Is DARKTABLE Secretly Better Than LIGHTROOM? - Darktable vs Lightroom

[@bryantwalley]

Just an observation.. You put your talking head circle over an important part we need to see. There is an empty space in the bottom left corner.

[@janedagger]

I'm with Bryan on this. Personally I am totally annoyed with floating heads, period. If your content, demeanor, and flow are pleasant... I will return for more videos. There is no palpable gain from seeing the presenter's face and in front of the histogram while referring to the ... histogram, is kinda silly. Pls, remove the head, thank you. I really do appreciate your vid and will be watching more.

[@reyvaz2951]

I was going to say the same thing, I just click away

[@bharatnanwani]

this was so annoying

[@fingereze7202]

Agreed 100%. Re-upload video without talking head graphic.

[@TheFirstRealChewy]

Didn't even need the talking head.

[@lxhk3595]

The thing with learning darktable is, you not just learn to move sliders, but you learn a whole lot of science and theory, which was so fascinating to me. There are great and entertaining introductions, eg from Boris Hadjukovic (a photographer explaining the craftsmanship on an impressive level, which is both very effective and motivating to learn more und try out), Aurilien Pierre (the awesome dude who developed filmic and other core features, and a great teacher of the science behind), and Bruce Williams (explaining the modules in such a sympathic and patient way). Thank you too Nick.

[@deepskypics]

Absolutely and brilliantly said! When you learn the depth of what’s goin on in the background your ability to post process expands Boris, Aurilien, and Bruce are amazing dudes

[@utahnl]

Filmic was originally made by Troy Sobotka, Aurellien brought it over to Darktable and expanded upon it.

[@lxhk3595]

@@utahnl we all stand on the shoulders of giants ;)

[@regalwalnut]

I've watched two of your videos which have been very helpful, but they were about two very specific topics. A great video to do would show just the basic, typical and essential tools and workflow to develop an "ordinary" photo...one that is slightly under-exposed in the shadows and has just a few blown highlights. So, steps to discuss: Exposure>Shadow Adjustment>Highlight Adjustment>White Balance>any Hue changes>cropping/straightening>Eliminate distracting noise>sharpening>Exporting & Printing. (This is not necessarily the same order that you would use in Darktable vs Lightroom, but those are the most typical adjustments users fool with.) Thx!

[@deepskypics]

I’m glad you found by video helpful! In this first video, I hoped to provide a basic workflow, but have often thought of doing a fuller video. Sounds like this might be desirable! Thanks for the feedback and commenting! Good thought!

[@kritmil00]

Nothing beats Darktable, especially when it comes to masking. Masking in Darktable is so much faster and accurate compared to LR, once one understands it of course :) Nice video, hope to see more.

[@deepskypics]

What masking features for you in Darktable have been most transformative to your editing process? Especially in comparison to LR? Tell me more about what’s really made the difference for you. Thanks for watching and leaving your thoughts!

[@kritmil00]

First, its speed. You have the ability on EACH module to mask and don't have to jump around to different panels to complete a masking task. I love have all the masking tools inline for each specific module. I guess its hard to explain but when I edit now and want to make changes that involve masking, I automatically know just want to do instantly, without the need for AI. It took me over a year to get somewhat comfortable with Darktable but to me it was worth it :) @@deepskypics

[@haakon_b]

Yeah, right. 😂

[@GaryParris]

As a Pro Photographer and Since using Darktable for a few years now, and i will never go back to Adobe, along with all its other products!

[@deepskypics]

Darktable is freaken AMAZING! Ha! I will admit to still using photoshop for the YT thumbnails, but am in process of learning subject select in GIMP.

[@SharonMakepeace]

I'm trying to rid my life of Adobe, and Microsoft. We have 5 pc's running Linux Mint and we love it, and Darktable is way better than LR. If you have the patience.

[@deepskypics]

@@SharonMakepeace Hahaha yes! We need those things to go away. I’ve used Linux Mint before and love it. Right now I have a huge partition on my main machine with Fedora and love Fedora too.

[@deepskypics]

@@SharonMakepeace Once you figure out a workflow that works for you, DT becomes waaay better haha

[@rvgeerligs]

No. Adobe sucks in comparison.

[@shauntaem5678]

I'd love to see more videos like this. Workflow with included in depth tips along the way!

