darktable

What is darktable?

darktable is an open source photography workflow application and raw developer that enables photographers to manage their digital negatives in a database, view them through a zoomable lighttable, and develop and enhance raw images. This project aims to bridge the gap between various excellent existing free raw converters and image management tools by providing a comprehensive solution that caters to the needs of photographers The user interface is built around efficient caching of image metadata and mipmaps, all stored in a database, ensuring seamless interaction even when the full resolution image is not yet loaded. All editing operations are fully non-destructive and only apply to cached image buffers for display, with the full image only converted during export The core of darktable operates completely on floating-point values, allowing it to be used not only for photography but also for scientifically acquired images or output of renderers, supporting high dynamic range (HDR), OpenEXR, and low dynamic range formats through integration with ImageMagick

Highlights

• Database-driven management of digital negatives with efficient caching of image metadata and mipmaps
• Zoomable lighttable for viewing and organizing images
• Non-destructive raw image development and enhancement
• Support for high dynamic range (HDR), OpenEXR, and low dynamic range formats
• Suitability for scientific and rendering applications due to floating-point operations