I recently installed Darktable on a Windows 10 machine and thought I should
provide some feedback. First of all, thanks for making it available on
Windows! I have tested only on the one Windows machine, so I don't know if
some of the issues mentioned below are common to other Windows and/or Linux
users. Please take these things as feedback, not as complaints.
I had two motivations for trying Darktable: I wanted a simple way to
import pictures into folders according the EXIF date (like Picasa used to
do), and I wanted to try out shooting RAW as well as JPG. I think it is
going to work well for both, although it took some effort to get where I am
and there are still a few rough spots. Please let me know if I should file
an issue in Redmine for any of the following, or if listing the issues here
is enough.
It took me quite a while to figure out how to import pictures from my phone.
- The option to add a folder on disk worked fine for folders on my hard
drive, but it wouldn't browse to the path Windows Explorer uses with my
phone (Galaxy S7) when connected in the "file transfer" or "photo transfer"
USB connection modes.
- I eventually found the FAQ about using Zadig to install WinUSB. I used
it to replace the WCID driver (which it defaulted to) which didn't help
Darktable detect the phone. I changed the phone from "file transfer" to
"photo transfer" mode (which didn't help), then figured out that I needed
to change the Zadig setting to select WinUSB before clicking "Replace
Driver". After cycling power on the computer and switching the phone back
to "photo transfer" mode, Darktable was able to find the phone. I might
have made it harder than it needed to be, but I think most folks would have
given up before getting it to work. If it is ever possible to make
importing work without installing WinUSB drivers, it would reduce the
learning curve a lot.
Once it found the phone, it started displaying a preview of the pictures.
I selected a few and clicked "import", but nothing happened. I later
figured out that the phone had hundreds of pictures and I had to wait for
the preview of all of them to be displayed before the import button would
work. The best way I found to know when it was ready was to keep dragging
the thumb on the scrollbar to the bottom and checking to see whether it
moved up on its own. If it is necessary to wait, it would be nice if there
was some kind of progress indicator, even if it is indeterminate
(hourglass, something spinning) and if the import button remained visibly
disabled until it was ready.
I am still a bit confused about what a "filmroll" is, especially when
importing into folders with the EXIF date. I suppose a single filmroll
could incorporate pictures from multiple folders. I can figure this out by
reading the docs or experimenting, but I thought that reporting my first
impression might be helpful.
It also wasn't obvious to me what a "jobcode" was, although I did
eventually figure out that it could be incorporated into the folder names
that the pictures are imported into. I had a hard time remembering to set
it before each import; perhaps after clicking "import" it could prompt for
the jobcode and provide a checkbox for "don't ask next time" for those that
don't use one. Or if the directory naming patterns don't refer to it (and
it isn't used for anything else), it could just be skipped.
When importing from the same source multiple times, it has to reload all of
the pictures into the preview every time; that was kind of painful when I
was trying lots of things to get the directory naming figured out. If that
info could be cached, it would make it practical to import a subset of a
large number of pictures with various jobcodes or into various filmrolls.
Another thing that would help with that would be some kind of indication
which pictures had already been transferred and/or a way to delete them
from the phone (camera) after they have been successfully copied.
I wanted to keep the original filenames when importing. I found that the
filename got added to the metadata, but it took me a while to figure out
how to leave the filename itself alone. It seems like even if that wasn't
the default that it might be commonly enough used to merit having a
checkbox or something (maybe check the box if you want to rename, which
could activate the field to enter the info about what to change the name
to).
When selecting pictures to import, CTRL-Click works fine to select multiple
pictures, but a single click in the wrong place can make it forget which
ones were selected. A checkbox by each one would be an alternative that
would perhaps be less error-prone.
I found that the "base directory naming pattern" needed to end with a "/",
or the subdirectory name would get merged into the base directory name.
Perhaps DT should automatically append a "/" if one doesn't already exist.
It is unconventional in Windows to use "/" as a directory separator ("\" is
more common). Perhaps either one could be accepted (and perhaps internally
converted to "/"). If there are multiple separators in a row ("//" or
"///" or "\\"...), they could be combined into a single "/".
Leading and trailing spaces could be stripped from the directory and file
naming patterns.
*** Bug *** I found that I couldn't start the "sub directory naming
pattern" with "$(EXIF_YEAR)" and have it work, but it would work if I
prefixed it with anything else (even a space). Of course having a space at
the beginning of each folder name isn't great (if nothing else, it messes
up sorting with other folder names that don't have the space).
When importing using the EXIF date for the folder name and no pictures were
taken on the date of the import, DT creates an unnecessary directory with
the current date (with no pictures imported into it).
Sometimes after importing, the pictures don’t show up in Darktable even
when they get copied to the computer. But I can then import from the
folder they were imported to (recursively) and they show up. I think I
might have seen a Redmine ticket about this. I think it suggested exiting
and restarting DT. I haven't tried that yet.
I connected a different phone (Galaxy Grand Prime) after the S7. After
putting it in PTP mode, it worked without having to mess with installing
WinUSB drivers again. So that was easy enough. On the other hand, I tried
a Canon SX-160 camera and so far have been unable to make it work; Zadag
seem to time out when I try to replace its driver. That may be user error
or maybe a problem with Zadag, but the relevant issue here is that it is
more evidence that not needing to switch to WinUSB drivers would be a win
for usability.
Wow, this message got really long. I hope that it is clear that I am not
trying to be critical (I am really thankful DT works as it does), but to
contribute to making DT better by providing feedback. If more details
about any of these things (such as screen shots) would be helpful, you may
find them in my notes here: <
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11b5BVb8GmbF7Vu3Hs1F-7z6g-oJvhF_MW6J_9aDFca8/edit?usp=sharing>.
I would also be glad to answer questions, try experimental builds, and/or
make new or update existing issues in Redmine.
Thanks again for making DT,
Steve
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