I just love darktable 3.6

I just love the new version of Darktable. The color balance rgb module is so much easier to work with than previous modules that it replaces.

The edits I done on this picture in order of the pipeline.:

  1. White balance + color calibration. Default settings. Color calibration is so much better than old darktable and also my camera in setting the correct white balance.
  2. Denoise (profiled) in wavelet auto mode (default settings)
  3. A tiny bit haze removal (since the air was full of moisture from the fountain.
  4. A bit of retouch
  5. Exposure at +3.54 (I shoot with exposure calibrated for the highlights)
  6. A fake vignette using -1.6 EV exposure and an elliptic inverted mask
  7. Tone equalizer to lower the reflection in the roof of the greenhouse.
  8. Graduated density to compensate for the uneven lighting. I use this module quit often when shooting outdoors in sunlight.
  9. Contrast equalizer where the finer details of the luma tab are made more contrasty. This gives a more “crunchy” look.
  10. Sharpen module. Does not do much, but I usually leave it on per default.
  11. Color balance rgb: Something close to the “add basic colorfulness”-preset.
  12. Filmic RGB. WRE: +4.7EV, BRE: -13 EV, Contrast: 1.89, latitude 14.5%. V5 color science
  13. First instance of the local contrast module (default setting)
  14. Second instance of the local contrast module with a gradient mask from right to left up to the center of the picture. This made the water droplets stand out more clearly without affecting the skintones of the persons in the picture.
  15. A LUT that mimics the looks of 80s analog film stock. Made by Mathieu Stern. It adds cyan to green, increases saturation of red and turns skintones slightly orange.

Utflykt till Bergianska TrÀdgÄrden-0022.NEF (27.0 MB)

This file is licensed Creative Commons, By-Attribution, Share-Alike.

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I agree. I use color balance rgb all the time, but I almost never used it’s predecessor.

This is more or less the same edition process that I do.

I try to do it with the minimum quantity of different modules. With the aim of learning from eachother, here are my questions or proposals:

  • if you use contrast equaliser for sharpening, the sharpening module can be avoided. Am I right?
  • the graduated density can be substituted with the exposure and a graduated drawing mask?
  • it’s possible to get the LUT with the color balance RGB module? Did you try it?

I’m in love with 3.6 too. We are knowing each other :rofl:

  1. Yes, you could leave out one. Both modules affect the contrast in the details (“fake sharpness”). But I find that the modules have slightly different effect, and I often get better result when using together. But if I want a softer look, I turn of local contrast and contrast equalizer. It’s a matter of taste.
  2. Yes, the result is exactly the same. But the graduated density module is better for quick editing. I have a custom dynamic shortcut set to n + scroll-wheel. It activates the module and changes the density (ie the amount of negativ exposure). I have another dynamic short cut set to shift-n that rotates the graduated density.
  3. Do you mean that I could create the same effect as the lut with several instances of the color balance RGB module? Yes, but using LUTs are quicker, if you are happy with the result. See my other post on speed-editing in darktable 3.2. But, my plan is to learn color grading better, so I could make my own LUTs.
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I also like the new modules.

Here an edit using one of my color balance rgb presets aiming for a more analog film like look. Thats why I also used only limited sharpening.


Utflykt till Bergianska TrÀdgÄrden-0022.NEF.xmp (9.3 KB)

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This type of picture remembers me when I was a child


Basic process +:

  • lighten the models
  • some warm color to the shadows
  • added some noise

Utflykt till Bergianska TrÀdgÄrden-0022_01.NEF.xmp (13.7 KB)


utflykt.till.bergianska.nef.xmp (10.9 KB) darktable 3.7

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At this resolution, you really can’t tell the difference between little and much sharpening.

Sure, but I posted the sidecar file, so one can also view the image at higher resolution.