[@deepskypics]

More along the way! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@math001]

Yeah I pretty much agree with the first few seconds. I'm a photography noob but I instantly understood what to do generally when I first used Lightroom. Darktable is just confusing all around for a beginner. Just tried using it again after a year of Lightroom now that I know what I'm looking for when editing. It's just as powerful if not more The lowercase letters also is annoying in darktable. Makes the UI feel so off. I hope they release some version with proper caps lock on the labels.

[@deepskypics]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts! Agreed the UI and less intuitive and more complex to navigate that say LR. And those UI touches, like caps, in LR are real nice. I simplified UI could help pull in more people. But once we understand Darktable, it’s functionality wins the day! For me it was the Sigmoid module that did it. There were certain photos that Filmic RGB loved and certain photos it just didn’t agree with. Sigmoid gives consistently good results. Thinking of doing a Sigmoid video at some point

[@longingbydesign]

Thanks for showcasing Darktable, looks interesting. What holds me back from using other software than Lightroom is the lack of AI-based masking, like one-click accurate selection of the sky or subject, or a person's face, or hair, which I use all the time. With regard to your video, I'd like to suggest to put your cam image on the bottom left rather than have it cover the histogram.

[@normanq1206]

agree about the masking. it's so quick and easy to use in lightroom.

[@deepskypics]

Your welcome! The masking AI in LR is easy and very effective and a VERY good reason to use LR. Agreed about the cam image and thanks for the feedback! I’ll likely move it next time. Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@deepskypics]

@@normanq1206 it’s a very good reason to use LR and may be the right choice for many depending on goals/priorities. Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@nisdonatzsky]

AI masking, like so much else in LR, is about getting good enough results, fast. Not perfection. The masking features in darktable are very powerful and, once you understand them, will get you better results almost as fast.

[@jio0721]

With regards to cam image, I suggest you turn it off when showing something on screen. Do you want the viewers to look at what you're trying to show or look at you talking? So many youtubers do this it's so irritating.

[@biking-places]

thanks for doing the comparison, would love to see more workflow videos on darktable

[@deepskypics]

Hey your very welcome! I’m thinking of doing a video on effective masking. Still throwing around ideas. What are your pain points? What do you wanna see more of? Ideas always welcome.

[@biking-places]

@@deepskypics so many modules and so many internal settings inside each that everyone has their own workflow. nice to see how people use the tools they're given for different images. i feel like i have trouble sharpening/denoising just right despite having 20 modules to do it with.

[@deepskypics]

@@biking-places That makes a lot of sense! And, I get it in every single way because Darktable is really really complex and its so easy to get overwhelmed by option paralysis isn't it? Which is why I used too (and still do sometimes), and many others, use Lightroom because of its effective simplicity. Its a very valid reason to use LR! However, I've have learned some things that have made Darktable much more simple and effective, which is what I at least attempted to provide in my first Darktable video. Hoping people would give the workflow a try and see how it feels for them. For denoising I have just used the profile Denoise honestly and its been great at default. For sharpening specifically, give diffuse and sharpen a try and use the "Lens Deblur Hard" setting then adjust iterations to taste - more/less, likely less in many cases. Tell me if that helps! I am thinking about making more workflow videos. 👌

[@unpetitaccident]

@deepskypics I'm a real estate photographer and I've got some masking problems that might make for some concrete video ideas. If you'll allow, my selfish and completely opportunistic list would include, object removal (cars and their shadows from driveways, lawn signs, floating pool toys, camera and tripod in bathroom mirrors, pet boxes, etc.), I do a lot (A LOT!) of HDR blending (+/- 1,2,3 stops) w/w/o flash pops, sky replacements, artificial/simulated twilight, simulated wet pavement, hot spot removal (sun or flash) on glass/water/polished stone or tile, and finally maybe some DT specific portraiture re-touching (for me this is agent head shots but pr'ly has wider appeal). And just so it's said, I'm very much appreciating your content and the effort you put into brining it to us.

[@DanM_Photography]

This is the best Darktable intro I have seen. I've tried to use it many times, but despite having a lot of technical experience with photos and both darkroom and digital workflows, I would always get frustrated with figuring out Darktable and then run back to Lightroom (v6) because I simply needed to get stuff done. Now I'm going to give Darktable (and Ansel) another go. Thanks!

