[BigMackCam]

After much procrastination, I've finally switched to Linux Mint 18.3 as my only operating system (no dual boot )...

I'll be using Darktable for my RAW photo development, and whilst it includes basic import and tagging capability, I'm looking for more power and flexibility in those areas.

I intend to maintain the same basic physical directory structure that I used for Lightroom under Windows - namely, to have photos stored under sub-directories named YYYY-MM-DD (plus, optionally, a short description - e.g. "2018-05-04 Beamish Museum"). I'd like to be able to import photos into date-named-directories created by the importing utility, ideally with some ability to rename the files on their way in. One utility I've been reading about is "Rapid Photo Downloader". Is anyone using this, and if so, what do you think of it? Alternatively, I'd be interested in any other utilities that provide flexible importing.

For photo management, I'm considering "Shotwell". It looks pretty flexible and straightforward, and has the ability to display thumbnails for RAW files. But I know there are several other tools like Digikam, gThumb and otherwise that might also do the trick. I'd appreciate thoughts on any of these.

Thanks in advance

[twilhelm]

Mike,

I switched to editing all my photos in Linux several months ago. I still have to keep one system dual boot because of my scanning software.

What I do is drag and drop the folders from my camera to the folder I want it in, which for me is by year. I'll then use DT for adding tags. I know this isn't exactly what we use to do with Lightroom, but I've found it works in a way I've gotten my head around.

I have used DigiKam considerably, but mostly for large batch jobs (weddings, etc.)

I'm also curious if anyone has an importer program solution.

[pentaxfall]

I do not have direct answers/solutions to your questions, but this is what I do.

I use Geegie for browsing through SD card, then multi-select the ones that I care and MOVE them to a target folder. I manually create the target folder when I am stepping through Move-dialog box.

Coming to tagging, you may be already aware that DT gives the option of tagging at the time of importing.

Additionally you can install Sqlite client and look at the TABLE created by DT. You can see how meta data gets stored as rows and columns. I think this insight may help in organizing the data.

---------- Post added 05-04-18 at 03:14 PM ----------

darktable can create folders based on EXIF but that is at the time of EXPORT, not import . User can define the template for output path.

Here is the list of predefined names to be used in template
2.3.12.Export selected | usermanual | darktable

$(EXIF_YEAR) Exif year
$(EXIF_MONTH) Exif month

[Lord Lucan]

After much procrastination, I've finally switched to Linux Mint 18.3 as my only operating system (no dual boot )...

Welcome to the fold! I'm using Devuan (Debian derivative) with KDE desktop. I can dual boot to Win7 but rarely do so; I feel uneasy with Windows. I do have an old PC with Windows for nephews playing games.

I use Gwenview for photo management, and viewing thumbnails and full screen. It copes with DNG and PEF files.

I'm not sure what you are asking about regarding downloading. Is it a problem? I put the SD card in a USB card reader, mount it, and drag the files across from within my file manager, which is Dolphin. Same as I would copy any other files from one directory or device to another. I used to plug in the camera itself via a USB lead, but prefer the card reader. I'd be just as happy using the command line, not because it's Linux but because I was brought up that way

[danielblues]

I think Rapid Photo Downloader will do what you need, it does one thing very well.
I use the program above for importing to a 2Sort/Camera Exif Name/ddmmyyyy directory, then geeqie to sort/delete photos.
I'm still using digikam for tagging and rating but to hope to replace it with geeqie in the future.

[derekkite]

I'll second Rapid Photo Downloader. Works very well, quick, does one job very well. I use Darktable for processing.

[cfraz]

I use Rapid Photo Downloader too. It can create and name your file directories per your specs and file copy is as fast as hardware allows. I don't think it has tagging capability. I use DarkTable for tagging - ok but not as good as Digikam.

[shearer]

I use Rapid Photo Downloader too. It can create and name your file directories per your specs and file copy is as fast as hardware allows. I don't think it has tagging capability. I use DarkTable for tagging - ok but not as good as Digikam.

As far as i remember you can allow digikam to write tags and star rating into separate xmp files in case of raw files. So you can see them later in darktable as well, but in my opinion digikam is easier and fadter for browsing files.

[BigMackCam]

What I do is drag and drop the folders from my camera to the folder I want it in, which for me is by year. I'll then use DT for adding tags. I know this isn't exactly what we use to do with Lightroom, but I've found it works in a way I've gotten my head around.

I use Geegie for browsing through SD card, then multi-select the ones that I care and MOVE them to a target folder. I manually create the target folder when I am stepping through Move-dialog box.

Coming to tagging, you may be already aware that DT gives the option of tagging at the time of importing.

Additionally you can install Sqlite client and look at the TABLE created by DT. You can see how meta data gets stored as rows and columns. I think this insight may help in organizing the data.

I use Gwenview for photo management, and viewing thumbnails and full screen. It copes with DNG and PEF files.

