Hello everyone ! I use darktable since two years and (for me) it's by far the best raw editor on linux. And since the introduction of the last features (especially "blendif" and "bilateral filter") I can obtain results that I would never thought to be able to achieve on an open source editor.
But not everything is pink :) I have some questions about the usability of darktable: 1. Parameters of the modules. Why the range of the parameters are so different ? I mean, in some modules it goes from 0 to 1, in another they're in percent, in other from -2 to 2 etc... And sometimes it's a mix of all these forms in the same module. Why not define a template and follow it ? Except for the parameters in degree or eV obviously. I think it can give a certain consistency to the UI and it should be less difficult to implement some sort of mapping between UI values and internal values than the underlying algorithms. 2. Duplication of blend interface in each module. Majority of module have a great numbers of parameters, and below the blend feature, and perhaps in the future the mask feature... The result is an overloaded interface with a lot of options. Is it possible to displace it and "mutualize" it (not sure about the term) like the colour picker ? 3. Complexity and numbers of modules parameters. The first time I used darktable, my first thought was "what the fuck with this app, it takes me forever to get something out, and even then I don't know how I did it". Since that time I have managed to understand how the modules work, how they are affected by theirs options, and I know when I should use one, and when I should use another. But the point is that for a beginner darktable is really hard to take in hand. And even for a regular user it takes too long to make some simple modifications because of the aller-retour between modules. I don't think the solution would be new modules. The existants could expose a more simpler UI (eg for "shadows/highlights" a slider from 0=no effects to 100=maximum correction) and this one would be hooked to a special panel or tab. The basic UI could modify the full UI parameters and if needed the user could tweak further the parameters of the full UI (not as clear as in my thought but I do my best in english...). I know that what i'm asking will involve a big work on darktable, i don't even know if somebody else find that useful, but from my point of view darktable needs a big design effort to make it's great power more easily usable. Nonetheless a big thanks to all the devs behind this software to make it available and as an open source project ! As a non english-speaking, the habitual warning: sorry for my bad english :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Windows 8 Center - In partnership with Sourceforge Your idea - your app - 30 days. Get started! http://windows8center.sourceforge.net/ what-html-developers-need-to-know-about-coding-windows-8-metro-style-apps/ _______________________________________________ darktable-devel mailing list darktable-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/darktable-devel
