Practice s something you can’t get by looking at workflows gurus shows, you need to do it yourself based on the explanations why something works in a specific way. So best ist to start hands on and then ask if you need assistance… but don’t give up to early
Thank you for your answer and for all the effort you put into this issue……
! I will over the next weeks try to edit a number of shots the linear-rgb-way and the old fashion way to see if I notice a more robust result using filmic. If I notice some distinct differences I will publish it in this forum (if the image is suited to be published) and I will hereby encourage everybody else do the same……
I totally agree that you should edit images to your liking and not according to numbers. Clipping indicators are supposed to be useful to guide you but you have to have access to a user guide/manual to know what the various indicators mean. They are not self explanatory. So I am looking forward to study an updated version of the darktable manual, hopefully in a not too distant future….
It’s evident from the forum that many users are uncertain as to which dt tools are working well together and which are not. This is very well explained in your paper:
“darktable 3: RGB or Lab? Which modules? Help !”
I think the English version is fine as it is, no language problem. It would be a giant step forward if your advice somehow could be built into dt itself. If you activate filmic then the appropriate other tools could be “highlighted”?
If I can do anything to help please let me know.
If you can tell if a module is “on” then this should be really easy.
Make your own module group and save it to use whenever you want. It’s a powerful way to organize just those modules you want. You can even adjust it as you get more comfortable using other tools.
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Is it possible to define your own module group except for selecting tools in the “favorite” group?
It could of course be a good option for users who have studied the documentation. In my opinion it would be even better if this type of guidance as to which modules work with which modules was built into dt by default.
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Nearly all modules works with all modules, it depends on the issue to solve. Maybe you start with the basic modules as described by Aurélien, but then you add crop or perspective correction, apply lens correction, denoising, retouch, several kinds of contrast equalizer settings etc.pp …
So select your favourites and you‘re fine.
If you want to group modules yourself, you can do this in darktablerc. Theres a shellscript regrouping modules in the tools directory (https://github.com/darktable-org/darktable/blob/master/tools/iop-layout.sh)
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Thank you…
I think there is a preset to clear all the modules…you could add back the ones you want and then save that as a workspace…
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Sorry, a little late but better late than never
I don’t know what the best option is, honestly, between user manual, videos, forums, etc. I feel like all the info is already there in several versions, and it’s still not enough.
I always liked darktable, among other reasons, for its mostly complete documentation.
To me, the most natural way of giving away knowledge like your excellent explanations would be a second page on the darktable website under resources named something like “Best practices and background information”.
While I agree, that a lot/most/all information is there, if you are not an avid reader on this message board, the content seems to be scattered all over.
It doesn’t even need to be completely rewritten for the main page. Just have an easy to find headline and link here, youtube or darktable.fr
But at least this way, someone new but interested will find the technical manual as well as some comments by one or more of the devs why there are 77 modules and why you don’t need all of them or what modules are recommended at the moment. These little how-tos and short comments about why a certain decision has been made would give a better understanding of the software in its recent state.
Also the content that goes far beneath the surface would have an easy to find place for the user that likes to know what goes on under the hood.
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Hi’ @priort
Thank you for your post. I noticed this option the other day, but I haven’t tried it yet. At present I auto apply filmic, tone equalizer, contrast equalizer and color balance in default mode whenever I open a photo.
Works fine.
I agree.
I think we badly need an updated user manual covering 3.0.
I watched Bruce Williams tutorial on color balance the other day. He clearly states that there are some options he can’t explain since they are not covered in the available documentation! Documentation of the tone equalizer is also missing.
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The documentation is Open Source as the source code is. One way to contribute to an Open Source project is by improving the documentation 
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Don’t you have to know how it works first?
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FWIW the current documentation is a PITA to write and update, in fancy-pants non-standard XML with a lot of overhead and software layers, so every dev is procrastinating it and it’s too complicated to allow users to contribute.
There is a WIP by @paperdigits to migrate it to markdown, which should make it easier for everyone to contribute, even from Github web UI, with less nonsense.
But anyway I have spent the last year repeating what I spent 1 week writing in the doc anyway, so I’m not sure a documentation is a vademecum either.
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Regarding manuals and reading them - I’ve seen a TONS of questions regarding the simplest stuff in camera that are expained on page 4 of camera manual or similar. There are even tutorials about “what that little rubber square on your camera strap is”, when it’s explained in detail in freaking manual. “What’s that little icon in viewfinder?” - it’s in manual…
But without manuals people who would love to help are left with less resources 
Proper manuals are worthwhile investment and videos like ones from @anon41087856 are godsend to those willing to go through them and learn.
btw: my boss says that every manual should start with “So, you messed something and came to finally reading the manual?” 
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I might be in the minority here, but I think updating a traditional manual is not the best approach. Manuals are static, difficult to update, do not encourage collective ideas and thoughts. I’d love to see a darktable based discussion board - not too different from this one - but with set topics (menu down side) where each one would include both a pinned opening description and instruction, then opportunity for users to add, recommend, advise as needed. Topics could be: Theory (moving from Lab to linear RGB); Basic workflow; one for each major workspace (i.e. Lighttable; darkroom etc. - these would be more general); then each module have their own topic - pinned to top is what the module does and what each adjustment does, basics of when to use it. Discussion under that allows contributors to share ideas about the module.
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This is both best and worst idea.
Manuals sure are static and are supposed to be that way IMO. And should contain enough info to get you going. Quite frankly the best manuals I’ve seen are either Canon cameras ones divided into 2 sections+ sections (basic, in-depth, rarelly-used stuff) and there’s plethora of other options available.
If I’ve seen any “manual” being something like a discussion board I’d be VERY skeptical.
What you’re proposing although isn’t a discussion board but rather weird multi-page manual with comments 
What would work best - I don’t know, but I do know that properly organized manual is always positive thing. And that manual having additional references, in-depth stuff etc - that’s even better.
Another thing are “wikis” but that’s another hornet’s nest and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a manual done well in form of wiki (RawTherapee’s rawpedia included)
A manual that’s easier to edit is the way to go - I think @paperdigits has the right idea. Happy to help with the move to markdown if I can and I’ll be much more likely to contribute changes after it’s done. In the meantime I’m trawling the forums/youtube and building my own local wiki with tips/tricks.
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There are some good nuggets in this thread regarding documentation for dt 3.
One of my roles in the working world for many years has been software support. That experience has taught me that you can never get every user to approach a software product the same way. You can have the perfect manual with a sublimely written Getting Started section, and some people will still just install the product and blindly bash away at it. And then of course come running to the help desk, forum, or whatever support medium is provided, with questions that were already easily answered by Getting Started.
An additional thing to remember is that many people will download apps and give them a quick try to see how they feel, with minimal investment of time and effort; in that scenario, there’s a good chance that none of the resources (manual, videos, etc.) will have been consulted.
IMHO this is the best approach. A link and a friendly suggestion to RTFM is an appropriate way to answer a question if the FM provides a suitable and understandable answer.
At a minimum, it must be an accurate reference. That needs to exist before anything else is added.
Agreed. Task-oriented guides, and tool-oriented reference.
There sure aren’t many!
Agreed. Markdown is simple enough that non-technical contributors should have no trouble. I think this is an excellent way to broaden the base of contributors.
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