darktable

darktable is an open-source and cross-platform photography workflow application that has been around for quite some while now and is available for macOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Solaris, FreeBSD, basically, for most OSes except Windows.

However, the development team behind the project have recently managed to successfully port this useful app to Windows, in the form of a Pre-Alpha snapshot. Before anything else, please note that the Windows version of the app might be still a bit rough around the edges and if you do happen to find bugs or other issues, please consider reporting them the app's official bug tracker.

With that out of the way, here's what you can expect from darktable. Firstly, besides the plethora of image (and RAW image) processing tools with all the bits and bobs, you will also notice that the app is pretty useful when it comes to helping you manage photos.

Actually, it aims to sport a smooth balance between a typical raw image converter and processor and a basic (database-specific) image management tool, all for the sake of allowing you to work with your pictures as efficiently as possible. You can perform flexible database queries, perform image searches based on tags, rating and color labels, as well as filter and sort your image collections.

One of the app's highlights stems from the fact that it allows you to import a wide array of image formats such as JPG, CR2, HDR, PFM, just to name a few. Just as important is the app's export system which makes it easy for you to create Picasa and Flick web albums, HTML-based web galleries and export pictures to formats such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PPM, PFM, EXR.

However, by and large, darktable is best known for its image processing operation modules. As mentioned before, it's capable of handling most basic image processing tasks. It helps you invert, crop, or rotate pictures, tweak the exposure, reconstruct the color info, set the white balance, correct various saturation or color-related levels, remove noise, apply lens correction, remove spots, fix chromatic aberrations, and sharpen any image, just to give you an example.

darktable does not disappoint when it comes to image processing effects either. It provides you with the options to add watermarks and frames, add vignettes and grain to your pictures, as well as various other interesting effects (Orton, bloom, colorize, graduated density).

You should also know that darktable allows you to preview your image collections in a slideshow mode, which truth be told, is not yet in tip-top shape on Windows. Last but not least, the app allows you to visualize a wide array of details about your photos and even edit their metadata and geo-metadata.

Considering its plethora of useful features all wrapped in a fairly intuitive package, it's safe to say that darktable deserves a chance to prove its worth.