digiKam 0.9.4-beta3

[Gilles Caulier]

Name: digiKam
Version: 0.9.4-beta3
Type: KDE Graphic Tool
Depend: KDE 3.5.x
License: GPL
Homepage: http://www.digikam.org
More Info:
http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=9957

Description:
 digiKam is an advanced digital [b]photo
management application[/b] for KDE, which makes
importing and organizing digital photos a "snap".
The photos can be organized in albums which can be
sorted chronologically, by directory layout or by
custom collections.

Tired of the directory constraints? Don’t worry,
digiKam also provides [b]tagging
functionality[/b]. You tag your images which can
be spread out across multiple folders and digiKam
provides fast and intuitive ways to browse these
tagged images. You can also add [b]comments and
rating[/b] to your images. digiKam makes use of a
fast and robust database to store these
meta-informations which makes adding and editing
of comments and tags very reliable.

digiKam makes use of [b]KIPI plugins[/b] for lots
of added functionality. KIPI (KDE Image Plugin
Interface) is an initiative to create a common
plugin infrastructure for digiKam, KPhotoAlbum,
Showimg, and GwenView. Its aim is to allow
development of image plugins which can be shared
among KDE graphical applications.

An easy to use interface is provided that enables
you to [b]connect to your camera[/b] and preview,
download and/or delete your images. digiKam
includes too an image editor for image corrections
and manipulations whitch can be extended by
plugins.  

Another tool, which most artists and photographers
will be familiar with, is a [b]Light Table[/b].
This tool assists artists and photographers with
reviewing their work ensuring only the highest
quality. A light table will show the artist their
imperfections in which they can go and touch up.
Well in digiKam, the light table function provides
the user a similar experience. You can import a
photo, drag it onto the light table, and touch up
only the areas that need it.

The digiKam [b]Image Editor[/b] has its own plugin
subsystem with some common tools e.g. red eye
correction or Gamma correction. Additional plugins
are provided with the main application to process
advanced corrections on image like color
management, noise reduction, or special effects.
digiKam Image Editor support all camera RAW file
formats, 16 bits color depth,
Exif/Makernote/IPTC/GPS metadata, Color
management, tagging/rating/comments pictures, etc.

A stand-alone image editor version named
[b]Showfoto[/b] is also available. It runs without
digiKam images database support, but provides all
Image Editor plugins.

See the related project pages for more
informations:  

[url]http://www.digikam.org[/url]
[url]http://www.kipi-plugins.org[/url]

Online documentations:  

[url]http://docs.kde.org/development/en/extragear-graphics/digikam/index.html[/url]
[url]http://docs.kde.org/development/en/extragear-graphics/showfoto/index.html[/url]
[url]http://docs.kde.org/development/en/extragear-libs/kipi-plugins/index.html[/url]

NOTE:  

- Please, use the digiKam mailing-list for all
comments: 

[b]digikam-users at kde dot org[/b]
[b]digikam-devel at kde dot org[/b]

- Please, use KDE Bug Tracking System for Wishes,
and Bugs report:
 [url]http://bugs.kde.org/buglist.cgi?product=digikam[/url]
[url]http://bugs.kde.org/buglist.cgi?product=digikamimageplugins[/url]
[url]http://bugs.kde.org/buglist.cgi?product=showfoto[/url]
[url]http://bugs.kde.org/buglist.cgi?product=kipiplugins[/url]

You can contact developpers on Freenode IRC
channels:

[b]#digikam[/b]
[b]#kde-imaging[/b]

To help digiKam project, you can [u]donate money
to developpers[/u]. Take a look at this page for
details:

[url]http://www.digikam.org/donation[/url]

Changelog:
 [b]0.9.4 BETA3[/b]
======================================

Dear all digiKam fans and users!
The digiKam development team is happy to release
0.9.4-beta3. The digiKam tarball can be downloaded
from SourceForge as well.

Below I've summarized all new features and changes
since the last stable version 0.9.3 to mark the
progress.

[b]NEW FEATURES (since 0.9.3):[/b]

[u]ImageEditor[/u]: Raw files can be decoded in 16
bits color depth without to use Color Management.
An auto-gamma and auto-white balance is processed
using the same method than dcraw          with 8
bits color depth RAW image decoding. This usefull
to to have a speed-up RAW workflow with suitable
images.

[u]Showfoto[/u]: 

Added support of color theme schemes.
Added 2 options to setup images ordering with
"File/Open Folder" action.
New open image file dialog with photo
thumbnail/informations.
New saveas image file dialog with photo
thumbnail/informations.

[u]AlbumGUI[/u]

Add a new tool to perform Date search around whole
albums collection: the TimeLine.
Auto-completion in all search text filter.

[url]http://www.digikam.org/?q=node/293[/url].

Timeline is a new left sidebar tab. It's a great
tool complementary to the calendar. Try it out!

In Calendar View, selecting Year album shows all
images of the full year.

New status-bar indicator to report album icon view
filtering status.
 [url]http://www.digikam.org/?q=node/296[/url]

[u]General[/u]

Color theme scheme are pervasively applied in
graphical interfaces, giving digiKam a real
Pro-Look when dark schemes are selected. Color
theme scheme can be changed from either Editor or
LightTable.
Creation of tags simplified everywhere. Multiple
Tags hierarchy can be created at the same time.
Tags creation dialog re-designed.

