Darktable Episode 47: contrasts in highlights 2 and camera jpeg look

[@demarestk]

Thanks again Boris. I didn't know you could take a snapshot across 2 images and thus compare the jpeg and raw files. That's really a neat trick :)

[@JohnJohnson-bo5sv]

I appreciate these videos..I am not at a level where I can do more than subscribe and watch but the learning process is moving ahead.. looking forward to really getting the most out of these..thanks

[@asquared8399]

Thank you for the quality of this video: even on the first pass I have learned a lot, but it is clear that I need to watch it, while fully concentrating, once or twice more. I am really impressed with the results you obtained, making the raw files look every bit as good as (if not better) than the jpeg. Being a Fujifilm user I have been disappointed in the past with the transition from the lighttable (embedded jpeg) to the darkroom (raw), but you have now shown me how to avoid this. Thank you. But I don't think I'll ever be able to do it as quickly as you! Having been a Lightroom user from the Beta version to 6.14, I don't think I was ever able to achieve this sort of improvement of my raw images that you have demonstrated with darktable. This convinces me that the migration to darktable, which I found difficult, has very much been worth it.

[@rolandrainer3639]

Another great video! That's two videos in one. Thank you especially for the insights on how to get contrasts in highlights! I often struggled with that but your trick with two instances of tone equalizer solves that elegantly.

[@aefaudio]

Thank you for your generous and clear explanations, this is really brilliant. I’d value knowing more about the channel mixer in a future vid, have seen your previous videos and am amazed at the results you achieve.

[@TonySkraba]

Again, super helpful! Thank you, Boris!

[@thomaswirtl4446]

And another great job. I watch the last 7 or 8 episodes a second or partially a third time, cause they are so helpful. Thanks a lot.

[@jimjames4252]

Boris, many thanks for another interesting and informative video.

[@davidwilson4179]

Thank you once again Boris for yet another excellent video. I find it difficult to mentally separate tones and colours, so I struggle to assess how to process unedited raw files. My workaround has been to create presets for filmic and colour calibration, which are set to auto-apply whenever I open a new raw file. This works in a similar manner as applying your ST style would, and it leads to me having great starting point for subsequent editing, without me having to think about it.

[@s7habo]

Thank you David! Yes, that makes sense and in many cases it is very helpful. However, there is the danger that one becomes too fixed by these presets and one no longer recognizes possible other interpretations of the photo, and that there are also cases where this becomes counterproductive. For example, if I had applied this style to the first two photos from the video, I would have had to reset the presets to deal with the high dynamic range and already, from the beginning, very strong contrasts. For this reason, I find it more elegant not to apply the style automatically to all raw files, but only occasionally when it suits. For example, as an event photographer, I use such a style to quickly process the whole photo series, because such a job is not so much about the aesthetics.

Thank you very much, Boris!

[@-_8438]

Hello Boris, thank you for the informative and educational video. You are using the diffuse & sharpen module with a few presets. Could you explain how these presets are composed and why you set them this way? So far "diffuse & sharpen" keeps confusing me, it seems very complex to use.

[@s7habo]

I will soon make an episode where I will introduce the module.

[@bernym4047]

Super demonstrations. Thank you. What is the name of the utility program for displaying the mouse clicks and keyboard modifier key combinations please?

[@s7habo]

Hi Berny. Keymon - Keyboard and mouse monitor window for GTK.

[@abhishes]

fantastic!!!

[@ak4good]

So helpful, thank you!

[@93Logen]

Hello Boris. I use my Olympus camera jpg as a reference. I don't have a problem w/ exposure, wb, colors, and contrast. The real issue for me is sharpness (or clarity?). The jpg always looks sharper, more detailed than my developed raw file. Do you have a video about sharpness in DT?

[@s7habo]

Hi 93Logen. No, I don't have a video about it but it's relatively simple. Two modules are good for this: Local Contrast and Contrast Equalizer. Both have the presets called "clarity". This could be a very good starting point to find the right settings for you.

[@DroneViewPoland]

Thanks a lot 👍

[@oscarbettoni3652]

👍

[@Bizon-q2u]

Unfortunately, I don't speak English. I've been learning photo editing in Darktable for over a year now. You have a lot of tutorials, but I have no idea what you follow? For example, with the masks in the tone corrector. You darken once and then lighten. You do it all so fast that it's impossible to understand anything. I don't know if I still have the strength and desire to continue learning this complicated and confusing program. I think I will give up and go back to Rawtherapee

[@s7habo]

If you don't get along with darktable, Rawterapee is also an excellent program that I highly recommend. It is not so modular and for some people it is more suitable. As for functionality and quality, Rawterapee is on the same level as darktable.

[@s7habo]

And as far as tutorials for darktable are concerned, I also recommend Bruce Williams' channel: www.youtube.com/@audio2u

[@Bizon-q2u]

​@@s7habo Heh, even though I know Darktable worse than Rawtherapee, I get better results. In the second photo, instead of brightening the sunlight with the tone corrector, could I use the RGB color balance module and brillance grading - highlights tab? Can you recommend any video that explains how to use masks in the tone corrector?