[@davidhicks5221]

Hi Nick, I enjoyed the video and although a long time user of DT I always learn something different from another photographers approach to using the modules. I am far from an expert, so not wishing to be picky. I have always understood that whilst the ‘order’ of the modules in the stack is editable, for the most part DT puts them in the correct order of solve relative to one another. You may want to mention that unless you are an advanced user and understand the implications of changing the order it is best left to DT as the resulting effect can yield some unintended results. Hope this is useful.

[@deepskypics]

Hey mate! Glad you enjoyed the video. It is helpful and I don’t interpret it as picky. Your 100% right about the order. DT does put things in the correct order automatically and you have to know what your doing to before you change that (like with D & S local contrast), which I don’t believe I clarified. I can’t change the video, but it’s something to think about for future videos - I’m thinking about making a video about DT styles, appropriate there 👍. Also kicking around idea about getting natural colors in DT

[@mikegordonbrasov161]

I have a doubt; I load a RAW photo in darktable, and export it to JPEG, without touching any editing menu. Just live anything in darktable by default. And te result is a JPEG photo with more noise than the JPEG that camera makes automatically (I shoot RAW+JPEG). Any ideas?

[@pacorreotube]

Thank you very much for sharing Nick !! I've just discovered Darktable and surprised by it (in the past I was used to use Photoshop tools for my panoramas), then I needed something like this video to start playing Darktable. Great!

[@deepskypics]

You are very welcome! Enjoy Darktable. Thank you fir watching & commenting!

[@RenderMuffin]

I'm looking for an alternative for Lightroom as I wanna leave Adobe for good after a loooong time. Been looking at a lot of info about Darktable but everywhere I look the changes (which are always instant in Lightroom) takes forever to apply in Darktable... except in your video. Seems like when you apply or change something it does it quite quick yet somehow every other video I've watched it takes up to like 10 seconds for changes to take effect. I really can't deal with every single change taking that long. Is it normally fast for you or slow? Just seems weird since everyone elses seem slow while yours is quite fast 🙃

[@otoskope]

I use Darktable all the time, and I think changes are instantaneous. Not a problem at all. I have a decent relatively new laptop. On a desktop machine with a good graphics card, it should be even faster.

[@MikeNewman-ss3kq]

Great video. Thank you! With respect to the flower, for me it depends on the actual color. You are correct in that lr was more pink. Dt had more contrast with respect to a distinct separation between the red and white. I personally liked the dt version better.

[@zypher9690]

Is there a way to have darktable scrub through images and apply settings faster? I find myself waiting about a second before a setting applies or scrolling to a new image to work on

[@deepskypics]

Yup! There is! You can buy using Styles. First hit the button to compress your history of all the adjustments you made - remove things like WB and exposure that that aren’t relevant to your effect. Then you can name that as a style and apply to to an image in the Lightable or Darkroom. Thinking of making a video about it actually.

[@12314andy]

I can’t get highlights recovered anywhere near as well in Lightroom as I can in Darktable.

[@deepskypics]

So agreed! The highlight recovery in Darktable is insane! I’ve been finding local adjustments using masks to be to my taste. Tone equalizer can be an excellent tool as well. What has been a breakthrough for you?

[@robertoperego9280]

Darktable is excellent, the problem, at least for me, is that it is difficult to use and there are only a few sources for training ....

[@MikeNewman-ss3kq]

If you've not checked him out, I would also recommend Bruce Williams Photography. He has a lot of very detailed videos. Also Rico Resolves.

[@robertoperego9280]

@@MikeNewman-ss3kq Thank you!, I checked the channel and I found a lot of tutorials, really useful!

[@guillaumepaquet1551]

The main difference between using DT and LR, aside from the subscription fee, is the speed of processing photos. Professionals might prefer LR for its balance between speed and quality. I love DT, but you can spend a long time working on a single photo to achieve the desired result, whereas LR gets you there more quickly. As you mentioned, the underlying philosophies of the two are different. AI advancements may widen the gap and could tip the scale in favor of LR for the broader audience. THANK YOU FOR THE VIDEOS

[@i.m_finn]

Thanks Nick for your nice video. I work with darktable since many years and never had an issue with it. For a free editing photo software it's many powerful. When I started with darktable I just edited a few photos over the year. In this case LR wasn`t an opportunitiy for my. Over the years I allways had a point where I thought about to switch to LR because I edited photos more often and regluarly. But it works fine for me and there are many turorials at KZbin about it like yours ;-). So I very apperecheate your work 🤩🙌

[@deepskypics]

You are very welcome! Thanks for taking the time out your day to watch & comment as well. Not only is it free but it’s really freaking good isn’t it!? Haha I’m glad the video resonated with you.

