The Darktable Hater’s Guide to Darktable

D
arktable has a ‘passionate’ online community, and since a couple of you might have clicked on this article expecting a takedown, I should probably explain the title.

Darktable is arguably the most powerful open source RAW editor, and in some ways more capable than commercial alternatives like Capture One or Lightroom. But it also has a formidable interface, technical language they make no apology for, a communist soviet era design aesthetic, and a learning curve that’s less of a curve and more of a cliff.

For many years I’ve tried to ‘get’ Darktable and every time I have thrown the towel in because I am extremely fortunate in having access to all of the commercial apps and I just figured ‘why bother’.

But it feels to me like the software landscape is rapidly changing, thanks to increasing price-gouging by software companies, the near-complete adoption of universally hated subscription or software-as-a-service pricing models, and a subsequent uptick in the popularity of open source software.

And since I produce content for my fellow photography enthusiasts, and not to buddy-up with businesses or to serve as a marketing outlet for the afore-mentioned expensive apps and services, I have been putting in the hours on this off-books project. So, if you’ve ever opened darktable, taken one look at the interface, and thought ‘fuck that!’, this new series is for you.