I'm not sure what you are asking about regarding downloading. Is it a problem? I put the SD card in a USB card reader, mount it, and drag the files across from within my file manager, which is Dolphin. Same as I would copy any other files from one directory or device to another.

I think Rapid Photo Downloader will do what you need, it does one thing very well.
I use the program above for importing to a 2Sort/Camera Exif Name/ddmmyyyy directory, then geeqie to sort/delete photos.

I use Rapid Photo Downloader too. It can create and name your file directories per your specs and file copy is as fast as hardware allows. I don't think it has tagging capability. I use DarkTable for tagging - ok but not as good as Digikam.

Thanks for all the info, folks

I guess I should have been a wee bit more specific...

Downloading

I typically transfer photos from the SDHC card via my PC's internal card reader. What I'm looking to do (ideally) is transfer them into directories named to my specification and rename them at the same time. Of course, I could simply copy the files into a temp area, then carry out the renaming myself and copy them into directories I create manually, but if there's a way of automating the task, I'd prefer it.

Photo management

Here, I'm looking to tag photos, find / sort / group / view photos by tags and - importantly - certain EXIF data elements such as camera, lens, ISO etc. I need to view thumbnails of JPG, TIFF and RAW files (DNG, PEF, ARW and potentially others) and be able to open them for full-screen viewing. The ability to the zoom into 100% reproduction would be nice, but it's not essential. Also, the ability to create resized copies for web reproduction would be very handy - but again, this isn't essential, as I can do that within Darktable and/or GIMP.

For both downloading and photo management, I can do most of what I need manually, but it makes for a pretty clunky workflow. Looking further at Rapid Photo Downloader, I believe it'll do what I need. For photo management, I'm not sure yet... the ability to use EXIF in searches is important to me...

UPDATE: Looking at the various tools, I'm thinking digiKam might be what I'm looking for. Firstly, it has quite flexible import capabilities - not as comprehensive as Rapid Photo Downloader, but probably flexible enough for me. In terms of photo management, it seems to do pretty much everything. And the nice bonus is, it provides built-in conversion from native RAW formats to DNG, meaning I won't need to use Adobe DNG Converter under WINE to convert ARW files from my Sony gear (I shoot DNG with my Pentax cameras already)...

[Lord Lucan]

Downloading
I typically transfer photos from the SDHC card via my PC's internal card reader. What I'm looking to do (ideally) is transfer them into directories named to my specification and rename them at the same time. Of course, I could simply copy the files into a temp area, then carry out the renaming myself and copy them into directories I create manually, but if there's a way of automating the task, I'd prefer it.

I'm still not understanding what your problem is. Why do you necessarily need a temp area - why not create a directory for them and copy them straight there? Also I don't understand what you could automate, as presumably the filenames would be ones you choose like "Still life with candlestick" as would the directories like "Still life", and you cannot automate your choice of names.

The way I work is from within my file manager (Dolphin, but I guess you might be using Nemo in Mint) First I create the "Still life" (say) directory on my hard drive (sub-directory of "Photos"). Then I mount the SD card (you may have automount, I prefer not) and I then see the files on the card in the file manager. I then highlight as many files as I want (usually all of them - I click on the first and Shift-click on the last) on the SD card and drag the lot across to the "Still life" directory on my hard drive. They download as fast as the USB connection and camera (or card reader) allow - the PC and its software speed are not the limitation. Unmount the SD card. Job done.

Of course, you may not want all pictures from the SD card into the same directory. Some might be for directory "Holiday" rather than "Still life". Well I can usually tell from the dates while they are still on the SD card, and drag them in batches to appropriate directories. Otherwise you can move them onwards to more appropriate directories after they are on your hard drive. Again you cannot really automate this as it is your choice where you allocate them.

Once they are on my hard drive I can browse, sort, edit rename or delete the picture files as I wish.

Could one of the other guys explain what Rapid Photo Downloader does?

[house]

I'm still not understanding what your problem is. Why do you necessarily need a temp area - why not create a directory for them and copy them straight there? Also I don't understand what you could automate, as presumably the filenames would be ones you choose like "Still life with candlestick" as would the directories like "Still life", and you cannot automate your choice of names.

The way I work is from within my file manager (Dolphin, but I guess you might be using Nemo in Mint) First I create the "Still life" (say) directory on my hard drive (sub-directory of "Photos"). Then I mount the SD card (you may have automount, I prefer not) and I then see the files on the card in the file manager. I then highlight as many files as I want (usually all of them - I click on the first and Shift-click on the last) on the SD card and drag the lot across to the "Still life" directory on my hard drive. They download as fast as the USB connection and camera (or card reader) allow - the PC and its software speed are not the limitation. Unmount the SD card. Job done.

Of course, you may not want all pictures from the SD card into the same directory. Some might be for directory "Holiday" rather than "Still life". Well I can usually tell from the dates while they are still on the SD card, and drag them in batches to appropriate directories. Otherwise you can move them onwards to more appropriate directories after they are on your hard drive. Again you cannot really automate this as it is your choice where you allocate them.