[@greatpix]

If I might make a suggestion, have the window with you in it on the other side of the screen so you're not blocking the Histogram and the top controls on the adjustment panels. Lower left would work, or even on top of the photo as long as it's not blocking an area you'll be working on.

[@jfalcon1977]

Thanks for this very interesting and informative video! I will need to try Darktable, it seems very powerful.

[@Lordbaccus]

can you SAVE the "EDIT Profiles" like in Lightroom???

[@flightmansam]

Thanks so much for the video Nick. Just a comment on your PIP. It was covering the histogram which would have been so handy to see what you're looking at to dial it in. All the best, and looking to see what else you have next!

[@deepskypics]

Hahaha yes! I know in my usher video I actually removed the cam. And for future vids I’m thinking of bringing it back but putting it at bottom right.

[@ROVideos]

Respectfully, "auto remove silences", "reduce gaps" or some sort of option like that in your video editing software will massively improve your retention.

[@greatpix]

Doesn't Darktable let you make your own adjustment panel of most used controls? I might have that mixed up with another photo editor, I play around with all of them from time to time. Not as much as I used to when I was a pro photographer and working with PS since very early versions. Rawtherapee has it's pros and cons too. I mostly like it's RAW sharpener capabilities.

[@betterpixs]

I love LR's tools but was confused in hour I tried Darktable. Will have to explore and give a second look. Happy to SUB to another little photo channel. Good luck!

[@TerpyTen]

I've been using dark table for a month and I still can't figure it out. Any image I put in there just looks worse afterwards than it did before. The split view screen is what's killing me. I'm color blind so if I don't have a split screen to compare in real time it just looks like the images exactly the same as it was before.

[@greatpix]

I've been testing Darktable off and on for a long time. It is a steep learning curve and, as you mention, DT has a lot more refined adjustments available than in LR. However, I've always had a problem with it crashing. This on Intel and AMD processor computers with 16GB or 32GB of memory and dedicated SSDs to handle large file sizes. Right now I'm working on the ins and outs of Luminar Neo. I've used all their other titles too going back to their early days. I've been testing software since 1979 when I bought my first computer. (First Apple with floating point processor instead of integer. No lower case on the keyboard, no printer controller, no floppy or hard drive, programs came on cassette tape, when the first modem came along it was 300 baud, so slow you could easily keep up with text as it appeared on the screen. LR, and PS, seem more and more bloated every day.

[@otoskope]

Advanced enthusiast here (artist in other fields, but also using photography more and more). I skipped LR and went directly to Darktable, probably because of cost and always wanting to go against the flow, avoiding the mainstream. Learning Darktable has been a learning curve for sure, and I'm still a beginner. But it's fascinating, deep, and I learn a lot. Still, it takes a lot of time, but I'm learning how to speed things up and make presets and stuff. I really think Darktable is an amazing tool, and I feel no real urge to learn LR at all.

[@Nick_Lavigne]

Does darktable have an auto heal brush?

[@deepskypics]

Sorry for slow reply! Yes it does! Its the retouch module. I don't have a full video on the retouch module, but I believe I used it in my I Edit Your Photos Video. There are also other excellent videos on how to use it. It is a very effective module.

[@certs743]

I have never actually used Lightroom. But I have used Darktable since version 1. Some major changes to how it works was done with Version 3 and up which definitely took some learning but I am very happy with it. I also use Gimp for different kinds of editing work too. With Darktable some simple but important features can really make a difference. The great denoise tools can really help deal with the limitations of using older cameras like my D300. That is what really sold me on the program a few versions ago. Other programs I was using at the time could not remove noise without destroying detail. Since then I have made a point to learn more about the many powerful tools included.

[@deepskypics]

I was genuinely surprised at first, but the denoise module of DT is amazing. Generally it’s profiled setting do the trick but you can tweak it for certain photos to get improved results.

[@thecaveofthedead]

Yeah. I'm more keen to get started. I don't really like spending ages on image processing. But when I do want to say, make a print from a RAW file, then I do want control. What I, and I'm guessing many people like me, need and that this video provides is a starting workflow to at least get some good basic looks - rather than having to get a masters degree in Darktable before being able to make an image look good.

[@billkossmann9246]

Super helpful video - thanks Nick!

