When comparing PhotoFiltre 7 vs Darktable, the Slant community recommends Darktable for most people. In the question“What are the best free Photoshop alternatives?” Darktable is ranked 4th while PhotoFiltre 7 is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose Darktable is:
There are a lot of different modules.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Portable version
Pro Allows quick access to predefined folders
A toolbar at the top of the interface allows quick access to predefined folders that allow quick access to selections, masks, patterns.
Pro Allows adding to and substracting from selection
It's possible to add to or subtract from a selection using ctrl and alt keys.
Pro Supports masks
Masks (called PhotoMasque in PhotoFiltre) change the alpha channel based on the mask.
Pro Has an erase tool
The erase tool works like a brush revealing the bottom layer.
Pro Automatic stroke and fill option
Lets you fill in and draw an outline of a selection.
Pro Supports several layers types
PhotoFiltre supports bitmap, text, settings (gamma, contrast, hue) and color (transparency) vector types.
Pro Reasonable selection of brushes
PhotoFiltre has round, square and oblique line brushes of different sizes and allows custom shapes to be used as brushes. Gradient colors as well as effects such as 3D, pastels, charcoal can be used with brushes.
Pro Multiple selection methods
PhotoFiltre allows selecting via shapes such as rectangle (square and rounded), ellipse, triangle and rhombus, or in a free-form way. Selections can be saved to be used later.
Pro Good selection of filters available
Includes filters that allow adjusting brightness, contrast, saturation, gamma as well as stylize the image with watercolor, pastels, Indian ink, pointillism, puzzle effect filters.
Pro Feature rich
There are a lot of different modules.
Pro Fast and Flexible
A very well considered UI makes edits fast and fluid. You can redo or undo any step without disturbing any other part of your edit. The UI doesn't get in the way.
Pro Good batch editing capabilities
Darktable allows applying the same set of operations to multiple images and saving your history stack as a style (you can pick exactly which modules).
Pro Edits are saved to a separate file
Original files are untouched by any edits. No worries on what was done before or if an accidental save occurs. All work is separate from the originals.
Pro Customizable
Darktable allows favoriting modules and remapping hotkeys.
Pro Allows for local adjustments
Most modules, by default, affect the whole image, but have the option to only be applied to masked-off areas (be those drawn masks, parametric ones, or a combination of the two).
Pro Supports tethered capture
On the camera set it to use USB Remote. Open Darktable, on the left side under Import, click scan for devices. The camera should appear. Click on tethered shoot. Next on the right side look for the gear icon above the battery n/a and click it. go to the session options tab, and change the base directory to the location you want to save photos. close that settings window and try taking a picture. It should come right up.
Cons
Con Some PhotoFiltre functionality is locked behind a paywall
The following features are available in PhotoFiltre Studio X:
- Animated Gif
- Vectorial Path
- PhotoPNG
- RAW Format
- 8BF Filters
- Tool Nozzles
- Tool Deform
- Tool Retouch (red eye, ...)
- Advaced and Inverse Eraser
- Perspective correction
- Horizon correction
- Border effects for layers
- Transparent gradient in Alpha Chanel
- White Balance
- Adjust filter using curves
- Deform using curve
Con Can be overwhelming
There are a lot of different modules. You're going to need some time watching tutorials to understand how to get the best out of it.
Con For tethered capture on Linux you may need additional software installed that is not a dependency for Darktable
First make sure you have gphoto2 and libgphoto2.
Con No official Windows version
Whilst official builds exist for Linux and OSX, this isn't the case for Windows (though unofficial versions do exist).
