darktable-org / darktable-org/darktable

color calibration module - improve white balance picker handling

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#18,299 5 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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feature: redesign no-issue-activity scope: UI
Dominant language
C
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Description

The white balance picker of the color calibration module can lead to strange results if the user is not aware that he has set a target color different from neutral. This is well documented, but every so often people (me included) stumble over this. There is an "active" appended to the label of the "area color mapping" collapsible section if the values differ from neutral since some time now, but it can easily be overlooked.

This could be improved by a change in the color calibration GUI:

  • the current picker always and only sets the white balance using neutral values
  • in the "area color mapping" collapsible section, a second picker is added that, depending on "area mode", picks a color from a source image or applies the color to target images.

Of course this would be a change of the GUI and I don't know if this is wanted. But it could help avoid mistakes: a user wanting to transfer colors between images must expand the section to get hold of the picker, so he is automatically aware of this functionality and also sees the currently configured target values.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start in the color calibration GUI by locating the existing white balance picker and the "area color mapping" collapsible section. Review how its area mode selects source images or applies colors to target images. Done means the section has a second picker with the requested mode-dependent behavior while the existing picker continues to use neutral values.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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