Darktable 2.0.7 under Linux Mint 18.2... a great Lightroom alternative

**BigMackCam** · 10-25-2017, 05:28 AM - **3 Likes**

Since Adobe's recent announcements, I've been trying out a few different alternatives to Lightroom. I believe I've found one that could work for me.

A few days ago I installed Linux Mint 17.2, and went through the rather time-consuming (though relatively straightforward) process of upgrading it to 17.3, then 8, and finally 8.2. It comes with GIMP pre-installed, and I added Darktable 2.0.7. I have this all setup as a dual boot option on my otherwise Windows 10-based PC.

The first thing I want to say is, Linux Mint 18.2 is *great*. These Linux distros really have come a long way over the last few years, and this one - with the Cinnamon desktop - feels like a very well-sorted operating system indeed. It's very quick, looks good, seems stable, recognises all of my hardware, connects easily to network and printers, adding and removing applications is simple... I really like it. Using an application called DisplayCAL, I've profiled my laptop screen with my X-Rite ColorMunki Display. And LibreOffice 5, the bundled open-source office suite, seems like a decent alternative to Microsoft Office for day-to-day tasks (although I haven't done anything heavy-weight with it yet).

Darktable has really matured since I last tried it. It's polished and professional, very flexible and much more capable than I'd expected. The look and feel, from a RAW processing perspective, isn't all that different to Lightroom. Some of the processing tools work a little differently, but I've managed to figure out most of the fundamentals without resorting to the documentation. It's pretty intuitive. From a library management perspective, it does more than I'd been led to believe, allowing for collections, key-word tagging, geo-tagging etc., but I suspect a dedicated image library tool would be a useful (perhaps essential) addition to match or improve upon Lightroom's capable library module.

As with every other alternative I've tried, Darktable doesn't quite match Lightroom's excellent colour noise reduction on high ISO images - at least, not in my opinion. However, it's much better than I expected (especially when using "profiled de-noise"), and it's good enough for my purposes on all but the highest ISO files.

I'm still wading my way through everything Darktable can do, but I'm mightily impressed with it so far. I can see real potential for this to be my new RAW development tool.

As for Linux Mint 18.2...

My home computing needs are pretty straightforward. I need a simple-to-use operating system with reliable connectivity to my devices, a decent browser (with ad blocker), an office suite (primarily word processing and spreadsheet), and tools for RAW development and image editing. Linux Mint 18.2 - plus the relevant open-source apps - gives me all of this. I like it enough that I've decided to spend the next couple of months just using this environment. If, by the end of that trial period, I'm still happy, then I'll move all of my home computing activities to Linux. If not, it's worth using just for Darktable

danielblues · 10-25-2017, 06:24 AM - **1 Like**

Welcome to the club!

I'm using it since 1993, it slowly became a good alternative to anything on the market for most types of work.

---------- Post added 25-10-17 at 14:30 ----------

When you get some more miles in, you can install a more recent darktable. The ubuntu PPA should work, but go slowly.

wombat2go · 10-25-2017, 06:48 AM - **1 Like**

If you have a GPU card, DT will run fast.
in the "gears" tab "core options" "activate OpenCL support" check on

Alternately, invoke DT in a terminal like this:
$ darktable -d opencl

**BigMackCam** · 10-25-2017, 07:06 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by wombat2go

If you have a GPU card, DT will run fast.
in the "gears" tab "core options" "activate OpenCL support" check on

Alternately, invoke DT in a terminal like this:
$ darktable -d opencl

Thanks

I should have mentioned, I have an NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M card in my laptop, and I'm running the nvidia-384 driver. Darktable 2.0.7 automatically picked that up without me having to do anything, so OpenCL was already checked. It runs very quickly - and quicker with the nvidia-384 driver than with nouveau...

derekkite · 10-25-2017, 11:47 AM - **1 Like**

I've been using it for a while. Once the keyboard shortcuts become muscle memory it is very nice.

**jbinpg** · 10-25-2017, 12:11 PM

v2.o.x is very old. Latest version is v2.2.5 and is much more capable. New version is due before the end of December.

