Darktable 5.0 enhances photo editing with improved UI/UX and performance boosts

Darktable has released version 5.0 of its free and open source photo editing software, introducing a range of new features and enhancements. The update brings several UI/UX improvements, such as additional camera-specific styles, an optional splash screen to show startup progress, and a new high-contrast theme. Performance has been boosted with an OpenCL implementation of the color equalizer, and faster processing for bulk image operations and PFM file loading.

A notable change in this version is the default scope switch from histogram to waveform, providing more detailed information about image color and tonality. Users can now utilize exposure bias to form collections and as a display filter. The update also includes improved visualization of the color equalizer’s effect and enhanced debugging support for verifying CPU versus GPU results.

Furthermore, Darktable 5.0 introduces a Calibrite alias for X-Rite ColorChecker in color calibration and supports undo/redo for actions performed on the filmstrip while in darkroom mode. The software now allows importing JPEG 2000 files with .jpf and .jpx extensions, and this release also includes numerous other enhancements and bug fixes.