It’s not free and open source software. There are many proprietary solutions available on Windows.
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! It’ll take some time to test out some of the suggested programs but I think I have a good base to start with.
I just find it surprising that there isn’t a FOSS version of a photo importer in Windows; something that’ll just ingest the photos, change names, and spit it into your existing file system.
Windows used to have a good one that was pretty straightforward but of course had to mess it up with Windows 10.
I’m trying out digikam but I’ve noticed that it doesn’t recognize ratings I’ve put on photos with darktable. Does digikam have to make the initial xmp sidecar or is there a setting to get it to recognize changes made by darktable?
Make sure your darktable writes to xmp sidecars not only to database. Also please activate r"ead from sidecars" and “write to sidecars” for the type of files you want in digikam. I read/write sidecars for read-only files only which is RAW and video files for me
Just a little update: after trying out digikam and xnview, I decided to stick with xnview. It’s able to read the changes to xmp files that DT makes and overall I like the simplicity.
Don’t get me wrong, digikam works smoothly and looks great but I couldn’t get it to sync with DT. I made all the necessary changes in the setting of both DT and digikam but to no avail. In the end, all I need the program for is to import photos, rename files, and place them into my existing filing structure.
Thanks for all the help here! I really appreciate how smoothly you all are making my transition to FOSS from the Adobe suite.
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If you are using darktable and Gimp … why would you not use darktable to manage all of your imports? Using multiple software for the work is (in my mind) counter intuitive and very unproductive. In my opinion darktable’s import function works exceptionally well …
@davidvj Darktable’s import function won’t copy the files off an SD card to another location. Darktable’s import just brings the images into the darktable database.
darktable import function places the images directly where instructed. In my case files are placed in /Pictures/YEAR/Location1/Location2/Subject/filename. darktable highly ‘automates’ this process.
More specific than that would be overkill in my case.
Well that’s my thought too: I’d rather minimize the number of programs I use to the bare minimum. While I can probably get by just copying from my SD card and pasting into a folder I made into my existing folder structure, I thought having a program do that part for me would be worth the addition.
As for darktable, I don’t think it can actually copy photos from a SD card and place it into a folder it created. The “import” function in darktable just means that it imports into it’s database; nothing is actually happening to the files.
You are pushing the wrong button… Import from camera will move files from your SD card into the preselected folder.
I dunno man. I’ll check again tonight to see. But this is what I got from the DarkTable manual:
Importing a folder does not mean that darktable copies your images into another folder. It just means that the images are visible in lighttable and thus can be developed.
@davidvj seems it is a bug: https://redmine.darktable.org/issues/11777 and it won’t work on windows.
Here is how it works on my system: 1.) Open Global Prefs (little cog wheel) … 2.) Session Options tab will allow you to select the file location and format of the saved filles. 3.) Mount your SD card (make sure that the system can see it) 4.) Press ‘Import from Camera’. 5.) Enter the session name BEFORE selecting the files. 5.) Complete the file selection (ctrl. and shift options work) then enter.
Messing with a secondary import systems is fruitless.
If it is not working on your Windows system you may want to consider looking at Linux.
I prefer Faststone Image Viewer. Supports RAW and a bunch of standard formats. Rename the photos when I am importing from SD card to what ever directory I choose. Works well with Gimp, RT etc
That’s proprietary software.
If proprietary software is to be used with a Canon, Canon’s native utility (win/mac only) has an advantage, working wirelessly.
Thanks for the tip David but it still doesn’t work. I mounted my SD card but there is no 'Import from Camera" button. I can import from folder but all that does is put it into the darktable directory.
As you probably know Linux software depends on associated libraries … I think that gphoto2 is the missing element… Not sure if it meshes with windows. The windows version is very new and you probably need to be patient.
Rapid Photo Downloader is great.
I am moving to Windows for my photographic stuff, it’s hard, mainly because I’m a Linux/Perl programmer and hate Windows with a passion.
But as I can’t use Darktable with my new CR3 cameras, I am moving to windows.
Rapid Photo Downloader is the one program I can’t live without and can’t find a suitable widows alternative. A windows port would be fantastic!
Failing that I’ll run it in a light linux distro in a VM - far for ideal. It will remove the speed and simplicity of a non-VM RPD.
You can if you build dt and the necessary rawspeed patches plus exiv2 0.27.4