**BigMackCam** · 10-25-2017, 12:51 PM

Originally posted by jbinpg

v2.o.x is very old. Latest version is v2.2.5 and is much more capable. New version is due before the end of December.

Yes, I noticed that 2.2.5 is the current (stable?) version. The 2.0.7 version I'm running is what was installed through Mint's "Software Manager", but I've just noticed this evening that the "Update Manager" is showing an available update to 2.2.5, so I'm installing that as I type this

**BigMackCam** · 10-25-2017, 12:55 PM

One minor problem I've noticed that may be worth mentioning:

One of the cameras I shoot is the infamous and ill-fated Hasselblad HV, which is basically a Sony A99 (Mk I). The .ARW files it produces are lossy, compressed RAW, and when I try to import those into Darktable, I get an abortive error saying that the software couldn't read the white balance information. I've also read of others having this same problem with compressed RAW files from Fuji cameras.

Anyway, the solution for me was to install WINE (to allow Windows software to run within Linux) and Adobe DNG Converter for Windows (will I never be free from Adobe?!

). By converting the compressed .ARW files to .dng format, they load perfectly into Darktable and look exactly as I'd expect. It's a little bit of a hassle to add this additional workflow step, but not a big problem and certainly not a show-stopper

Of course, this won't be a problem for those shooting Pentax only...

**beachgardener** · 10-25-2017, 01:55 PM - **2 Likes**

perhaps update by adding the ppa ?

Darktable Releases : Pascal de Bruijn

**BigMackCam** · 10-25-2017, 02:47 PM

Originally posted by beachgardener

perhaps update by adding the ppa ?

Darktable Releases : Pascal de Bruijn

Thanks

I did that, but since then I automatically got update notifications for 2.2.5. Installed and running now... looks just like 2.0.7, in all honesty, though I'm sure plenty has changed

RAART · 10-25-2017, 03:19 PM

I started also to use Darktable not so long ago as alternative to my Adobe CC subscription while my windows PC getting refurbished and it was great alternative. Since my windows PC is almost done I am using again Adobe CC since I am paying for it but other than that Darktable is great and if I stop to pay Adobe I am back to Darktable. The Linux Mint is great choice as it comes almost ready with everything you need but I was running into some stability issue after using it for some time (display start to flicker occasionally and other quirks) and I was migrating to Solus OS where I am now and very happy with it. I have multiple hard drives with other installed Linus OS (like Ubuntu, Mint, etc.) and I can swap them and run other Linux distro right away. Since the community at Solus is great and very responsive if I ask something or needed technical help as I am not experienced with Linux I strongly believe that I will stay with them. They even helped me installing Autopano Giga on their distro. So far that's all I will need: Darktable, Autopano Giga, GNU (Gimp), Inkscape, etc.

They are plenty of tutorials on youtube about Darktable and Gimp that I watch and learn. Soon I will start to bookmark helpful ones as it is not easy to remember all those things.

I am glad that more and more people embracing Darktable as in my opinion this is the best suitable, at least to me, solution on Linux. They are others as well but I believe it is personal preference and seeing it that other people are choosing it as well made me more and more sure that I choose also right.

So far so good and I am looking forward to see your pictures developed with Darktable!

**JensE** · 10-25-2017, 03:26 PM

See darktable 2.2.0 released | darktable for a list of changes - they were substantial, and K-1 specific profiles have been added. Later point releases extended Pentax support for e.g. K-5.

---------- Post added 2017-10-26 at 00:40 ----------

Originally posted by RAART

I am glad that more and more people embracing Darktable as in my opinion this is the best suitable, at least to me, solution on Linux. They are others as well but I believe it is personal preference and seeing it that other people are choosing it as well made me more and more sure that I choose also right.

In my experience, Darktable can be a very efficient post-processing tool. I don't think it is as sophisticated in many aspects as e.g. my usual Geeqie (for culling/sorting) + Rawtherapee + (sometimes, for local stuff) Gimp 9.6, but usually provides fairly good output with much less effort. Compared to Rawtherapee (main branch), the main strength which I like are local adjustments and the color equilizer. I can't really compare in-depth to Digikam, the other highly integrated tool, as that wasn't compatible with my "DAM" interoperability needs, but I wasn't overly impressed with the results when I tried it.

