Release Candidate for darktable 1.6

posted on Sun 16 November 2014

by smn

We are happy to announce the first release candidate for the upcoming darktable 1.6.

In case you are wondering about the versioning scheme: we use odd numbers as development versions and even numbers for stable releases. This means the release candidate, tagged as “darktable-1.5.1”, is an unstable development version – the final stable version will bear the tag “darktable-1.6.0”.

Grab the tarball and OS X package from the github release page:

https://github.com/darktable-org/darktable/releases/tag/release-1.5.1

Concerning Pascal’s Unstable PPA: only Ubuntu 14.04 (LTS) is supported, and there will be no support for future non-LTS releases. Of course the stable PPA will still serve all active Ubuntu versions starting at the most recent LTS.

And here are the preliminary release candidate release notes:

New features:

initial support for x-trans sensors
input colour gamut mapping
slideshow
better basecurve tool to create basecurves from raw/jpg pairs
soft boundaries in sliders (right click and type 8 in exposure compensation for example)
support huge images (> 32 bit pixel index)
pwstorage libsecret
new defringe image operation
automatic levels
big exr export speedup (multicore support)
color conversion speedup (openmp for lcms2 case)
tiff read/write rewritten, works on 32-bit float now
embedded icc profile support for png/tiff (read/write)

Internal improvements:

module parameter introspection
clang/address-sanitizer/etc compiler warnings fixed
flip iop used for raw auto-orientation (simplifies code)
libraw not used any more for a lot of file formats (faster loading via rawspeed now)

Bug fixes:

hdr bracketing fixes
masks cleanup and bugfixes
lens iop presets are working
correct lens detection for compact cameras
updated usermanual
lots of performance improvements and code cleanup

New camera support / new noise profiles

There is support for several dozens of new cameras, and loads of new noise profiles for denoising have been added. Check out the full list in the release notes on github.

We are still looking for aspect ratio mode samples for the following camera models:

Panasonic DMC-G1 #10149
Panasonic DMC-G3 #10150
Panasonic DMC-G5 #10151
Panasonic DMC-G10 #10152
Panasonic DMC-GF5 #10154
Panasonic DMC-GF6 #10155
Panasonic DMC-L1 #10156
Panasonic DMC-L10 #10157
Panasonic DMC-LF1 #10158
Panasonic DMC-LX2 #10159
Panasonic DMC-LX3 #10160
Panasonic DMC-LX5 #10161

Please give this some testing and let us know on FreeNode in #darktable or on the darktable-devel mailing list if there are remaining issues with it.

And as always, thanks to our great community and all the contributors for making this possible! enjoy the release!

Filed under: Announcement Darktable Release

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These are comments from the old website, archived as static HTML

Mikhail Pavstyuk on Mon Nov 17 04:24:43 2014:

Yes! Great new. Thank you so much!
Anon on Mon Nov 17 13:20:28 2014:

You are the best!
Frandom on Mon Nov 17 15:34:13 2014:

Thanks for your effort
Bambasti on Mon Nov 17 17:02:21 2014:

Thank you! I really appreciate your efforts and love this program. Keep on rocking!
Andrea on Mon Nov 17 20:03:34 2014:

Good news! Thank you all for the hard work behind this release candidate.
Matt on Mon Nov 17 21:32:54 2014:

Thanks lots. Looking forward to the compact camera lens detection.
Stefan Carey on Tue Nov 18 00:23:47 2014:

I'm a bit confused. The green button at the bottom of the page says 1.5.1. Isn't the release 1.6? (Or am I missing something)

I'm a newly converted Darktable user (~addict) using version 1.5.1 on a Mac (at least I think that's the version, I can't see way to check the version number)

cheers
Terry Duell on Tue Nov 18 02:39:51 2014:

I have just completed building an rpm for Fedora 20 x86_64, and will try to spend some time now working with it.
Thanks for all the work that has gone into the development.
Derek Cordeiro on Tue Nov 18 04:18:49 2014:

How can I help get support for D750 added? Right now, I have to convert to DNG for the files to be usable.
parafin on Tue Nov 18 09:51:58 2014:

