Course Questions

Which software applications are taught in The Open Source Photography Course?
Is the course for Windows users?
Is this course for amateur or experienced photographers?
GIMP sucks, how can it replace Photoshop?
Does the course cover every tool/plugin in darktable and GIMP?
Which FOSS projects will receive the donations (10% of sales)?
Why doesn’t the darktable project receive part of the donations?
When will the donations be made?

Course Answers

Which software applications are taught in The Open Source Photography Course?

The core applications required for the course are darktable and GIMP.

There are a few optional applications taught as well. See the chart below for compatibility with your operating system.

Required Apps	Linux	Mac OS X	PC-BSD	Windows
darktable
GIMP

Optional Apps	Linux	Mac OS X	PC-BSD	Windows
dispcalGUI
Rapid Photo D

Is the course for Windows users?

Even though there are several lessons that Windows users can benefit from, the majority of the course teaches darktable, a RAW photo editor that isn’t available for Windows.

However, darktable is an open source application. If the Windows community wanted to build a native version for their operating system, they could.

Is this course for amateur or experienced photographers?

Both amateur and experienced photographers can benefit from The Open Source Photography Course.

Basic editing techniques, such as correcting exposure and white balance, are covered. More advanced editing techniques like making local adjustments and using layer masks are also taught.

GIMP sucks, how can it replace Photoshop?

The majority of the workflow in The Open Source Photography Course is done in darktable, an excellent RAW photo editor. The raster editing program GIMP is only used for final touch ups and preparing images for the web.

For users more comfortable with Photoshop, there is a lesson to help you setup a Photoshop-style user interface and keyboard shortcuts.

Does the course cover every tool/plugin in darktable and GIMP?

Many of darktable‘s and GIMP‘s tools are covered in detail in The Open Source Photography Course, however it doesn’t cover every single tool.

For a complete list of topics covered, please see the Course Outline page.

Which FOSS projects will receive the donations (10% of sales)?

After all the fees are paid, such as web hosting and payment processors, 10% of the net profits will be donated to:

• Rapid Photo Downloader
• dispcalGUI/argyllCMS
• GIMP
• Libre Graphics Meeting (in lieu of darktable)

Why doesn’t the darktable project receive part of the donations?

Unfortunately, the darktable project doesn’t accept donations.

However, they occasionally they ask for donations to travel to the annual Libre Graphics Meeting. If darktable runs a similar campaign in the near future, a donation will be made. If not, the donation will go to the main Libre Graphics Meeting Pledgie campaign.

When will the donations be made?

Donations are made approximately every four months.