If we are lovers of photography and we like to be able to have them on our computer well edited and organized, we will need specific software for this. For experts in the field, we can find commercial programs such as Photoshop or other completely free such as GIMP. On the other hand, if what we need is a program that performs the process automatically and intelligently so that we do not have to waste a lot of time organizing everything, we can use a tool like digiKam , which we are going to talk about next.
DigiKam can boast of being one of the largest and most powerful photographic management suites within free and open software and one of the most complete even at a professional level. With this application we can import and manage digital photography on our computer, being able to easily manage libraries with more than 100,000 images . It also incorporates a tremendously efficient editor, which will allow us to edit JPEG files, process RAW photos , plain files, and even publish our photos on social networks.
This powerful program offers us the possibility to organize all our images, assign them labels, correct light errors, edit metadata and geolocation items and enjoy our collection of images as a presentation.
Another of its most important features is facial recognition . Thanks to the use of a neural network and Machine Learning, the program is in charge of organizing the photos efficiently by means of the face. In this way, it is capable of detecting faces even if they are blurred or covered, as well as upside down or only partially visible, with an accuracy that reaches 97% .
Complete program aimed at professionals
When we run the program, its main menu will appear with an interface loaded with options. Most of these options will be difficult for the average user to understand, so it requires a lot of work to be able to become familiar with it and take advantage of all its options. The application has toolbars both at the top and to the left and right of the main panel. We show you some of its most used tools.
Imagen editor
Once a photograph has been selected, we can click on the Image Editor button, where a new screen will appear from where we can make different corrections to the image. At the top we will find functions such as Improve, Transform, Decorate, Effects and Tools with which to treat the image until the desired result is achieved. Once finished, in the Export tab, we can send our image to a local storage or cloud storage systems such as Google Drive, Google Photos, Facebook, Dropbox, among other options.
Light table
Using the Light Table option, a new window will appear, with different tool options in the left and right columns. We can check the properties of the image, set the metadata, change the Histogram and the ICC Profile . It also has the option Captions of Photos, where we can add a Description, Tags and Information of the photo, so that we can organize and classify it in the correct way. From here we can go reviewing each and every one of the photos in the selected folder, being possible to view them in Full Screen or through a Presentation as slides.
Batch queue manager
On the top bar toolbar, you also have Batch Queue Manager . From this option we will be able to carry out all kinds of adjustments and edition to the images by batch, that is, to carry out all the operations at the same time to all the selected images. In the lower left, we will have a Control Panel. From here we can select various editing tools to configure to our liking so that they are applied equally to all the images that we have selected. We will have tools such as BCG correction, Convert to black and white, Channel mixer, Color balance, among many other options. The greater our ability to use it, the better and faster the results will be.
Download and install digiKam
DigiKam is a free, cross-platform, open source application. Thanks to this, it can be used both on computers with Windows (32 and 64 bits), as Linux (32 and 64 bits) and macOS (64 bits). We just have to download the version we need from its website . The installation file is quite large and reaches 188 MB, requiring up to 500 MB for its complete installation. Its latest version available to date is 7.0.0, which appeared on July 16, 2020. This indicates that we are facing a program that has great support from its developers.
When starting the installation, it may not appear that it is incompatible with SmartScreen , so we must deactivate it to be able to install it. Once installed, when executing the program, a fairly long and dense installation wizard will appear. During the different screens of the wizard we must indicate where we want to keep the images. Later, we will have to choose the type of database, which we will leave by default in SQLite. Next, we will have to indicate how to open the RAW images in the editor, as well as if we want to save the information assigned to the digiKam elements in the metadata of the files. It will also ask us how we want to load the images in the preview mode and on the light table. Finally, it will ask us how we want to open the images when left clicking on the icon view.
Alternatives to digiKam
If we are looking for an application with which to organize and edit our photos, but digiKam is too complex for our use and knowledge, we will show you a couple of alternatives that may be of interest to you.
Adobe Lightroom
This powerful tool is not just a program to edit photos with. It can also be very useful for us to organize all our images that we have distributed throughout the computer. It has the possibility of organizing images by folder, by score, by EXIF data, among many other functions. Adobe Lightroom is a paid application, but it allows us to download a seven-day free trial from its website .
Cyberlink Photo Director Ultra
This recognized program focused on editing and retouching professional photography also allows us to organize our photos effectively. In this way we can organize them by labels, place, date, stars, among others, so we can choose the one that best suits our needs. It has full compatibility with formats such as RAW and JPEG, and it also allows you to share photos on social networks. Cyberlink Photo Director Ultra is a paid application that allows us to download a free 30-day trial version from its official website.