Version numbering is explained right here, in the news post you are commenting on.
You can see the version you're using in the header that expands/collapses using Ctrl-h shortcut (at least by default).
Stefan Carey on Tue Nov 18 11:09:20 2014:

Got it. thanks
pixdja on Tue Nov 18 11:17:13 2014:

Thanks a lot ! I rediscover my Fuji X-E1 RAF !! (Darktable version 1.5x) very very good quality !!! Great job !
Hendric on Tue Nov 18 15:24:51 2014:

Thank you for this long awaited announcement! Great to see the next release of DT on final approach.
This triggers the obvious question: When can we expect the final release?
yeiter on Tue Nov 18 16:36:14 2014:

what is it?
krist on Tue Nov 18 17:31:31 2014:

I am using Debian jessie. Trying to install version 1.6 (version 1.4.2 is in jessie) for my Fuji X-E1 X-trans. Followed the instructions for git. It comes to a CMake error:
"CMake Error at /usr/share/cmake-3.0/Modules/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake:136 (message):
Could NOT find LibXml2 (missing: LIBXML2_LIBRARIES LIBXML2_INCLUDE_DIR)
(Required is at least version "2.6")"
I checked my jessie system, and libxml2 is installed. I am not good with linux, but can follow instructions very well. Please help where my error is. Thanks.
pmjdebruijn on Tue Nov 18 18:19:47 2014:

Please file a camera support issue in our Redmine:

http://darktable.org/redmine/issues

Please provide a NEF+DNG sample at ISO 100 and a NEF+DNG sample at high (6400?) ISO.
krist on Wed Nov 19 02:57:23 2014:

OK. I made some progress. Manually checked and installed all dependencies. I was able to compile. I ran darktable in terminal. The system comes up with my photo directory. When I click on the raw image, it goes to darkroon, but it [rawseed] says no decoder found. What do I need to do next?
M on Wed Nov 19 08:29:37 2014:

Do you support X-trans files (from an X100S) converted to a DNG?
Derek Cordeiro on Wed Nov 19 09:34:10 2014:

@pmjdebruijn, I just tried the Release candidate(1.5.1) and nikon d750 files that previously didn't open correctly now work fine. I see noise reduction profiles too.

Let me know if these files are still needed, I would be happy to provide as well as open a request/issue/ticket.
rampampam on Wed Nov 19 10:35:54 2014:

Basecurve+, speedups+, fuji support+ - what I can say more. Another great release of my favourite photosoft.
krist on Thu Nov 20 03:20:14 2014:

OK. I managed to compile it from the tarball. OMG, the default demosaic, base curve and sharpen made it almost like the OOC jpeg. Thanks you. I have a new system to learn now.
bart9h on Thu Nov 20 10:15:08 2014:

To compile stuff you need the "-dev" version of the packages.
M on Thu Nov 20 12:00:26 2014:

Just tried it on OS X (1.5.1). Darktable shows the message "image 'filename.dng' is not available!" and then hangs when i try to double click it. Image thumbnails are first shown, but after having clicked the files I just get a skull.
Zozio32 on Thu Nov 20 14:28:02 2014:

thanks for keeping up the good work. DT is definitely my software of choice.

one small thing: there is still no support for my Oly epl3. I have sent test shots in the past.... anyway, I would expect that the profile for the epl2 will be just fine. Can a line be added somewhere in the code so that epl3 points towards the epl2 profiles for denoising?
alex hurt on Fri Nov 21 04:58:03 2014:

i just want to thank (and congratulate!) every body for such an excellent effort...
DARKtable is the best!!
houz on Fri Nov 21 10:49:15 2014:

On Debian (and related distributions) a good first start is using "apt-get build-dep darktable" as it will give you (almost) all needed packets in one go. Just some newly added dependencies might be missing.
krist on Fri Nov 21 16:28:57 2014:

Thanks. I learn the hardway.
pmjdebruijn on Fri Nov 21 16:59:41 2014:

We don't support xtrans DNGs. Supporting them is not a priority.