Af course, there s also AfterShot Pro 3 on Linux, which is yet on my list to evaluate.

RAART · 10-25-2017, 03:52 PM

Originally posted by JensE

See darktable 2.2.0 released | darktable for a list of changes - they were substantial, and K-1 specific profiles have been added. Later point releases extended Pentax support for e.g. K-5.

---------- Post added 2017-10-26 at 00:40 ----------

In my experience, Darktable can be a very efficient post-processing tool. I don't think it is as sophisticated in many aspects as e.g. my usual Geeqie (for culling/sorting) + Rawtherapee + (sometimes, for local stuff) Gimp 9.6, but usually provides fairly good output with much less effort. Compared to Rawtherapee (main branch), the main strength which I like are local adjustments and the color equilizer. I can't really compare in-depth to Digikam, the other highly integrated tool, as that wasn't compatible with my "DAM" interoperability needs, but I wasn't overly impressed with the results when I tried it.

Af course, there s also AfterShot Pro 3 on Linux, which is yet on my list to evaluate.

I couldn't get Aftershot Pro 3 to read DNG files... emailed support and no solution was there and returned the product.

**mattb123** · 10-25-2017, 03:59 PM

I recently installed DarkTable for Windows, also looking into potential LR replacements. I've only messed around a little bit but so far, so good!

The hardest part was realizing DT does not do the file copy from your memory card (as far as I can tell) so you have to do that manually or with another tool before importing your images.

**JensE** · 10-25-2017, 04:15 PM

The asset management part is neither sufficient on its own, nor completely out of your way. By chance, it had most of what I was looking for without getting in the way too much when working with other tools concurrently, but I still have to see any efficient asset management solution that fits our needs (mine and my wife's). They surprisingly seem more complex than most professional's.

10-25-2017, 05:28 AM - 3 Likes	#1
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,645	Darktable 2.0.7 under Linux Mint 18.2... a great Lightroom alternative Since Adobe's recent announcements, I've been trying out a few different alternatives to Lightroom. I believe I've found one that could work for me. A few days ago I installed Linux Mint 17.2, and went through the rather time-consuming (though relatively straightforward) process of upgrading it to 17.3, then 8, and finally 8.2. It comes with GIMP pre-installed, and I added Darktable 2.0.7. I have this all setup as a dual boot option on my otherwise Windows 10-based PC. The first thing I want to say is, Linux Mint 18.2 is great. These Linux distros really have come a long way over the last few years, and this one - with the Cinnamon desktop - feels like a very well-sorted operating system indeed. It's very quick, looks good, seems stable, recognises all of my hardware, connects easily to network and printers, adding and removing applications is simple... I really like it. Using an application called DisplayCAL, I've profiled my laptop screen with my X-Rite ColorMunki Display. And LibreOffice 5, the bundled open-source office suite, seems like a decent alternative to Microsoft Office for day-to-day tasks (although I haven't done anything heavy-weight with it yet). Darktable has really matured since I last tried it. It's polished and professional, very flexible and much more capable than I'd expected. The look and feel, from a RAW processing perspective, isn't all that different to Lightroom. Some of the processing tools work a little differently, but I've managed to figure out most of the fundamentals without resorting to the documentation. It's pretty intuitive. From a library management perspective, it does more than I'd been led to believe, allowing for collections, key-word tagging, geo-tagging etc., but I suspect a dedicated image library tool would be a useful (perhaps essential) addition to match or improve upon Lightroom's capable library module. As with every other alternative I've tried, Darktable doesn't quite match Lightroom's excellent colour noise reduction on high ISO images - at least, not in my opinion. However, it's much better than I expected (especially when using "profiled de-noise"), and it's good enough for my purposes on all but the highest ISO files. I'm still wading my way through everything Darktable can do, but I'm mightily impressed with it so far. I can see real potential for this to be my new RAW development tool. As for Linux Mint 18.2... My home computing needs are pretty straightforward. I need a simple-to-use operating system with reliable connectivity to my devices, a decent browser (with ad blocker), an office suite (primarily word processing and spreadsheet), and tools for RAW development and image editing. Linux Mint 18.2 - plus the relevant open-source apps - gives me all of this. I like it enough that I've decided to spend the next couple of months just using this environment. If, by the end of that trial period, I'm still happy, then I'll move all of my home computing activities to Linux. If not, it's worth using just for Darktable

