other similar photos from that day.

[@deepskypics]

I’m glad your enjoying the tutorials! Haha I haven’t before, but I will. Id be happy to make you a style that you can use on all the photos an adapt in any way you want. I’ve picked up some recent DT portrait editing skills from all these crazy thumbnails, to photographing my friend for his professional website recently etc… maybe send me a primary photo and another 2 photos to test it on? My email is: [e-mail].

[@emrg777]

I think as I understand it your wording for DorS module is backwards... low frequency ie speed 1 and 2 should be the larger detail and 3 and 4 are the high frequency modifiers so fine control... One other thing that many people may or may not know is 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 are identical if you don't use the direction sliders. Only when they are not centered is there a difference... you can see this by blending in difference mode... take 1 to the left and 2 to the right in the same magnitude and your image will be black.. The same for 3 and 4... also so using them both in the same direction is a simple additive effect... Using the difference blend mode and then moving the direction sliders away from neutral/centered...then you can start to see the different portions of the images impacted by using sliders 1, 2, 3 and 4 ... In the end you got the effect you were looking for....

[@deepskypics]

Todd, I think your right mate! I think I confused myself with my Astrophoto software that also has a wavelet based system for sharpening/diffusion. I got it backwards. I might need to course correct in a future video

[@deepskypics]

Hey Todd! I see you on PIXLS.US a lot. Question! I’d like to make a few more videos to address common grievances people have with DT. One of those is lack of camera matching profiles. Now DTs general philosophy is a bit different than that, but I do think a lot of people would be interested in that, pulling more community into DT. Do you have any good resources on ICC profiles or Darktable-Chart besides what’s in manual?

[@emrg777]

Nick in DT when you compile there are tools to do a custom base curve. The basecurve has been moved in the pipeline to the same position as filmic. This is one quick way to get a closer to jpg start for your edit. So that is one tool but not scene referred as it expects exposure to be managed but still very good for many images esp if the DNR is not large. Then DT chart. This creates a lut using the CLT module and a tone curve in a style and can be used two ways. One to match color chart values and the other to match a paired shot of your JPG. If you match this with a custom base curve you can actually get nice results. But again these are not scene referred explicitly even though you can position the modules to minimize any issues. Finally you can do 2 more things in DT. You can profile your screen and camera creating calibrated ICC files. For this you need a colorchecker for the camera and a device for the screen. The final tweak is in CC module. You can use that sub feature that analyzes a color checker image and then essentially creates a custom channel mixer matrix that is added to the input profile and wb settings to enhance color accuracy. These are your options.. I'm standing outside the shop waiting for my car at the moment but I can shoot some selected topics your way... I can pm you at pixls or Gmail

[@deepskypics]

@@emrg777 hey Todd! PM me at [e-mail] I just received my color checker card haha, but it sounds like I might be able to use a regular JPEG as well if I understand right? 1) I’d like to be able to apply the custom curve as a preset to emulate a Nikon standard profile as a baseline and apply things like diffuse & sharpen on of that. It sounds like in display referred I’ll need to be mindful of module order. 2) In scene referred, is it possible to just shift the colors towards a calibrated Nikon and add contrast, saturation, sharpness etc… using Darktable modules. It sounds like via maybe the CC module? I’m interested in incorporated Nikon colors rather than color accuracy

[@danielattilavanyi]

I am bit struggling with whitebalance in Darktable. I am just got comfortable with the other moduls and a completely different workflow then in lightroom but that whitebalance (color calibration) is just not great. Or I just do not really understand or feel it. It would be great if you can make a comprehensive video in this subject.

[@deepskypics]

A video on white balance is an excellent idea! Darktable’s white balance (color calibration) is certainly more complex than Lightroom’s, but it is a great module. What is the specific pain point you have with the module?

[@danielattilavanyi]

@@deepskypics I do not get good consistent results with it. In Lightroom it was kinda easy with two sliders and the auto function was adequate too.

[@emrg777]

It's not a true wb and so you often get a very neutral looking photo. CC uses a CAT in an attempt to take neutral colors from the scene and have them look neutral on your display. It uses all the RGB pixel data whereas wb uses a single multiplier for each color channel. So it can give a good neutral image but again this can mean you need to add back some color to get a color grad that suits you... The good thing is if you don't like it then you can just use legacy WB as many do or there is a hybrid version now in the code that might be more to your liking

[@deepskypics]

@@danielattilavanyi I’d advocate checking out Bruce Williams Color Calibration module tutorials (1 & 2) I think will help demystify the module a bit. He makes great videos on modules. With color calibration, if as shot in camera, or eye dropper doesn’t get me exactly where I want I adjust the select “custom” instead “as shit in camera” and adjust the custom sliders slightly (usually chroma) and I can get it right.

[@deepskypics]

@@emrg777 Thanks Todd! Hybrid version now in code!? Cool! You mean it’s being developed and will come out in a future’s release?

[@joaovtaveira]

How do you dare to manipulate an image that is not yours?

[@deepskypics]

Who me? 😇

[@joaovtaveira]

@@deepskypics yes, removing things from the sky.

[@deepskypics]

@@joaovtaveira Naa, that must have been my evil twin who did that. That guy is such a jerk.

[@Zuzzt]

What is wrong? I asked Nick Long to do a tutorial with my photo. I also granted him all rights, whatsoever, to use the photo to do whatever he would like to do with it. Thereby it is his photo as much as mine. I am thankful for his tutorial.

[@joaovtaveira]

3:17 what?! It makes absolutely no sense.

[@deepskypics]

Lens distortion can be a beautiful imperfection. Have you ever turned on the correction and realized you liked the look of it better before the correction? Like for example, maybe the background appears slightly farther away increasing the sense of depth.

[@deepskypics]

Same story with vignetting. Vignetting is a technical defect of the lens. But I’ve seen some B E A utiful portraits that made artistic use of the heavy vignetting of some vintage lenses.

[@joaovtaveira]

@@deepskypics no, never.

[@joaovtaveira]

@@deepskypics ok, now I agree.

[@deepskypics]

@@joaovtaveira if you disagree that’s always cool too. I like how customizable every module is, you can make it do whatever you want