Although I didn’t close the white point gap completely, it was enough to expand the tonal range to my liking.Īdvertisements Editing Step 2 – White BalanceĪlthough I tried to nail the White Balance (WB) in-camera, I failed once again. I increased the exposure setting by 1.5 stops and adjusted the black point. Quite the accomplishment after a 30-second exposure! Another 15 seconds would have given me a better exposure in-camera… so, I had to fix it in the darkroom.

The tonal range of the image was relatively low and was underexposed. It simply has A LOT of tools, and as a result the interface ends up feeling a bit cluttered and confusing to a first time user.The History panel shows the 10 edits darkroom auto-applied. If there is one flaw with the software I’d have to say that it boils down to its learning curve.

In fact, it is probably one of the better free options that I’ve come across in my travels. General Overviewĭarktable is no slouch when it comes to RAW file processing.

Is it for you? I can’t say that for sure, but if you’re like me, and you’re saying – “Did he just say free?” – than why not head on over to Darktable’s website and get your own copy today. My intention here is to introduce it to you and share with you some of my experiences within the first few hours of opening it up. I’ve only spent a handful of hours with Darktable and therefore by no means have I mastered the workflow and features packed into it. I’d like to preface this article with a simple disclaimer… I know most everyone loves free stuff and quality RAW file editors are not easy to come by with a price tag of $0.00, so I thought it would be worth taking a quick look at Darktable vs Lightroom here on DPS. Recently I was introduced to a free open source RAW file editor called Darktable.

Darktable vs lightroom speed