Installation and first launch¶

System requirements¶

Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
A graphics card compatible with Vulkan or DirectX 12 (any recent NVIDIA, AMD or Intel card). If the computer has several, Darkroom automatically picks the most powerful one.
At least 8 GB of memory (16 GB recommended for sensors above 40 MP).

Install¶

Darkroom comes as a portable version: a folder you unzip wherever you like, with no installation.

Item	Role
`Darkroom.exe`	the application
`darkroom_raw.dll`	RAW file decoding
`models\`	the artificial intelligence models (optional)
`LISEZMOI.txt`	what you need to know to get started
`LICENCES-TIERS.txt`	the licenses of third-party components
`sources\`	the source code of the RAW decoding (LGPL license)

Launch Darkroom.exe. On first launch, Darkroom opens on your Pictures folder: choose a photo folder in the left panel (Browse tab) or with File › Open Folder… (Ctrl+O). After that, Darkroom reopens the last folder you used (see Open a folder).

On the first launch after an install or an update, the graphics card prepares Darkroom's rendering engine: a small window shows the progress, and it can take a minute or two. Later launches are quick.

Updates¶

At startup, Darkroom checks whether a new version has been released. If so, a window shows what's new:

Install and Restart: Darkroom downloads the new version (about 700 MB), puts it in place of the current one, in the same folder, then restarts. Your settings, presets, collections, license and photos are not touched: they are not in the application folder. The download can be canceled.
Later: the window closes; it will come back at the next startup.

The Help › Check for Updates… menu checks at any time. The Help › Check for Updates at Startup checkbox turns off the automatic check: it is Darkroom's only connection to the Internet, and it only reads the number of the latest version and sends nothing.

Write-protected folder

If the Darkroom folder cannot be modified (for example in C:\Program Files), the installation stops without changing anything and offers the download page: in that case, unzip the new version in place of the old one.

Adobe profiles¶

For rendering very close to Adobe Lightroom's, Darkroom uses the Adobe profiles (camera colors, Adobe Raw and creative profiles, lens profiles) if they are installed on the computer, by Lightroom or by Adobe DNG Converter (free). Without them, Darkroom uses the colors described in the RAW file and tells you so at startup.

Installing the profiles without Lightroom

Download and install Adobe DNG Converter for free, then restart Darkroom: it installs the same profiles as Lightroom.

Trial version and license¶

Darkroom is free of charge during its beta-test phase (it may become paid software later, see Licenses). It works for 14 days as a trial version, with all its features; after that, a license, also free during the beta, is required: it is valid for one computer.

Help › License… menu: the window shows your computer's ID and the Request Your Free License button, which requests it by email.
You receive a .licence file: open it from the same window.

Darkroom's terms of use are shown by Help › License Agreement.

Linux¶

Darkroom is also available for Linux, as an AppImage: a single file to run, with no installation, that contains the application, the RAW decoding and the AI models.

Systems: Ubuntu 24.04 or later and its derivatives (Linux Mint 22, Pop!_OS…), Debian 13, Fedora 40, Arch, Manjaro, openSUSE Tumbleweed; 64-bit (x86_64).
Graphics card: a Vulkan driver, included out of the box for Intel and AMD. For an NVIDIA card, install the proprietary driver (Ubuntu: Software & Updates › Additional Drivers).
Run: make the file executable (right-click › Properties › Executable as Program, or chmod +x Darkroom-*.AppImage), then double-click it.
Settings are kept in ~/.config/darkroom, caches in ~/.cache/darkroom.
Updates: the new AppImage replaces the file you launched, in the same place and under the same name (see Updates).

Adobe profiles. Adobe provides neither Lightroom nor DNG Converter for Linux. Darkroom finds their profiles:

on the Windows partition of a dual-boot computer where Lightroom or Adobe DNG Converter is installed, as soon as it is mounted: open it once in the file manager before launching Darkroom;
in a folder copied from Windows (C:\ProgramData\Adobe\CameraRaw), to be selected in the Adobe Profiles Not Installed window › Choose Folder…;
with Adobe DNG Converter installed through Wine.

The choice takes effect at the next startup.

License. A license is valid for one computer and one system: to use Darkroom on both Windows and Linux on the same computer, request a second (free) license with the ID shown under Linux.

Artificial intelligence models¶

The AI features (Magic Brush, subject and sky, people, AI Erase, depth, noise reduction, My Style) use the models in the models folder next to the application. They are optional: without them, Darkroom works normally and only the AI features are unavailable. See Artificial intelligence.