Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
12-10-2019, 07:52 PM   #1
Senior Member
Alnjpn's Avatar

Join Date: May 2015
Location: Osaka
Posts: 158
GIMP vs Darktable or something else?

I am quitting Adobe Lightroom at the end of the year and looking for some free editing software. From what I have read the above two free editors can do pretty much what Lightroom can do. However, having downloaded them they both look to have quite steep learning curves. Is there one that is preferable? Or is there one I have missed?

I work mainly in black and white. I particularly need to be able to control the color filters in the black and white conversion.

Controlling highlights and shadows is also important for me.

Any thoughts or ideas are most welcome.

12-10-2019, 07:54 PM   #2
Veteran Member
bertwert's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Golden, BC
Posts: 15,173
GIMP and Darktable are different tools for different jobs.

GIMP is more or less an open source equivalent of Photoshop, and Darktable more or less an open source equivalent of Lightroom.
12-10-2019, 08:12 PM   #3
Senior Member
Alnjpn's Avatar

Join Date: May 2015
Location: Osaka
Posts: 158
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by bertwert Quote
GIMP and Darktable are different tools for different jobs.

GIMP is more or less an open source equivalent of Photoshop, and Darktable more or less an open source equivalent of Lightroom.
Thanks, that's good to know. Darktable is probably going to be more suitable for my needs. I am starting to look at some of the tutorials...
12-10-2019, 08:37 PM   #4
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Patrick Co. Virginia
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 1,531
I like Rawtherapee too. In Linux there's a hopefully up and coming new app called Krita. It appears to be more drawing oriented but includes gimp's g'mic plugins and some nice control layouts. It's not likely to replace gimp and Rt for me in the near term though.

12-10-2019, 09:00 PM   #5
Veteran Member
virusn3t's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 676
I use Capture One, look for the 1 month trial to test the program
12-10-2019, 09:14 PM - 1 Like   #6
Veteran Member
brewmaster15's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: CT
Posts: 1,860
After moving to Linux systems I switched to Gimp first which is a great software package and theres a wealth of tutorials. I use it still but mostly use Darktable now... and a RawTherapee as well. I can't praise Darktable enough. Its got a learning curve as all software that is new to us does but I really enjoy working with it... and it does most of what I need. Gimp fills in the rest.

hth,
Al
12-10-2019, 09:46 PM   #7
Pentaxian




Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,306
QuoteOriginally posted by Alnjpn Quote
I am quitting Adobe Lightroom at the end of the year and looking for some free editing software. From what I have read the above two free editors can do pretty much what Lightroom can do. However, having downloaded them they both look to have quite steep learning curves. Is there one that is preferable? Or is there one I have missed?

I work mainly in black and white. I particularly need to be able to control the color filters in the black and white conversion.

Controlling highlights and shadows is also important for me.

Any thoughts or ideas are most welcome.
GIMP is my no. 1 choice for photo editing, I'm not used to Darktable and Rawtherapee, Krita is new to me but I do not have good drawing/Painting skill. GIMP actually very easy to use it has traditional UI and runs on both M$ and *nix I believe Mac too.

12-10-2019, 09:58 PM   #8
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Prince George, BC
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 3,543
Krita has been around for at least 10 years and is highly regarded. It started as mostly a painting program used by digital artists but has expanded since then. It has its own niche as do GIMP and darktable.
12-10-2019, 10:32 PM   #9
Pentaxian




Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,306
QuoteOriginally posted by jbinpg Quote
Krita has been around for at least 10 years and is highly regarded. It started as mostly a painting program used by digital artists but has expanded since then. It has its own niche as do GIMP and darktable.
Thanks for the info., there are lot of choices outside the PS circle, since I don't draw and paint much and without the necessary h/w Krita is not known to me.
12-10-2019, 11:19 PM   #10
Junior Member




Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Minneapolis
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 26
I'm pretty underwhelmed at Lightroom. I use RawTherapee for nearly everything. Squirrel Mafia's presets are pretty great.


If more serious post is needed, I export from there into GIMP, which finally in 2.10 got features like 16-bit color and LCH.


If ISO is really high, lens aberrations are bad, or other tough situations, sometimes I'll fire up DxO Optics.

SilkyPix seems to have the best de-noise algorithm anywhere but I only use it for nightmare high ISO stuff.
12-11-2019, 03:42 AM - 1 Like   #11
GUB
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
GUB's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Wanganui
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 5,735
If you install Gimp 2.10 and Darktable then Darktable can be used like a plugin within Gimp. If you "open with" Gimp then Darktable opens with your image and you do the primary raw steps, then close DT and your image opens in Gimp. It is quite a nice workflow. I don't think DT can be simply compared to Lightroom -- DT is purely and simply a raw developer.
For me workflow is --
Archival work and image access; Digikam
"open with" Gimp which opens the image in Darktable.
Primary DT tools : Color temp - Profiled denoise - Exposure - Graduated density - tone curves - then open in Gimp
Gimp work for me ; fine tune colour curves - clone/heal blemishes -- Layer mask local adjustments - smart sharpening - cropping and resizing.

Gimp has the most comprehensive B&W conversion of the two.
I believe Nik effects can be set up to run in Gimp.
12-11-2019, 09:21 AM   #12
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
JensE's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Leipzig
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 1,942
QuoteOriginally posted by GUB Quote
DT is purely and simply a raw developer.
Darktable comes with cataloging features, in a fairly efficient and interoperable way, enough for my needs.


A significant differentiator to Rawtherapee, where this is still experimental and not in the main build, is Darktable's ability to do local/masked adjustments and support multiple instances of the same module.
When it comes to pixel shift images, wavelet-based processing and in general, sophisticated algorithms and color model support, Rawtherapee has an edge and i tend to go back to it for "difficult" cases.
12-11-2019, 10:27 AM   #13
Senior Member
danielblues's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cascais, Portugal
Posts: 173
QuoteOriginally posted by GUB Quote
Archival work and image access; Digikam"open with" Gimp which opens the image in Darktable.
My workflow too, digikam <-> darktable <-> gimp for the details.
Rawtherapee has some advantages, for me I can get better results with least effort when compared to darktable, but if need, darktable's extra effort is worth it.
12-11-2019, 12:28 PM   #14
Forum Member




Join Date: Aug 2019
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 86
I use Gimp to process details and color. Also Pentax/Ricoh Digital Camera Utility for cataloging and raw conversion. I am also considering to use Darktable in my workflow.
12-11-2019, 12:40 PM   #15
Pentaxian




Join Date: May 2015
Photos: Albums
Posts: 3,304
I mainly use Rawthetapee these days. darktable is arguably more efficient workflow wise and has just enough dam functions (tagging etc) and local editing to make it a one stop solution.

I just find I get better results quicker with rawtherapee.
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
gimp, gimp vs darktable, lightroom, photography, photoshop
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Darktable integration with Gimp GUB Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 10 06-29-2019 01:36 AM
K-5 vs MZ-S vs LX vs PZ-1p vs ist*D vs K10D vs K20D vs K-7 vs....... Steelski Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 2 06-28-2017 04:59 PM
Has anyone else spent their full frame savings on something else? stillshot2 General Talk 46 10-19-2015 03:43 PM
Before and after in Darktable and Gimp GUB Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 11 03-21-2015 08:37 PM
GIMP 2.6.12 vs. GIMP 2.8.0 Vasyl Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 13 06-19-2012 02:00 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:40 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top