[Digikam-users] Versions in Digikam

[Martin (KDE)]

Am Mittwoch, 17. März 2010 schrieb Carsten Bessing:
> Hi
> 
> I'm considering switching from iPhoto in order to make my image
> archive independent from a specific platform and application - and
> to store all the metadata in the image files. Currently I'm in the
> process of installing Digikam on my mac via MacPorts, and it seems
> that it has got everything I could ask for.
> 
> My plan is to export my images from iPhoto (which will embed the
> iPhoto tags in the files), then check and maybe correct my folder
> structure and file naming and finally import into Digikam. Most of
> my images are jpg, but some are (Canon) raw - these I plan to
> convert to DNG - and from now on only shoot raw (now Panasonic)
> and convert to DNG for archival/management in Digikam.
> 
> Now to my question ;-)
> 
> As I understand it, Digikam doesn't do non destructive editing. And
> one thing I can't figure out from the manual is how to handle
> versions. From iPhoto I'm used to only seeing one version of each
> image. If I edit a raw file, iPhoto saves the edit as a jpg and
> only shows this jpg. But it keeps the raw file so that I can go
> back to that if I want.
> 
> How do I do something similar in Digikam: Keep the original after
> an edit, but only show the edited version - if an edited version
> exists?

I think this is a major problem with most photo editing software 
today. From my point of view versioning does not make sense for the 
whole picture. What mostly is needed is a kind of recipe what I have 
done with the picture an a small jpeg with a result preview. This 
recipe can be changed and versioned by a full featured revision 
control system (like git, svn, cvs ...) and ideally can be run by a 
batch script to generate final jpegs, pngs ...

I think ufraw has something basic recipe like stuff to process raw 
photos, but it is missing much (but it is getting better). I heard of 
photoshop doing it the way I described, but I don't use windows and I 
don't like to pay 1000 Euros.

Currently I use different folder for my internal revision control 
system but I don't have that many changes on the jpeg/png level. And 
here my main problem is the missing recipe stuff. Often I want to 
change only a little bit from the stuff I have done before (a little 
less sharpening, little more saturation, a slightly different curve 
...). Currently I have to do all the stuff again. Besides that, I have 
to remember all the things I have done to the picture ( and I am 
getting old, so it is not an easy task).

Sorry, so I have no solution but thoughts about a similar problem.

> 
> Thank you for any advice and help.
> 
> /Carsten

Kindly

Martin