[@GerhardBothaWFF]

I love Darktable. Just came back from a weekend at one of our game reserves. I shot an owl after sunset on my R7 at iso 10 000. Masked the background and did stronger denoising there, and lesser denoising on the bird. Amazing result. Why would I want more? I think DT out performs LR

[@deepskypics]

It be does outperform LR, especially when you figure out how to really use the tools hahaha. DTs denoising is surprisingly good ain’t it?

[@jackmiller1804]

I found your marketable video intriguing. I am an old film photographer from the days when we had to know only things Aperture, (light) shutter speed, ISO and ev (over and under steps called bracketing ) post camera processing left us in the wind. I shoot mostly B and W (studied under John Sexton, Ansel Adams wing man) and used the zone system. in that era most of the processing occurred pre-shooting .The most important part of the camera was the NUT using the shutter.. I would like to see what marketable can't do. to enhance button completely overtake the image like photoshop encourages. Let us know if you haveinterestin this. that you

[@deepskypics]

You studied under Ansel Adams! Whoa! So cool! What was he like? I think by “Marketable” you mean Darktable correct? The biggest limitations (or benefits depending on how you look at it) Darktable has is the lack of internal camera profiles and AI tools. Thanks for watching mate!

[@thormusique]

Wow, this is amazing, thanks! For my money, the Darktable versions of these photos have more character. In particular, for example, the Darktable version of the Iceland scene has smoother highlights, as well as an over three-dimensionality that appears (to my eye) to be lacking in the Lightroom version. Cheers!

[@rjpadbatan669]

There is a way that almost all youtubers and bloggers don't put up or don't realize. You can get perfect result from raw files. Here is how. 1) process your raw file like you normally do and save it as jpg fileA 2) go back to the raw file and reprocess it with different values and save it as jpg fileB. Repeat this process several times with different values. Some times you wish you lightened up some spots or darken up another spot or some place more red and other place more green etc etc etc. Save each iteration as a different jpg file. After go to Photoshop and load up these jpg files into stack and ask photoshop to blend it all.

[@kritmil00]

I actually sidelined DT and started working with Raw Therapee again. I am getting FAR better results in RT compared to DT in every way (except masking). If I do need masking, I'm just exporting to Photoshop and using a masking panel. Not downing DT at all, I actually learned a TON of information by learning and using it.

[@deepskypics]

It’s all open source goodness 👌. I’ve experimented with RT, but honestly preferred what I was getting from DT. What about raw therapee has been most transformative to your workflow?

[@digitalspecter]

@@deepskypics I mostly use DT but I can't seem to quite reach the sharpness RT gives me. Also, RT usually has a lot more appealing starting point by default (but that's not that relevant for me since I have a tuned my DT style to be even better :D)

[@deepskypics]

@@digitalspecter For sharpness have you tried diffuse or sharpen (lens deblur medium preset)? You can also increase its strength by upping the iterations from 16 to 18/20 or more. This should give similar results to RTs capture sharpening. It’s pretty remarkable ✌️.

[@FreedomToRoam86]

Definitely going to try DT now

[@mediaflmcreation]

Capture one pro still for me. DT is excellent but its a very very detailed and very technical learning curve. I've used and still have the app and I go to it when i need some quickies done if I'm not using affinity photo. But dark table does unlock potentials for those that hate subscription nonsense like Adobe and with what they got going on now, people are leaving them. That and those that simply can never afford $300 for Capture one pro or more to say don't want to pay the price. Darktable is freakin awesome.... but it will never beat the process of the other apps like C1P which is my primary for bulk editing, affinity photo for my single photo work and XnView MP for my on location quick tag work

[@Whatreally123]

I use C1Pro as well. Just so superior than LR. Darktable's UI/UX is just a mess. That's a huge drawback of many open source software. Even C1Pro has gone subscription route but at least they offer a full purchase. For my work, it's more than enough and not every new feature is required. I would however like them to just release updates to read newer camera support so even if I am using an older version of C1, I can continue using it with newer cameras.

[@peterjansen4826]

I can't related to this coffee-drink feeling but I am happy for you that you enjoy it that much. 😆 I love to hear that so many people enjoy free and open software like Darkroom. In my opinion Adobe treats its customers atrociously, it is great that there are alternatives for Adobe software which will do what you need.