[url]http://www.digikam.org/?q=node/302[/url] 

Updated internal CImg library to last stable 1.2.7
(released on 2008/01/23).

Add capability to display items count in all
Album, Date, Tags, and Tags Filter folder views.
The number of items contained in virtual or
physical albums can be displayed next to its name.
If a tree branch is collapsed, parent views sum-up
the number of items from all undisplayed children
views. Items count is performed in background by
digiKam KIO-Slaves.
A new option from Setup/Album dialog page can
toggle on/off this feature.

[url]http://www.digikam.org/?q=node/283[/url] 

[b]Bugfixes (KDE bugzilla)[/b]

001 ==> 146393 : No gamma adjustment when opening
RAW file.
002 ==> 158377 : digiKam duplicates downloaded
images while overwriting existing ones.
003 ==> 151122 : Opening Albums Has Become Very
Slow.
004 ==> 145252 : Umask settings used for album
directory, not for image files
005 ==> 144253 : Failed to update old Database to
new Database format.
006 ==> 159467 : Misleading error message with
path change in digikamrc file.
007 ==> 157237 : Connect the data when using the
left tabs.
008 ==> 157309 : digiKam mouse scroll direction on
lighttable.
009 ==> 158398 : Olympus raw images shown with
wrong orientation.
010 ==> 152257 : Crash on saving images after
editing.
011 ==> 153730 : Too many file format options when
saving raw image from editor in digiKam.
012 ==> 151157 : Right and left keys goes to first
picture and last picture without shortcuts.
013 ==> 151451 : Application crashed using edit.
014 ==> 139657 : Blueish tint in low saturation
images converted to CMYK.
015 ==> 147600 : Showfoto Open folder - files
shown in reverse order.
016 ==> 149851 : Showfoto asks if you want to save
changes when deleting photo, if changes have been
made.
017 ==> 138378 : Showfoto opens file browser
window to last the folder used upon startup.
018 ==> 148964 : images are blur only inside
shofoto.
019 ==> 146938 : Themes Don't Apply To All Panels.
020 ==> 135378 : Single-click on picture open it
in editor.
021 ==> 142469 : Splash screen to be the very
first thing.
022 ==> 147619 : Crash when viewing video.
023 ==> 136583 : Album icon does not show
preview-image after selecting given image as
preview.
024 ==> 129357 : Thumbnails not rotated for
(D200)-NEF.
025 ==> 132047 : Faster display of images and/or
prefetch wished for.
026 ==> 150259 : media-gfx/digikam-0.9.2
error/typo in showfoto.desktop.
027 ==> 150674 : Turn of live update of preview
when moving points in curves dialog or in
histogram.
028 ==> 141703 : Show file creation date in
tooltip.
029 ==> 128377 : Adjust levels: histograms don't
match, bad "auto level" function.
030 ==> 141755 : Sidebar: Hide unused tabs, Add
tooltips. 
031 ==> 146068 : Mixer does not work for green and
blue selected as main channel and monochrome mode.
032 ==> 135931 : Reorganise Batch Processing tools
from 'Image' and 'Tools' menus.
033 ==> 159664 : Background color of live/quick
filter not updated on folder/date change.
034 ==> 096388 : Show number of images in the
album.
035 ==> 155271 : Configure suggests wrong
parameter for libjasper.
036 ==> 155105 : Broken png image present in
albums folder causes digikam to crash when
starting.
037 ==> 146760 : Providing a Timeline-View for
quickly narrowing down the date of photos.
038 ==> 146635 : Ratio crop doesn't remember
orientation.
039 ==> 144337 : There should be no "empty
folders".
040 ==> 128293 : Aspect ratio crop does not
respect aspect ratio.
041 ==> 157149 : digiKam crash at startup.
042 ==> 141037 : Search using Tag Name does not
work
043 ==> 158174 : Precise aspect ratio crop feature
044 ==> 142055 : Which whitebalance is used
045 ==> 158558 : Delete Function in Tag Filters
panel needs to make sure that the tag is
unselected when the tag is deleted.
046 ==> 120309 : Change screen backgroundcolor of
image tools.
047 ==> 153775 : Download from camera: Renaming
because of already existing file does not work.
048 ==> 154346 : Can't rename in digiKam.
049 ==> 154625 : Image-files are not renamed
before they are saved to disk.
050 ==> 154746 : Album selection window's size is
wrong.
051 ==> 159806 : Cannot display nikon d3 raw
files.
052 ==> 148935 : digiKam hot pixel plugin can not
read canon RAW files.
053 ==> 158776 : Confirm tag delete if tag
assigned to photos.
054 ==> 148520 : Change of rating causes high CPU
load.
055 ==> 140227 : Remove or modify D&D tags menu
from icon view area.
056 ==> 154421 : Live search doesn't search
filenames.
057 ==> 118209 : digiKam hotplug script kde user
detection problem.
058 ==> 138766 : JPEG Rotations: Give a warning
when doing Lossy rotations (and offer to do
lossless when applicable).
059 ==> 156007 : Canon Raw+Jpg Locks up download
image window during thumbnail retrieval.
060 ==> 114465 : Simpler entry of tags.
061 ==> 159236 : Corrupted file when downloading
from CF card via digiKam.

======================================

Full Changelog with previous releases can be see
at this url:
 [url]http://www.digikam.org/changelog[/url]