Getting started
Immage is a photo editor that works the way mainstream raw editors do: the familiar panels and slider names, in the usual order. Under it runs darktable’s raw processing, so every edit is one of darktable’s own modules, and your edits are saved beside each photo where darktable can read them too.
This page takes you from first launch to an exported photo in about five minutes.
If you’ve used another editor
| Elsewhere | In Immage |
|---|---|
| Catalog | No catalog: you open folders directly, and edits live in an XMP sidecar beside each photo. Immich can be your library. |
| Import dialog | Import (⇧⌘I), the same idea: copy off a card, skip duplicates, verify every copy. See Import. |
| Library module | The Library panel on the left, the filmstrip and Grid view (G). See Library. |
| Develop module | Adjustments on the right: Basic, Tone Curve, HSL / Color, Color Grading, Detail, Lens Corrections, Transform and Effects. See Adjustments. |
| Masking | Masks, including AI Subject, Sky, Background, People and Select Object. See Masks. |
| Spot Removal | Heal (Q). See Heal and clone. |
| Presets and Profiles | Presets, with live previews, plus 53 film looks. See Presets and looks. |
| Export | Export (⇧⌘E), to a folder or straight into an Immich album. See Export. |
| Edit In | Right-click › Edit In, for DxO PureRAW. See Edit In. |
Most keyboard shortcuts are the familiar ones: G for grid, R for crop, W for the white balance picker, \ for before, Y for before / after, X to reject, 0-5 to rate. The full list is in Keyboard shortcuts.
First launch
A small splash shows while the editing engine starts. The first time, Immage also:
- adds a Sample Photos folder with one photo in it, and opens that photo, so there is something to try the tools on
- starts the quick start guide, a ten-step tour of the window. Press → to step through it, or Esc to skip. Tick Don’t show on startup to keep it from coming back; the ? button at the bottom of the rail starts it again.
The five-minute tour
- Add a folder. In the Library panel on the left, open the Folders card and click + Add folder…. Choose a folder of photos. It opens in Grid view.
- Pick a photo. Double-click one in the grid. It opens in the viewer, with the rest of the folder in the filmstrip below. The arrow keys step through them; 1-5 rate the open photo and X rejects it.
- Edit. The Adjustments panel is on the right. Start with Basic: try Auto, then move Exposure, Highlights and Shadows. Double-click a slider to reset it. Click the photo to look at 100%, and click again to fit.
- Compare. Press \ to see the photo before your edits, and \ again to come back. Y steps through side by side and split views.
- Export. Press ⇧⌘E. Choose Full Size JPEG or Web 2048 on the left, pick a folder under Destination, and click Export.
You never save. Every change is written to the photo’s sidecar a moment after you make it, and ⌘Z undoes it.
Where your edits go
Each photo you edit gets a small file beside it, named like the photo with
.xmp added, for example P9302114.ORF.xmp. It holds the whole edit,
plus your rating, labels, title, caption and keywords. darktable opens the
same file and renders the photo the same way, so you can always finish an
edit there.
Immage never changes the photo file itself.
What new photos start with
The first time a photo opens, before you touch it, Immage gives it a starting point, most of it set in Preferences › New Photos:
- the AgX tone mapper
- the AgX Default profile
- the Default preset: lens corrections
Photos that already have an edit, from Immage or darktable, keep their own. See Preferences.
Next
- The workspace: the parts of the window, zooming, before and after
- Library: folders, rating, filtering
- Adjustments: every panel and slider
- Immich: connect your server
This page is part of immage's own docs, at v0.41.1. View the source on GitHub.