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10-25-2017, 06:24 AM - 1 Like	#2
danielblues Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Cascais, Portugal Posts: 173	Welcome to the club! I'm using it since 1993, it slowly became a good alternative to anything on the market for most types of work. ---------- Post added 25-10-17 at 14:30 ---------- When you get some more miles in, you can install a more recent darktable. The ubuntu PPA should work, but go slowly.

10-25-2017, 06:48 AM - 1 Like	#3
wombat2go Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Michigan Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,207	If you have a GPU card, DT will run fast. in the "gears" tab "core options" "activate OpenCL support" check on Alternately, invoke DT in a terminal like this: $ darktable -d opencl

10-25-2017, 07:06 AM - 1 Like	#4
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,645 Original Poster	Originally posted by wombat2go If you have a GPU card, DT will run fast. in the "gears" tab "core options" "activate OpenCL support" check on Alternately, invoke DT in a terminal like this: $ darktable -d opencl Thanks I should have mentioned, I have an NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M card in my laptop, and I'm running the nvidia-384 driver. Darktable 2.0.7 automatically picked that up without me having to do anything, so OpenCL was already checked. It runs very quickly - and quicker with the nvidia-384 driver than with nouveau...

10-25-2017, 11:47 AM - 1 Like	#5
derekkite Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Nelson B.C. Posts: 3,782	I've been using it for a while. Once the keyboard shortcuts become muscle memory it is very nice.

10-25-2017, 12:11 PM	#6
jbinpg Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Prince George, BC Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,546	v2.o.x is very old. Latest version is v2.2.5 and is much more capable. New version is due before the end of December.

10-25-2017, 12:51 PM	#7
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,645 Original Poster	Originally posted by jbinpg v2.o.x is very old. Latest version is v2.2.5 and is much more capable. New version is due before the end of December. Yes, I noticed that 2.2.5 is the current (stable?) version. The 2.0.7 version I'm running is what was installed through Mint's "Software Manager", but I've just noticed this evening that the "Update Manager" is showing an available update to 2.2.5, so I'm installing that as I type this

10-25-2017, 12:55 PM	#8
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,645 Original Poster	One minor problem I've noticed that may be worth mentioning: One of the cameras I shoot is the infamous and ill-fated Hasselblad HV, which is basically a Sony A99 (Mk I). The .ARW files it produces are lossy, compressed RAW, and when I try to import those into Darktable, I get an abortive error saying that the software couldn't read the white balance information. I've also read of others having this same problem with compressed RAW files from Fuji cameras. Anyway, the solution for me was to install WINE (to allow Windows software to run within Linux) and Adobe DNG Converter for Windows (will I never be free from Adobe?! ). By converting the compressed .ARW files to .dng format, they load perfectly into Darktable and look exactly as I'd expect. It's a little bit of a hassle to add this additional workflow step, but not a big problem and certainly not a show-stopper Of course, this won't be a problem for those shooting Pentax only...

10-25-2017, 01:55 PM - 2 Likes	#9
beachgardener Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,842	perhaps update by adding the ppa ? Darktable Releases : Pascal de Bruijn

10-25-2017, 02:47 PM	#10
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,645 Original Poster	Originally posted by beachgardener perhaps update by adding the ppa ? Darktable Releases : Pascal de Bruijn Thanks I did that, but since then I automatically got update notifications for 2.2.5. Installed and running now... looks just like 2.0.7, in all honesty, though I'm sure plenty has changed

