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As an Ubuntu user and a beginner photographer, which of these programs (RAWtherapee or darktable) would give me the best head start and has the most user friendly interface?

The emphasis in this question is on ease of use, for someone that has never encountered RAW editing software before, which I have not.

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    \$\begingroup\$ The question, as posed is highly subjective and that increases the chances it will be closed here. You may want to consider rewording it such it solicites a plus/minus response versus "my favorite blah-blah rocks and the other sucks" answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Joanne C
    Commented Jun 19, 2012 at 14:22
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    \$\begingroup\$ look at What tools are available for RAW image processing in Linux? and Is there something similar to Adobe Lightroom for Linux? \$\endgroup\$
    – K''
    Commented Jun 19, 2012 at 15:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AkramMellice while they are very informative answers, I found them to be lacking regarding "ease of use" information \$\endgroup\$
    – Switchkick
    Commented Jun 19, 2012 at 21:28
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Switchkick - Ease of use is personal. I find vi easy to use, my mother? Not so much. I realize that this is a bit more of an extreme, but it demonstrated that the question is still subjective and opinion oriented. \$\endgroup\$
    – Joanne C
    Commented Jun 20, 2012 at 8:07
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    \$\begingroup\$ See Good Subjective, Bad Subjective. Joanne isn't trying to be a jerk or argue. It's the charter/mission of the Stack Exchange group of sites to to stay away from comparisons like this. You've gotten one answer, but you might actually get more and more helpful answers by making some tweaks to the question. I see you've been on other SE sites so I'm sure you know how this works. Please drop into the chat room to discuss — you're right that comments aren't for debates. \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Jun 20, 2012 at 11:35

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I have tried both programs but have more experience with RAWTherapee as I've only recently become aware of Darktable. If you're main aim is to find something that helps you work with RAW files as a relative beginner I would suggest Darktable, primarily because the GUI is just more user friendly. One slight snag I found in RAWTherapee was expanded windows would often not respond to me trying to minimize again, although this may have been a snag in my view settings rather than a general software bug. I think Darktable has developed some positive critical praise from the Linux community and trying both will provide you with the best evaluation i.e. your own.

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If you don't mind spending money, Corel's AfterShot Pro (formerly Bibble) is a great piece of easy-to-use software. I find it as easy to use as Darktable (which is my favourite F/OSS raw tool), but also somewhat prefer it's rendering.

There are a few other reasons that I use ASP as well. There are several good/useful plugins available, and the big one: Adjustment layers.

Darktable is coming along nicely, and they have some VERY intelligent contributors. Lots of good help on freenode's #darktable IRC channel too.

Edit:

It's also worth noting that you can try ASP for 30 days, so you don't have to commit just to try it. Also, look around for deals, I don't think I would have purchased ASP at the MSRP, but I got mine for under 50 bucks, which I think is reasonable.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Wasn't it called Bibble? \$\endgroup\$
    – Switchkick
    Commented Jun 20, 2012 at 3:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ Yes, I mentioned that above, unless you were referring to my spelling mistake, which I have corrected. \$\endgroup\$
    – Instantkamera
    Commented Jun 20, 2012 at 3:27

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