Ergonomic setup for photo sorting and/or processing

Hardware
1

Hi,

I work at a computer for my day job, and also (not unrelated) suffer from nerve issues in my neck with symptoms in my arms and hands. I can manage well enough, but after spending 8 hours at my desk, it’s hard to continue on in my spare time to process and work on my personal photos.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for different hardware or workstation setups that would allow me to do some photo work without being bound to my desk in my evenings. Working on a laptop on the couch is the absolute worst position for me physically, I have an android tablet, if I could use that to sort my images in digikam that would be wonderful. Even better if there’s a more powerful photo editing program that I could run from my tablet. But I’m open to any other suggestions in terms of hardware or software. I prefer to stick to android and Linux, but if there’s a physically accommodating alternative out there I’d be open to other OS.

Thanks!

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A Loupedeck or another midi controller might be a good ergonomic option for controlling darktable whist being in a comfortable position. That coupled with a monitor arm might be a working solution. Unfortunately I’m not sure if digikam supports midi input.

Lightroom mobile, while not free(in both ways), is a capable processor and modern tablets have decent screens even if it’s not possible to calibrate them(I think), I guess you can always do further adjustments or corrections if needed on the computer later on.

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3

consider a split and reprogrammable keyboard like a zsa moonlander/voyager/halfmoon, dygma defy/raise

ZSA even provides some base configs for different applications.

being able to send complex keybinds with a single keypress makes your life a lot easier.

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4

I moved to a standing desk when my back and neck issues bothered me… used this with a backless chair… high with a sort of pneumatic shock but soon learned to stand for fairly long stretches…might be good if you sit all day…

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5

There is KDE Connect (works even with Windows, does not need Linux with KDE). You can use that to remotely control a computer.

You could use Snapseed to edit photos directly on the tablet. It’s free and quite capable, with selective edits and the like – even has basic raw development.

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Thanks for all these great suggestions! I had heard the name LoupeDeck, but had no idea what it was. I happen to have a few split programmable keyboards and a pile of components that I might be able to frankenstein together into a home-brew version.

KDE Connect also sounds super useful, I will investigate that as well.

I actually have a standing desk at work, I ought to use that more consistently. That might make sitting in the evenings more bearable.

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