I understand that there may be some discussion on the content of the dt 3.o manual somewhere on Facebook. But for those of us who hasn’t yet bent to said intruder of our privacy, that discussion is unknown. I therefore convey here some input I have come up with from reading the first pages:
The 6 pages with detailed technical information on the binaries is not what should meet a potential new user. Just leave the slightest reference to the binaries here initially and point to an appendix for further details. (The new reader should rather meet the Overview and then quickly proceed to User Interface.)
1.3.2.1 (Introduction to basic developments steps):
“This section will guide you through the basics of developing an image in the darkroom view.” No, it doesn’t. It gives an overview of some of the elements/processes involved, and it should initially make reference to the more detailed info in Chapter 3.
In the listing of General Features in Ch. 1 “Overview” it is initially stated “Fully non-destructive editing.”. This may or may not mean anything to a newbee, (and is further touched upon first at page 13 in ch 1.3.3 “Exporting images”). I suggest that the meaning of this is developed somewhat further quite initially in ch. 1.3.2.1,( e.g. a new second section, or a rewrite of the third section where the concept of History Stack is explained). Here and/or in the Overview in Ch 1, should the potential user learn something fundamental and basic about the relations between the “development of images”, the image files, the XMP files, the database files, the History Stack and when a new file with lasting changes is created.
It would be very good if keyboard shortcuts (at least the central, non-context sensitive ones) could be listed in an appendix, so that we may print it or otherwise have the list easily available as we do our initial fumbling with dt. – And on top of that list should of course be “H” for getting the eminent new context sensitive list of shortcuts …
And, please, do include “shortcuts” in the index /pointing to ch. 1.2.6).
(While tinkering with v. 2.6 I knew several times that there was a shortcut I could use to do things easier, but could not remember easily/quickly retrieve the relevant information from the manual.)
1.2.6: “If you want the shortcut window to stay opened, there is a button [icon] right of the window.” Yes, right, but it is not intuitive to understand how to click it, as the pressing of “H” deactivates the cursor… I found that I had to preposition the cursor in the button area, an then click many times before activating it.
1.3.1.1: “When importing from disk, you can import either a single image or a folder.”. I think that to add " … or a folder (with or without subfolders)." already at this stage, may possibly alert the beginner to an issue that may have important practical consequences.
When the issue of imports are further adressed in sect 2.3.1, shouldn’t one mention also the possibility of changing the import defaults regarding subfolders and jpgs in the Preferences dialog box?
If the basic concepts of
– the basic differences between a sensor registration and the psychological retina/brain registration
– the different EV-ranges in eye, sensor, display and paper - and the need to align/compress and then selecting where we chose to “spend” the available EV-range
– the various sources of error/noise in haze, lens, sensor and the reversal system of correcting them before adressing topics of psychological perception of an image
could be explained very shortly initially in ch 1.3(.2), I think that for many of us starting to get to grips with an image editor/darktable, it would be easier to understand what is going on and what one tries to achieve.