10-25-2017, 03:19 PM	#11
RAART Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Oakville, ON Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,095	I started also to use Darktable not so long ago as alternative to my Adobe CC subscription while my windows PC getting refurbished and it was great alternative. Since my windows PC is almost done I am using again Adobe CC since I am paying for it but other than that Darktable is great and if I stop to pay Adobe I am back to Darktable. The Linux Mint is great choice as it comes almost ready with everything you need but I was running into some stability issue after using it for some time (display start to flicker occasionally and other quirks) and I was migrating to Solus OS where I am now and very happy with it. I have multiple hard drives with other installed Linus OS (like Ubuntu, Mint, etc.) and I can swap them and run other Linux distro right away. Since the community at Solus is great and very responsive if I ask something or needed technical help as I am not experienced with Linux I strongly believe that I will stay with them. They even helped me installing Autopano Giga on their distro. So far that's all I will need: Darktable, Autopano Giga, GNU (Gimp), Inkscape, etc. They are plenty of tutorials on youtube about Darktable and Gimp that I watch and learn. Soon I will start to bookmark helpful ones as it is not easy to remember all those things. I am glad that more and more people embracing Darktable as in my opinion this is the best suitable, at least to me, solution on Linux. They are others as well but I believe it is personal preference and seeing it that other people are choosing it as well made me more and more sure that I choose also right. So far so good and I am looking forward to see your pictures developed with Darktable!

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10-25-2017, 03:26 PM	#12
JensE Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Leipzig Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,964	See darktable 2.2.0 released \| darktable for a list of changes - they were substantial, and K-1 specific profiles have been added. Later point releases extended Pentax support for e.g. K-5. ---------- Post added 2017-10-26 at 00:40 ---------- Originally posted by RAART I am glad that more and more people embracing Darktable as in my opinion this is the best suitable, at least to me, solution on Linux. They are others as well but I believe it is personal preference and seeing it that other people are choosing it as well made me more and more sure that I choose also right. In my experience, Darktable can be a very efficient post-processing tool. I don't think it is as sophisticated in many aspects as e.g. my usual Geeqie (for culling/sorting) + Rawtherapee + (sometimes, for local stuff) Gimp 9.6, but usually provides fairly good output with much less effort. Compared to Rawtherapee (main branch), the main strength which I like are local adjustments and the color equilizer. I can't really compare in-depth to Digikam, the other highly integrated tool, as that wasn't compatible with my "DAM" interoperability needs, but I wasn't overly impressed with the results when I tried it. Af course, there s also AfterShot Pro 3 on Linux, which is yet on my list to evaluate.

10-25-2017, 03:52 PM	#13
RAART Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Oakville, ON Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,095	Originally posted by JensE See darktable 2.2.0 released \| darktable for a list of changes - they were substantial, and K-1 specific profiles have been added. Later point releases extended Pentax support for e.g. K-5. ---------- Post added 2017-10-26 at 00:40 ---------- In my experience, Darktable can be a very efficient post-processing tool. I don't think it is as sophisticated in many aspects as e.g. my usual Geeqie (for culling/sorting) + Rawtherapee + (sometimes, for local stuff) Gimp 9.6, but usually provides fairly good output with much less effort. Compared to Rawtherapee (main branch), the main strength which I like are local adjustments and the color equilizer. I can't really compare in-depth to Digikam, the other highly integrated tool, as that wasn't compatible with my "DAM" interoperability needs, but I wasn't overly impressed with the results when I tried it. Af course, there s also AfterShot Pro 3 on Linux, which is yet on my list to evaluate. I couldn't get Aftershot Pro 3 to read DNG files... emailed support and no solution was there and returned the product.

10-25-2017, 03:59 PM	#14
mattb123 Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Colorado High Country Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,872	I recently installed DarkTable for Windows, also looking into potential LR replacements. I've only messed around a little bit but so far, so good! The hardest part was realizing DT does not do the file copy from your memory card (as far as I can tell) so you have to do that manually or with another tool before importing your images.

10-25-2017, 04:15 PM	#15
JensE Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Leipzig Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,964	The asset management part is neither sufficient on its own, nor completely out of your way. By chance, it had most of what I was looking for without getting in the way too much when working with other tools concurrently, but I still have to see any efficient asset management solution that fits our needs (mine and my wife's). They surprisingly seem more complex than most professional's.