I do that only after 6-12 months (just as a precaution). In my workflow, I usually reject a photo if it doesn’t work for me, but I do not actually delete it. The sidecar file created by Lightroom (.xmp) will be not used anymore.

ARW.xmp.įrom now on Darktable will work uniquely on this file. In my case, as I use Sony cameras, I have.

Importing photos in Darktableįrom this point on, I assume you are working with RAW files and in this case, Lightroom created sidecar files calledīasically, Lightroom uses the same but it swaps the photo file extension (ARW, JPG etc) with XMPĭarktable will create another XMP file called. You may have to leave your computer to work during the night if you have a huge number of photos. If it’s quick enough do the same for 1,000 photos and increase to cover the whole catalogue. Start with 100 photos and check how is it going. Lightroom will create sidecar files only if you are working with RAW files, otherwise, it will add the metadata and the editing into the JPG itself (or DNG, TIFF, etc)ĭo not create sidecar files for your full catalogue in one go because Lightroom needs time.

To create a sidecar file in Lightroom you need to go on the photo, or set of photos, select them and digit Ctrl+S (Cmd+S). It’s just the way Lightroom and Darkroom apply the changes and we have to live with that. This is not a limitation of Darktable or Lightroom that does not export correctly the editing. You will be also able to migrate the editing you did in Lightroom, however, based on my experience, in Darktable you will not get the same result. If you just import the photos into Darktable you will lose all the working you did in Lightroom as keywording, rating, etc. In Lightroom, you can also save the editing for each photo in a sidecar file, similar to Darktable.Īnd this is what you need to do for the migration of your Lightroom Catalogue into Darktable. There are advantages and drawbacks in both ways. Don’t just move photos from Lightroom to DarktableĪs you may already know, both Software are non-disruptive, which means they leave the original file untouched, either RAW or JPG (or any other format).ĭarktable stores the editing for each photo in a sidecar file (XMP), meanwhile, in the standard configuration, Lightroom has one single catalogue file with the editing of all the photos. Remember to subscribe to the channel and tick that little bell to get notified every time I post a new video.

Darktable export looks different