# darktable-org/darktable

darktable is an open source photography workflow application and raw developer

Repository: https://github.com/darktable-org/darktable
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/darktable
Homepage: https://www.darktable.org
Language: C
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-08-26T20:53:52+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5278, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 6, "gap_med": 66, "n_releases_24m": 8}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 12992, forks 1409 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:00.339706+00:00)

## What it is
darktable is an open-source photography workflow application and non-destructive raw developer, acting as a virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers. It manages digital negatives in a database, offers GPU-accelerated (OpenCL) raw processing with professional color management, and supports tethered shooting and extensible processing modules.

## Use cases
- develop and edit raw photos from my camera non-destructively
- organize and tag thousands of photos in a searchable library
- free alternative to Adobe Lightroom for raw processing
- tethered shooting with live view from my camera
- export photos to web galleries or Piwigo albums
- apply lens corrections and color management to images
- process high dynamic range and scientific images in floating point

## When to choose
- you want a free, open-source raw developer with deep manual control over processing algorithms
- you need a photo library manager with database-backed filtering, tagging, and rating
- you want non-destructive editing where originals are never modified
- you need GPU-accelerated processing and professional ICC color management
- you shoot tethered and want live view camera control on Linux, Windows, or macOS

## When to avoid
- you want a simple, beginner-friendly editor with a gentle learning curve
- you need to import presets or edit histories from Lightroom or other raw editors
- you require DCP camera profile support (only ICC profiles are supported)
- you only need quick casual photo touch-ups rather than a full workflow tool

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: stable
- function: image-processing, gui, file-system, plugin-system
- domain: photography, image-processing, media, desktop-applications
- platform: windows, bsd, cross-platform
- tags: raw-developer, photo-management, non-destructive-editing, opencl, tethered-shooting, color-management, lightroom-alternative, linux, macos, desktop

## Member repositories
- darktable-org/darktable (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:00.339706+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:13:37.144156+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/darktable-org/darktable (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:00.339706+00:00, sha fb2c5b1a23dd)
  - homepage: https://www.darktable.org (fetched 2026-08-29T08:09:54.517635+00:00, sha c6519a46d780)
  - site_page: https://www.darktable.org/about (fetched 2026-08-29T08:09:54.527977+00:00, sha e6d6c9725309)
  - site_page: https://www.darktable.org/install (fetched 2026-08-29T08:09:54.530150+00:00, sha faadc2b4ec74)
  - site_page: https://www.darktable.org/about/features (fetched 2026-08-29T08:09:54.531921+00:00, sha 2e8641a52d45)
  - site_page: https://www.darktable.org/about/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T08:09:54.533591+00:00, sha 7d19a807ea65)
  - site_page: https://www.darktable.org/about/meta (fetched 2026-08-29T08:09:54.535955+00:00, sha 89c3359ed628)
  - site_page: https://www.darktable.org/about/screenshots (fetched 2026-08-29T08:09:54.537573+00:00, sha dad734c333d9)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.