I shoot raw files and then process them in Darktable, adding tags and metadata as necessary.
This way, I can easily find images by location, date, and tags, but actually viewing them (eg showing a slideshow to a friend) quite time-consuming because (if I understand correctly) Darktable does the same calculations for producing an image it would for exporting.
How do other Darktable users manage this? Is it possible to save eg a jpeg for preview along a raw file?
I export to JPG the images I deem ‘worth showing’, and save them in a subfolder along the RAW files for each session (but do not add them back to darktable). Then I use an external viewer to show the images (Gwenview). For the cases in which the database/search aspect is not so simple (multiple sessions or complex filters) I also have the JPGs added into a digiKam database.
I use a script in the export dialog …it creates a mirrored folder with the same name as the source folder in a parallel root (base) folder…so my photos are in subfolders of a root folder called photos and my jpgs are in a root (base) folder called photoedits. I sync this to the cloud and use it for viewing on a TV , phone or pc. I also add a suffix to indicate they are exported from DT as I also use other software
/quote$(FILE_FOLDER/otos/PhotoEdits)/$(FILE_NAME)-DT
/quote
This sounds interesting. Is this a LUA script? Can you please share it?
Just syntax you put in the file export dialogue….
There are a large number of variables you can use for naming etc….
No just using the variables provided by DT. The text I use above creates and exports jpgs to a new parent folder but creates the same subfolder name as the source. All my files are in a path\photos\yyyy-mm-dd_Description. When I export using that syntax in the file export dialogue then it creates a subfolder in path\DT_PhotoEdits\yyyy-mm-dd_description , ie matches exactly the name of the source just in a different parent folder…This is the folder i use in apps etc for viewing my photos…and it saves me a bit of folder creation
https://darktable-org.github.io/dtdocs/special-topics/variables/