Tools of each workspace¶
On top of the settings in the Edit panel, Darkroom offers the tools described here. They are available in every workspace (see The interface), each placed where users of that workspace look for it: the table below shows where they sit in the Darkroom workspace and in the workspaces for users of Adobe Camera Raw, Capture One, DxO PhotoLab and darktable. In the Darkroom workspace, those that don't fit in an existing section get their own panels, which open as soon as they are used.
Their settings are saved with the photo, copied and pasted, kept in presets and in the history like any other (Advanced Tools group of selective copy).
Where to find them¶
| Tool | Darkroom, Camera Raw | Capture One | DxO PhotoLab | darktable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brightness | Light | Exposure | Selective Tone (Midtones) | shadows and highlights |
| Levels | Levels | Levels | Light › Levels | rgb levels |
| Channel Mixer | Channel Mixer | Adjust | Channel Mixer | color calibration |
| Tone Equalizer | Tone Equalizer | Adjust | Light | tone equalizer |
| Adaptive Lighting | Tone Equalizer | Adjust (equalizer) | Light | tone equalizer |
| Glow | Effects | Adjust | Effects | glow |
| Grain types | Effects › Grain › Look | Grain | Grain | grain |
| 3D LUT (.cube) | LUT | Style | LUT Grading | lut 3D |
| Targeted Color | Targeted Color | Color Editor | HSL | color zones |
| Saturated Colors Protection | Saturated Colors Protection | Base Characteristics | Color Rendering | input color profile |
| Base curve | Tone Curve | Base Characteristics | Tone Curve | base curve |
| Miniature effect | Lens Blur › Miniature | Lens Blur › Miniature | Effects › Lens Blur | blurs |
| Saturation by tone | Color Grading | Color Balance | Style - Toning | color balance rgb |
| Moiré | Detail | Moiré | Moiré | denoise (profiled) |
| Clarity method | Effects | Clarity | Contrast | local contrast |
| Normalize | Color (below White Balance) | Normalize | White Balance | white balance |
| Refine Saturation | Tone Curve | Curve | Tone Curve | rgb curve |
| Luma curve | Tone Curve › Luma | Curve › Luma | Tone Curve › Luma | rgb curve › Luma |
| Control point | Masking › Point | Layers › Point | Local Adjustments › Point | Masks › Point |
| Mask amount | Masking | Layers | Local Adjustments | Masks |
| Red eye | Remove › Red Eye | Remove › Red Eye | Repair › Red Eye | Retouch › Red Eye |
| Censorize (pixelate) | Remove › Censorize | Remove › Censorize | Repair › Censorize | Retouch › Censorize |
The control point and red eye are described with masks and the Remove tool, the export frame in Import and export, Edit › Equalize Exposures in the Library. On top of these, for viewing: waveform, RGB parade and vectorscope (right-click the histogram), the focus mask, the gamut warning and the color sampler (View menu), and keyboard-and-wheel adjustment in the Capture One workspace.
Brightness¶
Brightens or darkens the midtones without moving black or white, keeping colours.
Levels¶
Input black and white, midtone gamma, output black and white (for a matte look or softer whites).
Channel Mixer¶
Each output channel (red, green, blue) becomes a mix of the three input channels: toning, colour swaps, infrared looks.
Tone Equalizer¶
Nine sliders, from deep shadows (−8 EV) to white (0 EV): each brightens or darkens the areas of that brightness. The adjustment follows the brightness of regions rather than of each pixel: detail contrast is kept, with no halo along edges.
Adaptive Lighting¶
Brightens what is darker than middle grey and holds back highlights a little, based on the brightness of each region. Slight, Medium, Strong or any Intensity.
Glow¶
Makes bright areas glow:
- Diffusion: a soft halo over all light tones, like a diffusion filter;
- Bloom: highlights spill over their surroundings;
- Halation: a red-orange fringe around lights, as on film.
Range sets which tones glow, Spread how far the halo reaches, Warmth its colour.
Grain types¶
In Grain › Look, the grain type: Fine (default), Silver Rich (marked in midtones and shadows), Soft, Cubic, Tabular (subtle in highlights), Harsh. The 100 % preview shows the chosen type.
3D LUT (.cube)¶
Applies a 3D LUT to the rendering, with an Intensity. At the top of the list, the tables of Darkroom's film looks. Import a LUT (.cube)… stores the file in Darkroom's LUT folder (Open the LUT folder to drop several files at once). A photo finds its LUT by name: to open its settings on another computer, import the same LUT there.
Targeted Color¶
Adjusts a specific colour picked on the photo: click the eyedropper, then the photo. Up to eight colours, each with:
- Hue, Saturation and Luminance Shift;
- Hue, Saturation, Luminance Uniformity: brings neighbouring colours closer to the picked one (more even skin, more uniform foliage);
- Range: how far neighbouring colours are affected.
Base curve¶
The starting curve of a raw photo: Profile's Own (default), Extra Shadow (more open shadows), High Contrast, or Linear Response (no curve, a flat rendering: a starting point for heavy editing).
Saturation by tone¶
Sets the saturation of shadows, midtones and highlights, each on its own (neutral shadows without muting the rest, livelier midtones, less colourful highlights).
Moiré¶
Removes the colour patterns that appear on fine fabrics, screens, feathers or roof tiles (false colours from the sensor), by smoothing colour more widely than colour noise reduction. Pushed all the way, very small coloured details lose some of their colour too.
Clarity method¶
Two ways of applying Clarity: Natural (default, colours unchanged) or Punch (saturation follows the depth added by Clarity and Texture, for a denser look).
Normalize¶
To give the same subject the same colour across a series (skin, a product, a grey card): Pick Target then a click on the photo saves the colour of that point; on another photo, Normalize then a click on the matching point sets white balance and exposure so that it takes that colour. The target stays saved from one photo to the next (raw photos).
Refine Saturation¶
A contrasty curve (Parametric and Point tabs) also boosts colours; Refine Saturation removes that extra, the curve then acting mostly on brightness.
Luma curve¶
Luma tab of the tone curve: the curve acts on luminance and the three channels follow together. An S-curve there adds contrast without boosting saturation (unlike the Point curve).
Waveform, RGB parade, vectorscope¶
Right-click the histogram: the waveform shows the levels of each column of the photo (top is white), the RGB parade the three channels side by side, the vectorscope the spread of colours (the orange line marks skin tones).
Focus mask¶
View › Show Focus Mask tints sharp edges green: check the focus of a series at a glance. It only shows on screen.
Saturated Colors Protection¶
Colours too saturated for the output space are brought back gently toward its limit, at equal brightness, instead of being clipped channel by channel (which skews their hue and flattens gradients: flowers, stage lights, sunset skies). Intensity sets how much; the gamut warning takes it into account.
Gamut warning¶
View › Show Gamut Warning marks in magenta the colours the chosen export space (sRGB, Display P3, Adobe RGB) cannot render, so you can fix before exporting the colours that would be clipped.
Color sampler¶
View › Show Color Sampler (S in the Camera Raw workspace): click the photo to place a
sample point (up to 9), right-click to remove it. The R, G, B values (0 to 255) of each point
show at the top of the view and follow your adjustments.
Keyboard-and-wheel adjustment (Capture One workspace)¶
Hold a key and turn the mouse wheel (or use the arrow keys) to adjust a slider without aiming at the panel; Space resets it. A short press keeps the key's usual action.
| Key | Slider | Key | Slider |
|---|---|---|---|
Q |
Exposure | A |
Highlights |
W |
Contrast | S |
Shadows |
E |
Brightness | D |
Whites |
R |
Saturation | F |
Blacks |