darktable-org / darktable-org/darktable
Optional visualization of affected colors within Color Look Up Table palette
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- Dominant language
- C
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Description
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
In the Color Look Up Table module, each patch represents a selectable color region that can be adjusted (lightness, green–magenta offset, blue–yellow offset, saturation, etc.). However, the patches themselves do not visually reflect the effect of the current adjustments.
While the image preview shows the result globally, the patch grid remains static, making it harder to see how a given patch’s color is being altered by the applied corrections. This reduces clarity when fine-tuning adjustments across multiple patches.
Describe the solution you'd like
Add an optional visualization mode where each patch updates to display the resulting color after the applied adjustments, rather than only the base reference color.
For example:
- The patch color could dynamically reflect changes in lightness, chroma, and color balance offsets.
- A toggle could allow switching between:
- Base/reference color view
- Adjusted/resulting color view
This would allow users to see directly within the module how each color region is being transformed.
The feature should be opt-in to preserve the current behavior for users who prefer the static reference display.
Alternatives
- Rely exclusively on the main image preview.
- Manually compare adjustments per patch without visual feedback in the grid.
- Use external color analysis tools.
These approaches are less immediate and make iterative adjustments less intuitive.
Additional context
Since the patch grid already serves as the primary interaction interface for color selection, extending it to reflect the applied adjustments would improve usability and transparency without significantly altering the module’s workflow.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
The issue names the Color Look Up Table module and its patch grid, but no files or tests. Start by tracing how patch colors and current adjustments reach the module UI, then compare that path with the existing image preview transformation. Done means an opt-in base/result view where patches reflect adjustments while preserving the current default behavior.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- c
- Domain
- desktop
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 42/100