Lightroom for free - and Darktable

[Dazz1]

The thread is tending a fair bit towards Darktable now, WHICH ISN'T a bad thing.
I'll change the title to include that name, and move the thread to Gear Talk - Software,
to keep Dazz1's last thread on Darktable company

Hints and tips on usage are always handy to share.

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OK, so after a lot of arm-twisting and other enticements, I have
downloaded the 64-bit installer for Windows, which is available,
inter alia, from here:
https://www.darktable.org/install/#windows

If you have a 32-bit OS, you might have to look somewhere else

Thanks for all that. 32 bit has largely been forgotten I know. Not just by software, but even by most linux distros. I think most older 32 bit systems might struggle with heavy photo editing anyway.

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On the subject of speed, one lengthy task is thumbnail generation, particularly if you want real ones, not just the embedded jpg. See this info https://darktable.gitlab.io/doc/en/o...ine_parameters on how to generate thumbnails for a big collection in the background.

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Here's some of my most used tools while editing

1. haze removal - fantastic tool, also useful for clarifying shots through water.
2. shadows and highlights
3. local contrast - great combined with sharpness tools
4. velvia - I just love the tone
5. spot removal
6. perspective correction
7. vignette

Also a couple of things I didn't discover at first.

• right-click on sliders and practice using the great fine tune mode
• try out the drawn and parametric masks
• use the multiple instance facility for any module. Combined with masks it is very powerful.