Versions in Digikam

[Carsten Bessing]

Hi

I'm considering switching from iPhoto in order to make my image archive independent from a specific platform and application - and to store all the metadata in the image files. Currently I'm in the process of installing Digikam on my mac via MacPorts, and it seems that it has got everything I could ask for.

My plan is to export my images from iPhoto (which will embed the iPhoto tags in the files), then check and maybe correct my folder structure and file naming and finally import into Digikam. Most of my images are jpg, but some are (Canon) raw - these I plan to convert to DNG - and from now on only shoot raw (now Panasonic) and convert to DNG for archival/management in Digikam.

Now to my question ;-)

As I understand it, Digikam doesn't do non destructive editing. And one thing I can't figure out from the manual is how to handle versions. From iPhoto I'm used to only seeing one version of each image. If I edit a raw file, iPhoto saves the edit as a jpg and only shows this jpg. But it keeps the raw file so that I can go back to that if I want.

How do I do something similar in Digikam: Keep the original after an edit, but only show the edited version - if an edited version exists?

Thank you for any advice and help.

/Carsten
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[Michael G. Hansen]

Hi Carsten,

On 03/17/2010 01:07 PM, Carsten Bessing wrote:
> As I understand it, Digikam doesn't do non destructive editing. And one
> thing I can't figure out from the manual is how to handle versions. From
> iPhoto I'm used to only seeing one version of each image. If I edit a raw
> file, iPhoto saves the edit as a jpg and only shows this jpg. But it keeps
> the raw file so that I can go back to that if I want.
>
> How do I do something similar in Digikam: Keep the original after an edit,
> but only show the edited version - if an edited version exists?

Both nondestructive editing, versioning and hiding RAWs if corresponding
JPGs exist are not available yet, but there are already wishlist reports
on bugs.kde.org (I don't have their IDs at the moment). I am not quite
up-to-date on whether somebody is really trying to get them implemented,
though.

See also the thread 'Organizing mode' which was on this mailinglist
these days, probably just before you subscribed to it ;-)

Michael
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[Martin (KDE)]

Am Mittwoch, 17. März 2010 schrieb Carsten Bessing:

> Hi
>
> I'm considering switching from iPhoto in order to make my image
> archive independent from a specific platform and application - and
> to store all the metadata in the image files. Currently I'm in the
> process of installing Digikam on my mac via MacPorts, and it seems
> that it has got everything I could ask for.
>
> My plan is to export my images from iPhoto (which will embed the
> iPhoto tags in the files), then check and maybe correct my folder
> structure and file naming and finally import into Digikam. Most of
> my images are jpg, but some are (Canon) raw - these I plan to
> convert to DNG - and from now on only shoot raw (now Panasonic)
> and convert to DNG for archival/management in Digikam.
>
> Now to my question ;-)
>
> As I understand it, Digikam doesn't do non destructive editing. And
> one thing I can't figure out from the manual is how to handle
> versions. From iPhoto I'm used to only seeing one version of each
> image. If I edit a raw file, iPhoto saves the edit as a jpg and
> only shows this jpg. But it keeps the raw file so that I can go
> back to that if I want.
>
> How do I do something similar in Digikam: Keep the original after
> an edit, but only show the edited version - if an edited version
> exists?

I think this is a major problem with most photo editing software
today. From my point of view versioning does not make sense for the
whole picture. What mostly is needed is a kind of recipe what I have
done with the picture an a small jpeg with a result preview. This
recipe can be changed and versioned by a full featured revision
control system (like git, svn, cvs ...) and ideally can be run by a
batch script to generate final jpegs, pngs ...

I think ufraw has something basic recipe like stuff to process raw
photos, but it is missing much (but it is getting better). I heard of
photoshop doing it the way I described, but I don't use windows and I
don't like to pay 1000 Euros.

Currently I use different folder for my internal revision control
system but I don't have that many changes on the jpeg/png level. And
here my main problem is the missing recipe stuff. Often I want to
change only a little bit from the stuff I have done before (a little
less sharpening, little more saturation, a slightly different curve
...). Currently I have to do all the stuff again. Besides that, I have
to remember all the things I have done to the picture ( and I am
getting old, so it is not an easy task).

Sorry, so I have no solution but thoughts about a similar problem.

>
> Thank you for any advice and help.
>
> /Carsten

Kindly

Martin
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