Once they are on my hard drive I can browse, sort, edit rename or delete the picture files as I wish.

Could one of the other guys explain what Rapid Photo Downloader does?

Most people these days organise their photographs in folders according to date with perhaps a job or event suffix at the end. Same goes for the photographs, it's common to have the date in the filename and then additional job/event tag at the end. Manually renaming 3000 photos from the camera filenaming convention to your preferred one is a very tedious task. Automated import and rename tools are therefore very useful.

My workflow is Geeqie to browse and cull files on the SD card and then proceed to Rapid Photo Downloader with a date-job rename setting. I've tried using digicam for tagging which is useful, particularly for faces, there is however some issues with the rotation after exporting from darktable which is my main raw developer so I've gone back to tagging in darktable or Geeqie. Either works as they read each others tags. For pixelshifted files and some tricky highlight recovery I use Rawtherapee instead of darktable.

[newmikey]

I think you can benefit from using Rapid Photo Downloader as well as Digikam which is what I do. I've set up RPD to download and rename as soon as I put an SD card in my computer. It renames and creates folders as it progresses. My preference is to have camera model as well as job title and ISO in the directory names as well as the filenames. After importing/copying I'll use Digikam to view, rate and tag all of the files.

preset_photo_rename\1\pref_list=Filename, Name, Original Case, Text, -, , Job code, , , Text, -ISO, , Metadata, ISO,
preset_photo_subfolder\1\name=Standard-by-extension1
preset_photo_subfolder\1\pref_list=Date time, Image date, YYYY, Text, -, , Metadata, Hyphenated short camera model, UPPERCASE, /, , , Date time, Image date, YY, Date time, Image date, MM, Date time, Image date, DD, Text, -, , Job code, , , /, , , Filename, Extension, Original Case

The result of the above RPD settings is the following file structure:

In my main photo directory RPD creates (as required) the following level structure - as I shoot Raw+, I also like to have my jpegs and raws stored separately and RPD caters to that too:

[twilhelm]

I think you can benefit from using Rapid Photo Downloader as well as Digikam which is what I do. I've set up RPD to download and rename as soon as I put an SD card in my computer. It renames and creates folders as it progresses. My preference is to have camera model as well as job title and ISO in the directory names as well as the filenames. After importing/copying I'll use Digikam to view, rate and tag all of the files.

preset_photo_rename\1\pref_list=Filename, Name, Original Case, Text, -, , Job code, , , Text, -ISO, , Metadata, ISO,
preset_photo_subfolder\1\name=Standard-by-extension1
preset_photo_subfolder\1\pref_list=Date time, Image date, YYYY, Text, -, , Metadata, Hyphenated short camera model, UPPERCASE, /, , , Date time, Image date, YY, Date time, Image date, MM, Date time, Image date, DD, Text, -, , Job code, , , /, , , Filename, Extension, Original Case

The result of the above RPD settings is the following file structure:

In my main photo directory RPD creates (as required) the following level structure - as I shoot Raw+, I also like to have my jpegs and raws stored separately and RPD caters to that too:

When you tag files in Digikam, do the tags transfer to Rawtherapee and/or Darktable?

I was a long time Lightroom user who switched to a Linux platform several months ago also. I have an editing workflow that I like now, but I'm with Mike on the import and tagging side of things that I miss.

[newmikey]

When you tag files in Digikam, do the tags transfer to Rawtherapee and/or Darktable?

I was a long time Lightroom user who switched to a Linux platform several months ago also. I have an editing workflow that I like now, but I'm with Mike on the import and tagging side of things that I miss.

I didn't know the answer to your question so I went ahead and added a few keywords to PEF files in Digikam and then opened them in DT and RT - unless someone else correct me, I'd say the answer is no, I can't see the keywords I assigned in Digikam in either RT or DT. That might be because I do not use XMP sidecar files though so my tags are stored in Digikam's database. I prefer it that way, xmp files drive me crazy.

I suppose it has never been a biggy to me as I either tag in Digikam and then tun DT or DT through "open with" or I batch-convert and tag the jpegs afterwards in digikam. But I can imagine people doing it differently and that using these 3 programs would not provide that option being an issue.

[twilhelm]

I didn't know the answer to your question so I went ahead and added a few keywords to PEF files in Digikam and then opened them in DT and RT - unless someone else correct me, I'd say the answer is no, I can't see the keywords I assigned in Digikam in either RT or DT. That might be because I do not use XMP sidecar files though so my tags are stored in Digikam's database. I prefer it that way, xmp files drive me crazy.

I suppose it has never been a biggy to me as I either tag in Digikam and then tun DT or DT through "open with" or I batch-convert and tag the jpegs afterwards in digikam. But I can imagine people doing it differently and that using these 3 programs would not provide that option being an issue.

Thank you for checking. The xmp side cars kind of annoy me also, but they are part of the program if I need to keep the edits.