ART. Darktable, and Raw Therapee- Share Notes Open-Source Image Processing Software.

There is real truth to that. As a result I've gotten myself into the habit of grabbing one of the my three "mains" no matter why I'm going out the door. You should see the looks I get from family at times 😉

That said, you made a wonderful image with your phone - thank you for posting it. I just doubt that _I_ could have.
 
I have been using Raw Therapee for 15 years or so, and I wonder why it is not so much more popular. In a lot of ways I prefer it over Lightroom 6 and now DXO Lab . The only thing missing for a long time was local adjustments and Print module for which I have been using Lightoom . It is easy to get good image with smooth tonality , one of the best highlight recovery options but also color management , film simulation ,various demoscaicing methods avaiable incuding pixel shift , dozens of tonal adjustements methods and is fast to operate. I have to only figure out how to use recently added local adjustment options . For local adjustments Darktable and Lightroom are great, Lightroom is my choice as printing software .
 

A newer version of ART was released in September 2024. I just installed it, and copied the ".DCP" files to the "C:\ART\1.21.3\dcpprofiles" directory of my installation.
LR4.4 and LR6 use the same file format as ART and RT. You may copy the files from Lightroom to them, note the exact name used for the camera in ART and RT must be the same as the filename.

"Leica Camera AG M9 Digital Camera" used for the name in ART corresponds to "Leica Camera AG M9 Digital Camera.DCP" in the folder.
 
DCP Files are compiled. There is a tool for converting these files to XML.


and web page:


For anyone wanting to dig deeper into how this process works.
 

C:\ProgramData\Adobe\CameraRaw\CameraProfiles\Adobe Standard

You can download the raw to DNG converter from above, it is free. It is 1.5GBytes in size.
This has the lens profiles and camera profiles included in it.
Once installed, you can find the Profiles under a directory:

C:\ProgramData\Adobe\CameraRaw

C:\ProgramData\Adobe\CameraRaw\CameraProfiles\Adobe Standard

You have to know where to look, the directory is not easy to find.

For the Leica M9:
M9 Digital Camera Adobe Standard
You will need to rename the file for the M9 when using in ART.

The "ProgramData" directory does not show up in normal directory listings. It is a Hidden Directory. That made it take about 2 minutes longer for me to find.
c:\>dir/a:h pr*.*
Volume in drive C is Windows
Volume Serial Number is 8E23-5964

Directory of c:\

11/12/2024 01:01 PM <DIR> ProgramData
0 File(s) 0 bytes
1 Dir(s) 87,314,784,256 bytes free

Then type:
c:\>attrib programdata -h

This will "unhide" the programdata directory and make things much easier to find.
The old DOS Attrib command lives on.
 
I moved the ICC color profiles from Raw Therapee to ART. These are in the iccprofiles\output directory. There are more choices than in ART. Move the files to ART under the same directory name. The choices will show up in the COLOR output profile menu.
There are choices to be made between working profile, output profile, tone curves, and others that control final colors. Once you find what works for you, the Settings used for the image may be copied to others easily. ART is "non-destructive" and saves settings in an easy to read text file stored with the files.

Leica M9 with 7Art 75/1.25. 1/60th second, Wide-Open, ISO2500.

Lightroom:
L1028006.jpg


L1028006.jpgL1028006-1.jpgL1028006-2.jpg

So which matches the original colors?
I don't know, it was too dark to see.

From the ".ARP" file stored for the last image,
[Color Management]
InputProfile=(cameraICC)
ToneCurve=true
ApplyLookTable=false
ApplyBaselineExposureOffset=false
ApplyHueSatMap=false
DCPIlluminant=0
WorkingProfile=ProPhoto
OutputProfile=AdobeRGB1998
OutputProfileIntent=Relative
OutputBPC=true

One more-
L1028006.jpg
changed the output Profile. The Histogram changes with your selection, and colors shown in realtime.
[Color Management]
InputProfile=(cameraICC)
ToneCurve=true
ApplyLookTable=false
ApplyBaselineExposureOffset=false
ApplyHueSatMap=false
DCPIlluminant=0
WorkingProfile=ProPhoto
OutputProfile=RTv4_ACES-AP0
OutputProfileIntent=Relative
OutputBPC=true
 
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Okay, sometimes a combination of random typing, pointing, and clicking is worth documenting...

After downloading and installing Adobe Camera Raw, I discovered the hidden folder for the DCP files. Using the old "DOS" command to "Unhide" the "ProgramData" directory, as shown previously, all of the DCP files that come with the free package may be used directly in ART. AND there were new profiles for my Nikon Z5.
Import_DCP.jpg
In this screen shot: select "Color", "Color Management", "Custom" and then select the "folder" to browse the computer. Navigate to the newly "Unhidden" directory, and down to the Camera Profiles. Click on the Profile and get some nice choices. This can be information overload, so try them and find the few that suit you.
 
And a walk-around test of my 1950 Jupiter-3 on the Nikon Z5, F1.5 and F4 Pairs.
All using the processing selections as shown.
DSC_7081.jpgDSC_7082.jpgDSC_7085.jpgDSC_7086.jpg

DSC_7095.jpgDSC_7094.jpg
DSC_7089.jpgDSC_7090.jpg
 
L1028006-5.jpg
ART, with Tone Curves under "Exposure" turned off, and only Tone Curve under "color" using the M9 DCP profile enabled.
ACESp0 "working Profile" and "Pass Through mode" for Output Profile.
All that trouble to get the out of focus lights in the background from not blowing out.
The point is: This software offers a lot of choices.
 
I am liking the new Nikon Z5 profiles. The in-camera JPEGs from the Z5 are very good.
[Color Management]
InputProfile=file:///C:/ProgramData/Adobe/CameraRaw/CameraProfiles/Camera/Nikon%20Z%205/Nikon%20Z%205%20Camera%20Landscape.dcp
ToneCurve=true
ApplyLookTable=true
ApplyBaselineExposureOffset=false
ApplyHueSatMap=true
DCPIlluminant=0
WorkingProfile=ACESp0
OutputProfile=RTv4_sRGB
OutputProfileIntent=Relative
OutputBPC=true
InputProfileCAT=false

This configuration gives a close match of the .NEF to the JPEG. The advantage with NEF is flexibility in editing. BUT- is nice to have a quick export configuration that equals the in-camera.

First image is the .NEF converted to JPEG using above settings, and resized.
Second image in the pair is the in-camera JPEG, resized.
1950 J-3, wide-open. The lights chosen to test color rendition.
DSC_7103.jpg

In-Camera JPEG,



DSC_7103.jpg



Another Pair, the 1950 J-3 at F4.
DSC_7105.jpg

In-camera JPEG, resized:
DSC_7105.jpg
 
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