Converting any random RAW to DNG, isn't per-se a smart thing to do. RAW formats and their metadata (EXIF MakerNotes) are fragile. Converting them to another format at times is not a truely lossless process, due to bugs in the conversion process.

It's just an added risk, with little benefit in return.

We generally recommend to stick with the vendors RAW formats, unless (like Pentax), you can choose to have the camera natively produce DNG files, in which case those are generally preferred.
Peter Patoschka on Fri Nov 21 22:56:01 2014:

Thanks a lot!

Will there be tethering support for PENTAX - DSLRs in the stable version?

regards, Peter!
Jon Shearer on Sat Nov 22 03:46:44 2014:

You can see the version in the upper left corner next to the darktable logo
Greg on Sun Nov 23 18:23:50 2014:

What are the chances that the release version of DarkTable 1.6 will work on CentOS 7? I read that there are some dependency issues with CentOS 6 which force an older version of DT, but I'm hoping that since CentOS 7 is relatively new that it will qualify. Trying to get good Xtrans support on my Linux machine and CentOS 7 is what I need to run right now.

Thanks for consideration in both OS and sensor support.
smn on Sun Nov 23 18:31:10 2014:

Nikon D750 is supported by the dt 1.5.1 version of RawSpeed, also noise profiles have been contributed / so no need to file an issue, just wait for the release and enjoy.
smn on Sun Nov 23 18:31:37 2014:

Some time this year.
smn on Sun Nov 23 18:35:16 2014:

If you sent this information to the mailing lists it might just need a little bump. We tend to be drowned in mail and some just don't make it back to the surface.

Just bug us again with your files and the profile might still make it into 1.6.
smn on Sun Nov 23 18:36:35 2014:

We use gphoto2 for tethering. So, as soon as they have Pentax support, darktable will have, too.
Climent Clerch on Sun Nov 23 21:34:26 2014:

Thank you! I really appreciate your efforts and love this program
Jean Pierre on Mon Nov 24 12:08:20 2014:

Hi guys,
Many thanks for the improvement of darktable. I tryed 1.5.1 on my mac!
I have got some things to ask you:
1. Why the clarity subtle is not in the equilizer presets?
2. And why the other presets from the 1.4.2 version is not included?
3. Is there a big different between the darktable under Linux/Ubuntu or Mac version?

4. It seems that version 1.5.1 is not stable on my mac 10.9.5 with GHz 2.5 i5 Core Processor! The version 1.4.2 works quicker and have no issues!

I am waiting for the 1.6 version. So I can democaising my RAW-picture from the Sony RX100 M3!! And it will be great..... I am shure.

best and good luck
Jean Pierre
carafife on Mon Nov 24 18:23:56 2014:

Félicitations et merci encore pour le travail formidable que vous faites! Ce logiciel est une pure merveille et sans aucun doute la meilleure alternative libre à Lightroom...
Andre Felipe on Tue Nov 25 00:55:00 2014:

Congratulations for the great effort to make the awesome program! I'm looking forward to support it.
parafin on Tue Nov 25 09:08:59 2014:

1. Clarity subtle is just turned down clarity preset, you can use mix slider to get it (or recreate a preset from some older picture);
2. probably the same reason, you didn't specify about which ones you are talking;
3. no;
4. please be more specific and create a bug report for each issue you notice - just waiting for release to come won't make bugs disappear;)
http://darktable.org/redmine/projects/darktable/issues/new
FF on Fri Nov 28 00:08:50 2014:

Thanks a lot for your efforts.
Any chance the year end update will include Canon 7D MarkII?
smn on Fri Nov 28 08:15:12 2014:

Our rawspeed has experimental Canon 7D Mark I support, so you can at least open the images and work with them. There are no white balance settings or noise profiles - but feel free to help out by supplying the needed RAW files!
http://www.darktable.org/redmine/projects/darktable/issues/new
Alberto Rubio on Fri Nov 28 23:17:03 2014:

Thank you so much for your work !
Good job ;-)
Frank L. on Sat Nov 29 21:22:21 2014:

Great job. I love this program. Thanks for such good work.

