Darktable Open-Source RAW Workflow

Open-Source RAW Workflow with Darktable

Darktable is a powerful, open-source photography workflow application and non-destructive RAW developer used by photographers worldwide across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

BestShots integrates directly with Darktable through industry-standard Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) companion sidecars. This preserves your AI star ratings, keeper selections, and culling metadata with zero alteration to your original camera RAW sensor files.

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Metadata Mapping Specification

When you export an XMP Sidecar & Workflow Bundle (.zip) from BestShots, all curation decisions are encoded into universal namespaces that Darktable ingests seamlessly:

Keywords such as ai-keep, sharp-focus, and detected subject tags automatically import into Darktable's tagging module for easy filtering in the Lighttable view.

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Step-by-Step Darktable Sync Workflow

Follow this procedure to sync BestShots curation decisions into your Darktable collection:

Step 1: Export Workflow Bundle from BestShots

1. In your project workspace, click Export in the top navigation bar (or press E).
2. Choose XMP Sidecar & Workflow Bundle (.zip).
3. Keep the default naming template Keep Original Camera Filenames ({originalName}) so each sidecar filename matches its RAW master file stem (for example, _DSC4091.CR3 paired with _DSC4091.xmp).
4. Click Start Export and extract the downloaded ZIP archive.

Step 2: Copy Sidecars into your RAW Directory

Copy all exported .xmp companion files into the folder on your hard drive where your camera RAW files reside. Ensure each .xmp file sits immediately next to its corresponding RAW file.

Step 3: Import into Darktable via "Add to Library"

1. Launch Darktable and navigate to the Lighttable view.
2. In the left panel, locate the Import module.
3. Click Add to Library (or choose folder). Navigate to your shoot directory and click Open.

4. Darktable indexes your collection: all AI 5-star ratings, color tags, and keyword tags appear instantly across your grid.

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Syncing Sidecars for Already-Imported Collections

If you imported your RAW files into Darktable before running BestShots curation, use either of these methods to refresh your catalog:

Method A: Startup Sidecar Change Detection (Recommended)

1. In Darktable, click the gear icon (top right) to open Preferences.
2. Go to Storage > XMP sidecar files.
3. Enable the setting: look for updated xmp files on startup.
4. Restart Darktable. On startup, Darktable detects that the companion sidecar files have newer timestamps than its database entries, requesting confirmation to reload the metadata from disk.

Method B: Manual EXIF and Metadata Refresh

1. In the Lighttable view, select all photos in the collection (Ctrl + A on Windows/Linux, Cmd + A on macOS).
2. In the right-hand panel, expand the Selected Images module.
3. Click Refresh EXIF. Darktable re-reads the companion sidecar metadata from disk and refreshes your ratings.

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1-Click Desktop Organizer with Darktable

If you want to isolate your approved keeper RAW files before opening Darktable:

1. Extract the exported ZIP bundle directly into your local camera RAW folder.
2. Run the organizer script:
   • On Windows: Double-click organize_keepers.bat.
   • On macOS: Double-click organize_keepers.command.
3. The script copies all approved keeper RAW files and sidecars into a BestShots_Keepers/ subfolder in under one second.
4. In Darktable, click Import > Add to Library and select BestShots_Keepers/ to work exclusively with your curated cull selections.