processing modules on darktable 5.6 user manual

module header

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

At the top of each processing module is the module header.

Click on the module name to expand the module and display the parameters that control its operation.

By default darktable will only allow one processing module to be expanded at a time – if you click the header of another module, the previously-opened module’s controls are collapsed. If you want to expand more than one module, you may expand further modules by Shift+clicking on the header and all previously expanded modules will remain open. This behaviour can be reversed via a setting in preferences > darkroom.

multiple instances

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Many of darktable’s modules can be applied more than once in the pixelpipe. Each instance of a module behaves independently, taking its input from the module below it in the pixelpipe and delivering its output to the next module.

As with the base instance of a module, all instances can be moved independently within the pixelpipe either by holding Ctrl+Shift while dragging & dropping or by choosing “move up” or “move down” in the multiple instances drop-down menu.

presets

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Presets allow you to store commonly-used module settings for future use. Some modules already come with pre-defined (internal) presets and you may also define your own (user-defined). Both internal and user-defined presets can be shown by clicking the presets menu in the module header.

Most of the functionality described here applies to processing modules only. However, presets can also be used with some utility modules. When used with utility modules, the functionality to auto-apply or auto-show presets based on image Exif data is not available.

module controls

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This section describes how to interact with processing module controls.

🔗sliders

Sliders offer five different methods of interaction, depending on the level of control you require.

left-click (set): Click anywhere in the slider area to set the value. You can also click and drag to change it. You don’t have to aim for the triangle or even the line – you can click anywhere in the entire height of the slider, including the label.
mouse wheel (adjust): Hover over the slider with your mouse, then use your mouse wheel to adjust the value. You can alter the default speed at which the mouse scroll adjusts a slider by scrolling over that slider while in visual shortcut mapping mode.
keyboard arrow keys (adjust): When the slider has focus you can hover over the slider with your mouse, then use your keyboard’s arrow keys (←/↓ and →/↑) to adjust the value. In order to give focus to the widget without changing the current value you can right-click, then right-click again.
right-click (pop-up edit): When your mouse is over a slider right-clicking enables a multi-functional pop-up below the slider for fine control with your mouse or numerical entry using the keyboard.

curves

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The base curve, tone curve and rgb curve modules use curves to control the tones in the image. These modules have some common features that warrant separate discussion.

🔗nodes

In their default state, curves are straight lines, defined by two anchor nodes at the top-right and bottom-left of the graph. You can move the nodes to modify the curve or generate new nodes by clicking on the curve. Ctrl+click to generate a new node at the x-location of the mouse pointer and the corresponding y-location of the current curve – this adds a node without the risk of accidentally modifying the curve. Up to 20 nodes can be defined per curve. To remove a node, click on it and drag it out of the widget area.

wavelets

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wavelets are used to separate (or decompose) an image into a number of distinct layers, each containing a different level of detail. After decomposing an image in this way, a module can limit its processing to one or more of these detail layers, and then piece the layers back together again at the end to form its output. This allows us to be surgical about which features in the image we wish to impact when working with a module.

deprecated modules

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The darktable team regularly reviews old modules and updates their implementation where issues are found or updated science means that they can be improved. Most of the time we try to update existing modules with new functionality but occasionally that becomes problematic, often due to the overhead of having to maintain multiple versions of the module. In such circumstances a new replacement module is created and the old module becomes deprecated.