Frank :-)
Peter Teuben on Sun Nov 30 05:03:11 2014:

I built on Ubuntu 14.10 this evening, worked like a charm. I'm also one with a new Nikon D810, and that worked well too. Admittedly, I took the git repo default, which probably isn't the pre-release, but more bleeding edge. So far so good. The old darktable (1.4.2) on my system returns a fatal error
[init] error: can't open new database schema
ERROR : cannot open database
but that's a known feature of working with a git version. So far so good, I'll be building new versions as they become available.
smn on Sun Nov 30 11:48:57 2014:

yes, a database with a scheme from a new dt version is not usable with older versions of dt. Since we haven't branched off dt 1.6.0 yet git master pretty much gives you the second release candidate. However, watch out to change to the stable version as soon as it's there, otherwise the database scheme might change again and you're stuck with the development version...
Kael Shipman on Mon Dec 01 19:44:09 2014:

Guys, THANK YOU! Huge heart sign <3!! Keep up the great work!
Jesus Arocho on Mon Dec 01 22:42:20 2014:

Compiled git version under kubuntu 14.10. still playing around, but no problems so far. Great job.
josepvm on Tue Dec 02 23:42:47 2014:

I'm glad to share the link to darktable's wikipedia article in Catalan language:

http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darktable

It's translated from the English version, but I have already updated some info to 1.6.0.

I think it's a good companion to the complete Catalan translation that will come with Darktable's release next sunday :-)
gnujsa on Wed Dec 03 01:21:01 2014:

I've used for a while (2 years ?) Pascal de Bruijn's unstable repository on Debian testing without big problem, despite the warning message that says not to).

Yes, there wrote "DO NOT INSTALL THESE BINARY PACKAGES IN DEBIAN." but it works ...

Thank you alot for darktable, I fell in love
zozio32 on Wed Dec 03 11:13:08 2014:

thanks,

I have posted the files again. I hope the noise profile will make it to the 1.6 release!
José on Sat Dec 06 12:19:04 2014:

Great job, i'm newbie in DT and i'm enjoying a lot working my photos with it, i'm just starting on the release 1.4.2 for OS X 10.8.5 with 2,3 GHz Intel Core i7 processor.

I´m going to try to explain some issues and improvements I see interesting for the final version and concretely for Mac:

1. Importing from camera or card doesn't works on release for Mac 1.4.2 and 1.5.1 , trying with Canon Eos 650D and 2 different SD cards Kingston and Sandisk. The devices are visible or mounted in the Finder, but DT can´t detect it.

2. Ungroup lateral and central panels to move some to a 2nd display.

3. Change font size proportionally to the width of panels, when you change this in preferences, so nothing is hidden.

4. On candidate for Mac 1.5.1, some fonts size (tags 4 ex.) and icons (presets and reset) are smaller than on release for Mac 1.4.2.

Even so, i´m going to keep enjoying with DT and more in the future.

Thanks.
photosoup on Sat Dec 06 14:31:29 2014:

Hi there! Also on my system with OS X 10.8.5 I get small fonts/icons inthe darktabel 1.5.1 RC UI, wich makes it almost unusable for me in some sections of the UI.
parafin on Sat Dec 06 21:35:34 2014:

Small font sizes were already fixed with rc3: https://github.com/darktable-org/darktable/releases/download/release-1.5.3/darktable-1.5.3.5.dmg
About importing from camera/card see last entry in FAQ: http://www.darktable.org/about/faq/
José on Wed Dec 10 13:30:39 2014:

Thanks Parafin and congratulations for new release, my 650D has been detected after killing the process "PTPCamera" on Activity Monitor App, following your instructions. But still can not detect SD card Directly connected to the Mac card reader, i can't find how do this.
parafin on Wed Dec 10 14:56:58 2014:

We use libgphoto2 for importing from camera and I guess it doesn't recognize card readers on OS X. But there's really no point in treating card reader as a camera, files are visible in the file system and you can either copy them using file manager (Finder) or import directory in DT and then use copy or move button (in case of copy don't forget to remove filmroll with card reader path).