Combining multiple photos

Software darktable
1

Hi,
How do I combine multiple photos using Darktable?

When using my old Photoshop 5.5, I’d use multiple layers, having one photo on one and the next on another, after having increased the canvas size to accomodate the larger combined image.

It’s not clear to me how Darktable addresses this issue.

Can anyone tell me how I can stitch / arrange multiple photos in Darktable?

This is useful for panoramic shots, as well as combining multiple versions of the same shot but with different exposures / iris settings done in-camera.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks - DT

2

There are darktable lua scripts to do panoramas (hugin), image stackings (image_stack, enfuseAdvanced), HDR (HDRMerge, enfuse, enfuseAdvanced).

They are located in the scripts module in the lower left panel.

3

If not any of the suggested lua scripts, then use gimp or krita.

4

Or use hugin (and its parts) directly, after exporting the dt edits. The scripts mentioned by @wpferguson also work by calling those programs…

5

Darktable is not an equivalent of Photoshop. GIMP is a closer alternative to photoshop. GIMP has layers and masks but Darktable doesn’t. Darktable is closer to Lightroom than Photoshop. I personally use GIMP and Darktable like another person would use Photoshop and Lightroom.

Hugin is a good multiplatform panorama stitching program that is FOSS. I personally use Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) on my windows 11 computer. It is free but not FOSS.

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6

Besides the stitching (panorama and so on, via scripts), there is also composite and enlarge canvas to combine images.

For HDR stacking, you can do that from the lighttable using actions on selection → create HDR.

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7

The issue I have with composite is that it requires the overlaid image to be in the same filmstrip as the base image.

Otherwise, it would be perfect for me: adding a predefined scale bar to an image. (And watermark won’t work as it uses svg images, not bitmap)