Scribbles and Snaps

By popular demand, the digiKam Recipes/Instant Guide to Darktable bundle is back, featuring updated versions of both ebooks.

Although digiKam can handle RAW files, a dedicated application for processing RAW files can come in useful in many situations. There are several excellent open source RAW editors available on Linux (and Windows, for that matter), but Darktable is probably the most powerful and user-friendly application among them. Darktable offers a comprehensive set of tools for processing, organizing, and exporting RAW files. More importantly, Darktable’s advanced functionality is wrapped into an elegant and easy-to-use interface, making it easier to get to grips with the application. In short, if you shoot in RAW, Darktable makes a perfect companion to digiKam.

If you are ready to integrate Darktable into your photographic workflow, the Instant Guide to Darktable provides an introduction to the application’s features and essential tools. The best part? When you buy the digiKam Recipes book, you receive a copy of the Instant Guide to Darktable free of charge. This offer expires on Sunday, April 1, so act now before it’s too late.

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If you’ve bought the ebook via Amazon, please send your receipt as proof of purchase to dmpop@linux.com

Besides a handful of minor tweaks, the new version of the digiKam Recipes ebook includes the following new material:

• Prevent Photos in digiKam from Disappearing
• Simple Color Toning
• Simulate a Washed Out Effect

Readers who already purchased the book will receive the new version free of charge. If you haven’t received your copy, please send your order confirmation as proof of purchase to dmpop@linux.com, and I’ll email you the latest version of the book.

Happy reading!

Versioning in digiKam provides an excellent mechanism for non-destructive editing, but it does have a tiny quirk that can be a bit confusing if you are not aware of it. With the Versioning feature enabled, digiKam automatically displays only the most recent version of a photo and hides all the previous revisions, including the original file. This functionality helps to avoid clutter in the main thumbnail view, but this creature comfort can also cause panic when you all of a sudden can’t find the original photos. Fortunately, digiKam provides several ways of solving this conundrum.

Select the latest version of the photo, expand the Versioning right sidebar, and you should see all revisions of the selected image along with its original. If you want to make the original file visible in the thumbnail view, hover the mouse over the original’s thumbnail in the Versioning sidebar and click on the Show item permanently icon.

Alternatively, you can disable the hiding functionality altogether. To do this, choose Settings → Configure digiKam → Editing Images and untick the Always show original images and Always show intermediate snapshots check boxes.

While I always schlepping around my trusty Nikon D90, I enjoy snapping photos with my Samsung Galaxy S II (or whatever Android device I currently use). Of course, I use digiKam for processing and organizing my snaps.

I applied the cross-process effect (as described in the digiKam Recipes ebook) to the photo above and sharpened it a bit.

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stacked_Colorful_Plates_(Closeup).jpg