WebUser – 04 April 2018

Darktable:www.darktable.org | 20 mins | 7, 8, 10

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52 4-17April 2018

A

dobeLightroom (bit.ly/liro446)

is an excellent photo-editingtool

thatcan edit, organiseand share

your images.However,you needto sign

up forasubscriptionto use it, at acost

of at least£9.98 amonth.

Darktableis an excellent free

alternative. UnlikeLightroom,it doesn’t

offer cloudstorage,but it doesprovide

all the editingfeatures youare likely

to need,includingRAWprocessing,

professionalcolour-management,

apowerful export system and awealth

of highlyconfigurable editingtools.

It also offers ‘non-destructive’ editing

throughout,whichmeansyoucan make

lots of changesto aphotowithout

overwritingthe original.

Improveyour digital photos for

free usingDarktable

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Buttonsto theleftof eacheffect^1

let youtoggleit on or off,apply

presets(if available), resetthetool’s

parametersandcreate newinstances of

thateffect(notall tools allowthis). The

menuarrow^2 letsyouexpandor hide

thetool’scontrols.Right-clickingletsyou

favouritethe tool or storeapreset.^3

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To getstarted,expandthe‘import’

option^1 andaddindividualphotos,

foldersor scansfromconnected devices,

suchas amemorycardcontaining

images.In thewindowthatopens,

navigate to your content,selectit,

andclickOpen.Thumbnailsof the

imagesappear.^2

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Double-clickan imageto editit.

Ahistogramwindowappearsat the

topofthe panelon theright.^1 Clickand

drag theright-handsideof thegraphto

changethephoto’sexposure; or on the

left-handsideto changetheblackpoint.

Thechangesyoumakeare reflected

instantlyin themainwindow.^2

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All theeditingtools you’ll needare

accessiblein theright-handsidebar.

Youcan chooseto viewonlyactive

modules,favourites, basicgroup,tone

group,colourgroup,correctiongroupor

effectsgroup.^1 Clickingabutton once

shows onlythetools on offer there,^2

whileclickingtwicedisplays everytool.

Darktableis afree, open-source photoeditor,

similarto AdobeLightroom.Here’showto useit

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Thebasictools sectionis thebest

placetostart.Fromhere, youcan

adjustthe brightness, contrastand

saturation;^1 crop androtate theimage;

(^2) adjustthe exposure; (^3) andalter the
whitebalance.^4 Selectingatooldisplays
thecontrols forit.^5 Youcan makeas
manychangesyoulike.
PREVIEW
WINDOW
Youcan zoom
intoyour photo,
then drag the
boxinthe
previewwindow
to focus on a
particulararea
16 pagesof workshops,tips, projects
and problemsolving
Practical
THUMBNAILS
Switch to editing
anotherimagein
afolderor group
by double-clicking
its thumbnail
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