[@deepskypics]

Totally! I’m glad you have found value in my videos! DT is a genuine beast of a piece of software that is way to good to be free haha

[@ryanresavage7807]

Also, if you're converting older black & white or Color negatives.... Darktable is absolutely amazing in the Negadoctor module. It is like 100 times easier than any other program I've tried. Also correcting perspective on aspect ratio for negatives is mega easy. It's a steep learning curve so far. But for free and to know my art is safe from training AI models. I'll take my time to make our community safe.

[@deepskypics]

@@ryanresavage7807 Absolutely! Its funny you say that because I just started 4x5 photography and Darktable is fantastic for editing camera scanned slides/negatives. More to come in this.

[@babajaiy8246]

How well is DarkTable at creating masks, bundling them with other settings and applying them all like a preset to a batch of images? At face value LR has a lot of promise to do it well. You get that impression when working on one image at a time. But if you have AI masks and settings, make your preset and try to apply it to multiple images - Images that have very little differences between them. LR simply makes a mess.

[@Deruzejaku]

The issue with Darktable isn't that it lacks features, it's that Darktable takes more time to develop photos, is far less intuitive in use, there is no structure or order you can just edit in and get, you kind of have to jump around. Also in LR you pretty much didn't edit the photo, so it would be expected it won't be to your taste if you barely touched it as opposed to Darktable. Also while both DT and LR won't address your issues with the programs, if you try get issue noticed in DT you will get informed that you're wrong, and stupid, and how dare you expect functionality from free software, which isn't really the case, as people I saw posting issues were approaching it from perspective of wanting this project to grow, and be more accessible to people in general, often people who won't read 300 page manual for photo editing software before first use. Did I mention just how painful it is to synchronize settings for multiple photos for the pictures? XD

[@babajaiy8246]

"Did I mention just how painful it is to synchronize settings for multiple photos for the pictures?" Lightroom isn't very good at that, unless you stay away from any of their AI like masks.(LR is very painful and frustrating with AI masks applied in batches - it can't get it right; you have to do a good percentage manually) LR makes a mess. And the only thing adobe forum reps can do is ask to show your steps you did - then after showing them, they are silent. That's because LR isn't that all that good to begin with, except for simple things.

[@Deruzejaku]

@@babajaiy8246 Got to say it's been a while since, and I got to learn Darktable more, and it's better than Lightroom for synchronizing photos. Before I made the mistake of trying to synchronize through styles instead of copying the history stack, and didn't notice options to overwrite instead of append. Now it's like I grab a frame with a color checker to fix colors, do some basic edits I know I want on all photos, and just copy paste a good amount of photos. Ai masks from LR subject and background usually work just fine for people, more precise ones are more hit or miss, and it's the same for Luninar, and probably other editing soft with AI masks. And yes adobe support sucks d.

[@sundersquare]

great video with some great tips. the hand gestures feel unnatural though and distract from what you are saying. You speak really well and have a very clear voiceover style

[@jurgenhackel504]

I use darktable for four years now. I am a great fan of this tool. Some times i miss tools for delete some objects from the picture, or i haven't found them. For me darktable ist the one and only i use.

[@deepskypics]

Nothing wrong with using some other supporting software if you really need it! Darktable for the win! Thanks for stopping by mate.

[@EdwinSteiner]

It's great that darktable exists as an open-source alternative to Lightroom that can give comparable results, especially now that Adobe has gone all into cloud and subscription stuff. Unfortunately, darktable also is at least as slow as Lightroom from my first impressions. It's just amazing how slow this kind of modern software is, and I don't even mean the processing, which arguably does a lot of maths, but simple things like switching between module tabs or expanding modules. If you are sensitive to latency, it feels like moving through molasses. There are also very bad UI choices like making the difference between ON and OFF state for modules just a slight variation of the shade of grey of the "power-button" icon. (I fixed that with some CSS tweaks but it is still very annoying that they don't change the symbol to indicate module state. An obvious neglect of usability.)

[@deepskypics]

It’s not perfect, but there is no other free piece of software with this much insane capability.

[@OscarLodge]

I was with the paid for Lightroom 6.14 and used it a lot,.. but can't see the sense is paying for upgrades,, so it's Darkroom for me.

[@ViewportPlaythrough]

if darktable gets the GUI overhaul it strongly needs it would suddenly boom.. just like how blender pre-2.4 was just so hard to use then 2.8 sky rocketet, not just because of its tech but mostly because blender team streamlined 2.8+ gui and processes

[@babajaiy8246]

Yes...I remember the old Blender interface and understand ...probably would have stayed with Blender if they changed it before I discovered Houdini.

