Darktable 5.4.0 released
Darktable v5.4.0 is now available as a free and open-source update for its photography workflow application. The release benefited from extensive development involving over 996 commits contributed by community members.
Documentation updates are still pending for this major version, but contributions are encouraged to help complete the information provided with the release itself.
A significant addition in v5.4 is the Capture Sharpening module. This tool attempts to recover detail lost due to blur from in-camera processing or other Gaussian effects like diffraction and anti-aliasing filters.
Another key improvement involves the new tone mapper, built using Blender's AgX display transform as inspiration. It offers more detailed controls than the old Sigmoid method, including user-adjustable exposure white and black points plus a pivot point for shaping the tone curve. The output tends to favor gradual color desaturation in highlights, reminiscent of film, while maintaining natural color representation elsewhere.
Multiple workspaces are now supported within Darktable. Users can set up distinct environments with separate databases and configurations directly from the preferences dialog upon launch. Several UI refinements have landed too. Displaying ICC profiles properly on Wayland systems was one goal achieved, as were updates like a busy cursor during view changes and standard "Window" menu options for macOS.
The tone equalizer module has received advanced controls, now accessible via an 'advanced' tab instead of being exposed in basic mode initially. Navigation window zoom behavior is also improved; after free-hand panning or zooming, the selected zoom level will automatically snap to the closest predefined match.
Performance-wise, there are notable gains across the board. The Lut3D module has been optimized for various speed-ups, potentially up to 20% depending on your system, and Darktable now handles large metadata reads during startup more quickly if data is stored locally (like on a hard drive or NAS) rather than requiring an SSD.
Bug fixes addressed several known issues, including problems with hierarchical style handling, managing extra audio/text sidecar files appropriately, module-based collection restoration errors, export module reset functionality, XMP sidecar corruption under specific conditions, image scaling affecting running exports, the main darkroom canvas filling unexpectedly during large zooms, and a sub-pixel panning issue at very high zoom levels (1600%). macOS users also see fixes for drag-and-drop location assignment problems.
The Lua API has been updated to v9.6.0. New functions include darktable.query_event() for checking event registration status, alongside events that trigger upon collection changes. The approach now avoids throwing Lua errors on empty table lookups or missing keys; instead, it returns nil values. Other updates ensure better displays of UTF-8 translations under Windows and added action support within the scripting environment.
A change regarding supported platforms is also notable: Darktable 5.4 officially drops support for Intel Macs and macOS versions below 14.0. The export module's preference options have been revised to align with current metadata limitations, particularly concerning some older file types.
This release marks another significant step forward in camera support for the software. New base compatibility has landed for models like the Canon EOS R5 Mark II (likely a typo, should be R5) and the EOS R1. Updates were also provided to existing color matrixes from various manufacturers covering 40-plus supported camera models overall.
The user manual emphasizes that this latest iteration has enhanced or included features like capture sharpening and tone mapping. It's worth reiterating the documentation gap for v5.4; although improved, it still needs community input to be fully complete. That said, performance tuning continues; besides the Lut3D speed-ups already mentioned, better handling of ICC profiles from colord under Wayland helps ensure consistent color across systems.
Further UI tweaks include smoother responsiveness during liquify use and more precise options for creating crop areas. AVIF export support has been added, with user-selectable manual chroma subsampling settings now also available.
The reliability of Darktable saw a boost through the fixes addressed in this release cycle, tackling problems head-on, from hierarchical style management to preventing GUI hangs on start-ups (though that seems unlikely based on commits alone). The codebase also benefits from ensuring view updates happen before processing GUI events and properly handling empty table lookups with nil instead of errors.
For developers using Lua scripts, the API update provides more granular control (darktable.query_event()) along with event notifications for collection changes. This makes scripting even more powerful for automation tasks.
Regarding hardware support details: while v5.4 itself doesn't list specific models beyond Canon updates (perhaps due to the way it's phrased), RawSpeed, which powers much of Darktable's raw development, has incorporated new color matrices covering cameras like the EOS 2000D/1500D/Rebel T7/Kiss X90. Support exists now for other brands, including the Nikon Z range (Z7 and Z5_2), Leica, and various Sony models via RawSpeed updates.
Finally, a technical dependency note: users should ensure their system has LibRaw v0.22-PreRC1 or later installed to benefit fully from the new camera support and color matrix features introduced in this version.
Release Darktable 5.4.0
We're proud to announce the new feature release of darktable, 5.4.0!
