[kanyck]

Few more things I forgot to mention. AFAIK RT understands Pentax pixel-shift format (as I said I rarely use RT so I may be inaccurate) wlile DT does not. Also, DT has decent retouch module with wavelet decomposition, so I very seldom need anything else like GIMP or Krita to finish processing. Most of the routine retouching, like litter removal or skin improvement may be easily done with DT only. DT also has quite advanced masking that helps a lot as far as it is mastered. RTFM!

[MossyRocks]

AFAIK RT understands Pentax pixel-shift format (as I said I rarely use RT so I may be inaccurate) wlile DT does not.

This is correct and that is one of the big features I like in RT.

DT also has quite advanced masking that helps a lot as far as it is mastered.

This is one of the areas that RT lacks and probably an aspect of editing that I should get better at.

Also, DT has decent retouch module with wavelet decomposition

Now I may want to play some more with DT as I haven't found/used that. I know RT has extensive wavelet editing functionality which I really like.

[kanyck]

RT has extensive wavelet editing functionality

I even did not know that...

an aspect of editing that I should get better at.

Be careful! Once you start using the DT masks addiction is inevitable!

[Wasp]

Another vote for Darktable from me. I have tried RawTherapee but the learning curve seemed a bit steep.

[ThorSanchez]

I switched my primary desktop to Linux circa 2018 and rarely use Windows outside of work.

Tools I use include:

- Rawtherapee. I tried Darktable first, but could never get the hang of it. Unlike many I almost immediately found RT more intuitive and easier to get good results. #1 tip: use Squirrel Mafia's pp3 files found in a thread here. I don't really know how all the noise reduction in RT works, I just have it set up to auto pick the right Squirrel Mafia file and it's wonderful.

- GIMP for the occasional cloning and spot healing, a few other things.

- Rapid Photo Downloader. Does exactly what it says, simply and well.

- Photomatix for HDR work. May not do everything the Win/Mac versions do, but it works well.

- Hugin for panorama stitching. I'll admit to struggling to get good results with this, but many swear by it.

The only thing I wish I could use in Linux that I can't is the Topaz AI suite. I have it installed on my kid's Windows machine and occasionally use it for screwed up photos that are important enough to try to rescue.

[kanyck]

- Rapid Photo Downloader.

Not exactly needed. DT is capable to import images both from the SD card or from the camera via USB cable.

- Hugin for panorama stitching.

+1
Sometimes it needs some fiddling, sometime even consulting the manual, sometimes... well... it crashes. Nevertheless it's capable of making excellent stitching!

[MossyRocks]

Hugin for panorama stitching. I'll admit to struggling to get good results with this, but many swear by it.

I've found it tends to choke with paralax issues so having a good head and keeping rotations centered around the sensor works best. Beyond that shooting lots of images with a good amount of overlap helps a lot too. I made this panorama using Hugin and while the final image is about 4 frames wide (and about 4 tall) I believe a single horizontal sweep was something like 10 or 12 shots so about a 30% change from one frame to the next. I did the same for the vertical movement. I then went and shot the scene in portrait mode doing the same thing. The nice thing about digital is an individual shot is very cheap so throwing lots of shots at a problem becomes a valid solution.

[ThorSanchez]

Not exactly needed. DT is capable to import images both from the SD card or from the camera via USB cable.

I don't use Darktable, and I find the configuration options of Rapid Photo Downloader very convenient.

[kanyck]

I don't use Darktable, and I find the configuration options of Rapid Photo Downloader very convenient.

Then yes. I did use it long ago, too. I should have put it as if you rely on DT you don't need Rapid Photo Downloader.

this panorama

Great shot! Thumbs up!

I wish I could use in Linux that I can't is the Topaz AI suite

Can you just use wine instead?

[ThorSanchez]

Then yes. I did use it long ago, too. I should have put it as if you rely on DT you don't need Rapid Photo Downloader.



Great shot! Thumbs up!


Can you just use wine instead?

I have heard some people have gotten the Topaz suite to work under Wine or a VM, but so far my attempts have failed and I don't think I'm in a mood to keep trying.

[reh321]

Can you just use wine instead?

You should state that as “through wine” rather than “wine instead”.
Wine is a program that allows Linux act as though Windows were installed.
Without going into details. that typically means replacing Windows system calls with Linux system calls.
It is not as ‘foolproof’ as we would like, and some programs have unexpected ‘gotchas’.
When I was younger, I ran a version of Windows on our home computer that required hardware be contacted via the operating system.
Our daughters did not approve because they had games that contacted hardware directly, so they would not run.
I gave up and went back to Win 3.3

added: at one time, I was employed by a company that produced Windows software for CAD/CAM producers. Our software head was a Windows expert, and we used some undocumented Windows actions {this was over ten years ago, so I’ve forgotten the details}. When ‘Vista’ was introduced, our calls wouldn’t work. I expect there were also problems with ‘wine’; the writers for ‘wine’ may have used - or even contributed to - my boss’s sources. We tested our material on Windows Virtual Machines.

[kanyck]

You should state that as “through wine” rather than “wine instead”.

You misread my statement. I meant "Wine instead a separate Win machine". Actually, I have deep 40-years experience with *nices of all kinds so I know what wine is. Thanks.

[wm_brant]

I'm also a reasonably long-time (4-ish years) darktable user on Linux. I used Lightroom on a Windows dual-boot system for first year I had my K-1, but eventually got tired of having to deal with Windows and Adobe at home and decided to go with a Linux-based photo toolset.

I spent a 2-3 months evaluating both Rawthereapee and darktable against Lightroom, and I eventually decided to ditch Lightroom and go with darktable. I've never regretted the move.

Bill's personal opinion: While word processors and spreadsheets work in very similar ways from vendor to vendor, I don't feel that is true for raw photo editors. I see a lot of comments on message boards that essentially boil down to 'I used to do <something> a certain way in Lightroom, but when I do that in program x it doesn't do the same thing, so program x sucks!' I think you will find that all the photo editors can get the job done, *but* they all do it in somewhat different ways. You may prefer how one program works over another, and that's fine. Another aspect is that program x may do something better than program y in the current versions of both products, but next year things may flip flop.

My personal feeling is that doing the photo editor equivalent of 'distro hopping' isn't the best way to go - I would recommend that you pick one tool and use it for an extended period before moving to something else. Learning how to best use a photo editor takes a significant amount of time and changing toolsets will put you back at the starting line as far as knowing how to best work with a tool.

I know that darktable at least (I really don't follow other tools) has undergone a lot of improvements since Covid hit as OSS developers found additional development time to commit to darktable. Comments about darktable that are more than a year or two old are pretty much out-of-date as darktable has changed a lot in the last few releases. Again, that may also be true for Rawtherapee and digiKam - I just don't know.

And for the record, I also use Rapid Photo Downloader

[shedendman]

Thanks for the massive response everyone,i've downloaded DT and had a little play with it,but its still a wilderness for me,but,keep at it and i'm sure it'll kick in

[reh321]

Linux will never be as simple as Windows or MacOS; needing a system manager is in its DNA.

I actually was a ‘system manager’ of a ‘HP-UX’ {HP version of UNIX} system at one time.
I have Ubuntu’ {one of the flavors of Linux} now - but I have ‘adventures’.
For example, most versions of Linux include ‘hplip’, a program provided by HP,
to make their printers available to the system, but when we purchased a new HP printer a few weeks ago,
I had to relearn how to make it available to our Linux system.