[@randall.chamberlain]

Darktable is frustratingly difficult to learn and especially to get good results without understanding what's happening under the hood. That is an adoption weakness. But, ohh boy, once you get the hang of it LR starts to look very limited. The results I get with DT now are just impossible to get in LR with that level of image processing quality.

[@bazzaah]

Darkroom is very good but I don't know what half of the options mean. It could do with a non-nerd designer to go through it and make the options make a bit more sense. I have achieved identical results to Lightroom with it, just less quickly.

[@douglasprinceart]

Excellent.

[@deepskypics]

Hey thanks mate!!

[@musasoyyo]

My issue with DarkTable is that it has a very steep learning curve and I’ve been using lightroom since version 1.4, I want to learn DarkTable but haven’t had the time since work keeps me very occupied. I do believe that DarkTable can be better.

[@deepskypics]

I totally get you there. When I was first learning Darktable and needed something real quick I’d default to Lightroom. Now that I have developed a workflow and made styles(presets) for my base settings, I can generate excellent results much quicker. In this video, I hoped to demonstrate a foundational workflow for people to try to good results and see if it works for them. If you stick with Lightroom though it’s a great option and maybe it is most optimal for your workflow. All the image processing is goodness 👌

[@musasoyyo]

@@deepskypics The other issue, at least for my workflow, is that masking in Lightroom has become quite powerful for creative use, and I fear I would miss that in Darktable, so you have any advice on this?

[@deepskypics]

@@musasoyyo Ya! DT has some pretty powerful masking features, especially the parametrics masks, which allow you to create some very powerful and complex masks. I currently don’t have a video out on this, but check out Boris Hadjovics videos and see if it seems like it fit your need. I really love DT and want to make it approachable for people, but my goal to encourage you to find what works best for you. One thing about LR is it has some very powerful AI masking features. If that’s essential, maybe LR is still the right program, but check out DTs parametric masks to be sure because they’re pretty insane ✌️.

[@Zuzzt]

I didn't use Lightroom. But I will now begin using Darktable. I did some testing and it is really good!

[@deepskypics]

Darktable is insane isn’t it!? Like really really good and honest in its rendering. Just passing my learned experience (why I didn’t originally commit to DT), if your using Filmic RGB and you get weird colors/results try Sigmoid instead. It is very consistent in its rendering giving an experience more like other software. Filmic RGB is great too! If Filmic RGB highlights look weird/colorful, try pulling down the highlight saturation mix in filmic and adding more color in Color Balance RGB 👌 Thanks for watching and taking time to comment and enjoy DT!

[@alphat4551]

It would be nice to see the entire Darktable screen...in other words no need to have your handsome face in a circle covering portions the Darktable

[@redouaneayache6752]

More vídeo About darktable please 🙏

[@deepskypics]

Ha, you got it! What about this vid really “clicked” with you? I want to incorporate what’s resonating in future vids. ✌️Thanks for watching!

[@robertrakowicz9666]

Thanks for this video. Darktable may be a great software. Darktable does not use the defined standard for metadata, which makes it an absolute NoG for me

[@deepskypics]

Your welcome! That is a very valid reason to use Lightroom or any other raw editor that works for you! Thanks for watching & leaving your thoughts! 👌

[@Maxime-ho9iv]

Lightroom isn't even the competition. Capture One is.

[@PaulSafford]

Great video, how do you not have more subscribers? :) Liked and subscribed...

[@deepskypics]

Hahaha thanks mate! Quite the comment! I’m enjoying the process of making videos and I know the outcome will come if I can doing that.

[@mattchristie1810]

Sadly I think Darktable will remain a secret from most photographers. The reason is, it requires a science degree to understand it, or at least someone with the amount of time needed to understand a science degree. The modules make no sense to casual photographers. They may be wonderfully powerful, but the vast majority of them make no sense without deep learning. Come on - sigmoid! Really? Just the name alone is off-putting to most. Please note I have a double science degree, and have been a photographer for 35 years as a hobbyist! After work, dinner, walking the dog, there's no way I'm going to sit and study the obscure interface. If somebody comes up with an easier interface, this would be an absolute Adobe killer. But currently it can't touch Adobe in terms of usability.

[@DavidBaltzerkahr]

Nice

[@deepskypics]

thanks for watching my friend!

[@XavierP56]

I tried Darktable: I will cancel my LR subscription. Much better results with less work... Amazing.

