Initially, you'll not have any photographs loaded, so the first step is to import images, either on a per-file basis or by directory.

Slideshow: a presentation mode, much like a slideshowĮach of these modes is accessible from the labels in the upper right corner of the Darktable window, but you'll start in the Lighttable mode.

Map: a world map showing geo-location for the current image or images.

Tethering: for studio use, permitting you to shoot straight to disk.

Darkroom: the photo editing interface with non-destructive filters you can use to enhance a photo the same way you would in a darkroom (or, to be fair, at some later stage).

Lighttable: an array of images, as if you were looking at your film negatives on a, well, lighttable.

There are a few different modes that Darktable can run in. Its interface is unique, but once you get the hang of it, Darktable is actually pretty simple. When you first launch Darktable, the program may seem a little daunting. If you don't have Darktable installed, you can either grab it for Linux or MacOS from /darktable-org/darktable/releases or, if you're on Linux, then you can probably find the latest version in your distribution's software repository. I don't have the access to studio space the way I did at my previous job, so my use for Darktable now is solely as a digital darkroom. One that kept popping up was Darktable, which I use on a semi-regular basis, so I thought I'd write up a quick intro to this fine open source, cross-platform application.ĭarktable is designed to be a photography workflow application, meaning that if you want it to act as the center of your photo studio, it can be exactly that you can tether your camera to it, bypass the need for an SD card tool, shoot straight into Darktable, and then review your photos, do filter-based non-destructive edits, and publish. As it happens in open source, the collaboration that followed his article (in this case, in the form of comments by lots and lots of readers) generated a whole new list of great open source photo tools. Last month, Jason Baker wrote a great article on photo managers.

Darktable for beginners