It would be great to make some improvements to the dam: in particular the ability to delete associated jpg and side cars automatically
Welcome here,
well, I want the OOC JPEG to be automatically stacked with the RAW file (and the JPEG to remain untouched during development).
And using DOP files is one method to save the development results.
If you prefer to rely on DxOâs database, donât âŠ
1 Like
I am still testing trial version after looking for a replacement (used LR until subscription came, then CaptureOne) now need costly upgrade since camera upgrade (xt50) and like DXO, masking takes a lot of getting used to and the DAM is not great. I prefer to use file structure rather than catalog if possible. There are alternatives but many are too AI focussed for my taste)
Just hpoed for easier masking and aa better photo organiser. Agree stacked would be great but i donât know the app well enough to judge. just initial thoughts
I use imatch as my DAM, works great with Photolab. Can be easily configured to delete, modify or move jpegs and sidecar files.
Thank you Stefan! I will will give that a try
You can continue to use Lightroom Classic as your DAM. For free. So long as you have an Adobe account, it will work, even without a plan.
a late reply, hit the forum post limit if 4 posts on 1st day. Odd rule!
Anyway : That would be interesting (LR) , i had no idea. I have lightroom 6, so maybe too ancient. But I just opened it and it came up with a pop up saying a DXO plugin was installed.
I am not sure it does much, it does not show the raw files only the jpgs and clicking one the icon representing a raw fil deos not do anything (I would have perhaps expected it to open the file in dxo)
I also had a look at iMatch but that is out of my budget.
Wish DXO would add some DAM functionality (asociating jpg, raw and sidecars for joint management/culling/moving location etc)
Have a look at Darktable which is an open source raw developer and dam and is also multi platform
Iâm sorry but I have never seen such badly designed software. I installed a copy to try it out about 8 months ago. I found it very difficult to do anything with, without having to find tutorials for the slightest action. back then I gave up after less than a day but I just opened it again, just to see if I had badly remembered how bad it wasâŠ
As an experienced software developer, I expected a bit more than what appears to be a couple of default file icons for files that everything else can read.
Iâm blowed if I can remember what to do next and, frankly, I donât care. Maybe itâs time I liberated the disk space it occupies.
1 Like
I like open-source and not only because it is free (I donate to their development if it is of use as I do not like âclosedâ envirnments).
I have also repeatedly tried Darktable on and off for the past year or two.
I have had excellent results but really struggle with the interface, workflow and DAM.
It is simply not user friendly enough. (for me). I would love to see it succeed but the weird processing methods (to a non geek) put me off. Just the basic adjustments are non-intuitive (to me) and completely different form any otehr raw processor But I keep coming back to it to see if it gets easier.
1 Like
I have to admit that I have never used Dark table in earnest, just a passing interest 
I use Photo Mechanic Plus but it is rather expensive 
Mmmm, I have confused Darktable with digiKam. I have heard a lot of people use digiKam as their dam. Disclaimer - I have not used this either!
Be warned, digiKam can produce non-standard metadata tags that not all other apps can read.
1 Like
This depends on whether your LR version supports your camera.
My old cameras are supported by LR 5.7 and so far I have received this PL plug-in (intended for LR Classic) with every PL version.
check the LR Menu â File â Additional Modules (or similar)
and for the individual modules
LR transfers your (recognized) raw file(s) to PL x,
(â> External Selections)
where you can edit it (e.g., noise reduction)
and send it back to LR as a DNG.
Since I donât use it regularly, please refer to the PL manual for further instructions. If you need more details, others can help you. 
Thanks Wofgang! it would have been great but i switched to capture one when lr6 would not support my fuji(after canon) (then went to capture oneâŠexpensiveâŠ) and then I decided i would not pay full price fofr a new version of that just because i upgradedagain to an x-t50âŠ
So am looking for a new RAW editor (DXO Photolab 8 on top of list for now but still trial. But also want some organisation which dxo does not seem to offer.
As this is just a hobby, i do not want to for out endlesslyâŠ
Jpgs, raws and sidecars produce lots of junk so an easy way to handle all together would be nice. If DXO had that sorted, I would have already purchased. (and i wish masking was more intuitive/better)
But thank you for your kind help!!
I also find DarkTableâs interface to be terrible. Itâs worse than enterprise software. The biggest issue I have with open source in general is they only seem to attract technical contributors, rarely designers.
1 Like
Also look at Ansel, which is a fork of Darktable v4 and is an effort to âfixâ all of the coding and UX weirdness, bad decisions, and internal team fighting that have plagued DT the past 2-3 years.
I gave Ansel a try, but as of a few weeks ago, it was not a fully functional editor. AP disclaims with this fact. And I donât care whatâs typical of FOSS, I donât install software that triggers the antivirus.
I do think darktable is worth the effort, but if production is important, there is no obvious workflow, and the up front investment in time is not going to be worth it for a lot of photographers. If you use LR for a long time and switch to DxO PL, there are some big differences, but you can see where to go right away, because itâs mapped out right in front of you. Adobe is the market leader and much is borrowed from them, for good reason. You see plenty about darktable being a free LR alternative, but you wonât find the devs and supporters promoting it that way. A slo-mo photographer like me has nothing to lose by giving it a fair and prolonged appraisal. I cancelled the Adobe subscription last year, and PL8 is always right there.
I have seen Ansel a while ago and will give it another peek, but i fear, although better than DT, it does not have an easy enough workflow for me, nor does it have any asset management that I am after.
On1 in this respect is much better in this respect (asset management) and (of course) i like the price, but am not the biggest fan of the editor.
In my view DXo could become the goto editor IF, it did not succumb to greed, avoid subscription, let people skip upgrades and still offer upgrade pricing for those that do not need/want to upgrade regularly. DAM and masking improvements are necessary (esp DAM).
If they lowered the pricing and communicated their policy clearly going forward, I believe they could almost âown this marketâ.
A lot of people are fed up with Adobe but hesitant to switch and then get stuck in a similar situation.
Now they are priced for the more âdiscerningâ customers; I think they will do better if they targetted a wider audience. That does not mean dumbing down.