[@deepskypics]

Hahaha. Darktable is insane isn’t it? Thanks for dropping bye.

[@DutchDelightsNL]

What's up with the hands Maestro😂?

[@deepskypics]

Hahahaha! Ya, I’m having a lot of fun pushing myself to be more expressive on camera. Them boring videos are the worst. ✌️

[@maggiem1323]

Its passion maestro and i dig it. Dont change just keep getting better.

[@deepskypics]

@@maggiem1323 ha, thank you so very much! I have certainly made some videos that haven’t done as well on YT. I enjoy the process of making videos for the sake of itself and that keeps propelling me to make more

[@justinoff1]

Capture one. The answer is C1

[@babajaiy8246]

Capture 1 have good AI-masking, or just good masking together with other settings that can be batched applied to many images? LR has failed miserably for me in that department, makes a big mess. Single image, yeah ok - but otherwise....I'm looking for an alternative.

[@marsrii4372]

Darktable can’t do the main thing I need it to do: import my Lightroom catalog with 70 k photos, so I can escape Adobe. That’s why I went with capture one which was able to do that…

[@deepskypics]

@@marsrii4372 Unfortunately, I can’t help you their mate. But Darktable will always be there if you wanna give it a go. You can export a file in LR as a DNG I believe and DT will be except that. Thanks for commenting mate.

[@grantbeerling4396]

Reminds me of the artist Slimgirl Fat, or is it Fatboy Slim

[@deepskypics]

Haha this one your gonna have to explain to me my friend

[@Whatreally123]

I have been following Darktable since they began. One thing I seriously can't stand about open source software is that while technologically they're good but UI/UX absolutely suck. Perfect representation of nerds building stuff as shown in popular media. Darktable is powerful but my god the UI/UX is so bad and after all these years, still is as bad as when they began. and another severely lacking thing is that there are no good resources to learn it.

[@deepskypics]

I think when I started using DT I also felt that the interface needed work, but not that I’ve have grown so comfortable with it, I actually really like the way it’s setup. With your resources to learn it comment, I noticed something kinda similar. There are either good videos on advanced techniques or videos on specific modules, but not a lot of videos on how to put it all together into a cohesive workflow, so my intention has been to fill that gap.

[@Whatreally123]

@@deepskypics appreciate your work. But DT has way too many modules and some which I feel do the same job. The problem with open source software is that since they're not after the money, they really don't care about UI/UX. Of course it's not all software, so many great open source software which look good as well. As a professional photographer I don't have the time to learn DT and adapt my workflow to it. LR and Capture One Pro and all other commercial softwares are easy to use. I want to get work done rather than learning how to use the software. It's just clunky to use. Hopefully after all these years they understand that making it usable is as big of a thing as offering good features.

[@deepskypics]

If Darktable isn’t for you, totally cool! Thx for checking out my vids mate. The software is always growing and will always be here for you.

[@Lukas-b3u]

RIP LR😊

[@nikatto8]

the brushes on darktable are a deal breaker

[@ciemnogrodzianin]

Thanks for the tutorial. But next time move yourself to left bottom, please! 😂

[@ThomazMartinez]

Lightroom colors for yellow look like piss,

[@deepskypics]

This is so funny it made me spit out my coffee LMAO. Thanks for giving me that today. P.S I think I’ve noticed that too especially with the Adobe Color profile

[@biking-places]

in a good way or a bad way?

[@deepskypics]

@@biking-places if you meant spitting out my coffee - the best possible way! Haha.

[@deepskypics]

@@biking-places And if you meant the Adobe Color profile then - I prefer the camera standard profiles for this reason

[@ThomazMartinez]

@@biking-places if you like piss colors then good for you

[@sharvo6]

I had to laugh when you were " showing" changes to the histogram, which of course, wer covered up by your talking head image. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

[@deepskypics]

Ya…I did those parts in OBS studio and didnt realize it was in the way till the video edit. Going to change that for next time. Haha!

[@josebrivera1716]

Video tips. Use your hands a lot less. And we don't need to see your face in the video. It doesn't add anything and covers up areas you are talking about.

[@deepskypics]

Thanks for the feedback mate! With the face cam, I totally get it! And I’ve been trying with and without in my various videos. I think I get better audience retention when I keep it in

[@errgo2713]

Lightroom will always be better for the vast user majority that don't want to suffer Darkroom's horrible UI and learning curve.