This is especially obvious in the Darkroom tab with the editing tools (or ‘modules’ as they’re called). While Darktable has a similar look to Lightroom, the navigation process is not as straightforward. File management is relatively simple and editing tools are grouped appropriately. In assessing the two, I found that Lightroom was user friendly and had a simple flow, especially when just getting started with the software. In Darktable, the Darkroom tab also features a Navigator and editing panel that again look much the same as in the Adobe product. The main edit panel is where all the action happens with a broad suite of editing tools. Under the Develop tab in Lightroom, the Navigator panel provides control over Presets, History, Snapshots and Collections.

So far, the two are pretty much the same to look at and navigate. In Darktable ( review), this tab is referred to as Lightable and also features image preview, catalogue management and image information. There’s also a panel for image information as well as some Quick Edit options. In Lightroom, the main Library tab features a Navigator panel where you have a preview of your image along with a Catalogue and Collection Management Library. They both have an almost identical colour scheme and feature similar panels for file management and editing. At a casual glance, Darktable and Lightroom appear to be very similar in layout and accessibility.

Darktable vs lightroom performance