[Digikam-users] RAW editing

[Sven Burmeister]

Am Freitag, 20. Januar 2012, 23:33:17 schrieb Anders Lund:
> Presets would be nice, but I don't understand the desire to make it look
> like the preview jpeg in the raw file - that is very often suboptimal!

The average user does not want to start from zero for every picture. Moreover 
the jpeg is a good start for most pictures. So if the user cannot get close to 
the jpeg and start from there with digikam he will give-up or use another tool 
instead of starting to read manuals. So the jpeg is simply a most common 
target for a tutorial and a starting point for trying to tweak the RAW image 
even further.

Or to put it differently. What the user gets with digikam's default is a lot 
more sub-optimal than any jpeg preview. So instead of getting an improved 
image the user has to start fighting digikam before he gets to the sub-optimal 
level a jpeg offers without any work.

> One question I have is, what is it that the other utilities does different?

(Better) defaults, (better) assistants, (better) profiles. Digikam does not 
feature any for RAW.

> I haven't tried ufraw, but darktable a little bit but I could not get that
> to make a lot of sense easily. But, do those tools provide better defaults,
> or more true to the jpeg preview defaults?

Yes. In darktable, try the base curve tool. It helps the average user and does 
not restrict those that want to take RAW further.

Sven