January 9, 2026
General
- hide built-in presets for utility modules:
When enabled, the default presets supplied with Darktable are hidden in the modules. This makes the lists clearer if you only want to use your own. - Use single-click in the collections module:
Normally, you open folders in the collections module with a double-click. Now, a single click is sufficient. - prioritize the hovered image over the selected images:
(Important!) If, for example, you have marked 5 images in red, but are hovering with the mouse over another (sixth) image and press a key (e.g., “1” for a star):- Enabled: The star only appears on the image under the mouse.
- Disabled: The star is assigned to all selected images.
- Expand a single utility module at a time:
Keeps the sidebars tidy. When you expand one module, another one automatically collapses (accordion effect). - scroll utility modules to the top when expanded:
When you open a module, the bar automatically scrolls so that this module is at the top. This saves you from having to scroll manually. - Rating an image one star twice will not reset the rating:
Normally, pressing once equals one star. Pressing again equals zero stars (delete). This option prevents accidental deletion of the rating when pressing a second time. - show scrollbars for central view:
Displays scrollbars on the right and bottom of the central area (where the images are). - show image time with milliseconds: Also
displays the milliseconds in the image timestamp. This is very useful for continuous shooting to see the exact sequence.
Area: Thumbnails (preview images)
- Use raw file instead of embedded JPEG from size:
Cameras store a small JPEG in the RAW file. Darktable uses this for quick previews.- Never: Always use the fast, embedded JPEG (fastest option).
- Other options would force Darktable to actually develop the RAW once the preview image exceeds a certain size (looks better, but is slower).
- high quality processing from size:
From what preview image size (here 1080p) should Darktable use a higher quality (but slower) algorithm for calculation? - enable disk backend for thumbnail cache:
Stores the small preview images permanently on the hard disk. This makes restarting Darktable much faster, as not everything has to be reloaded. (Should be enabled). - enable disk backend for full preview cache: Also
stores large full-screen previews on the hard disk. This makes zooming in the light table extremely fast, but uses a lot of storage space (several gigabytes). - enable smooth scrolling for lighttable thumbnails:
Makes scrolling through the image gallery “smooth” and animated, instead of jumping jerkily line by line. Feels more modern. - generate thumbnails in background:
Determines whether Darktable should calculate thumbnails while you are not doing anything. “Never” saves CPU power, but means that images will only load when you scroll to them.