How can I back up and transfer Darktable module presets to another machine?

Asked 2/28/2016

3 views

2 answers

I’ve recreated some toning presets in Darktable and want to keep them if I reinstall my OS or move to another computer. Can Darktable save or export module presets directly, and if not, what’s the recommended way to back them up and import them elsewhere?

workflow darktable styles presets backup

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

10y ago

2 Answers

If you're not afraid of command line, it's explained on https://redmine.darktable.org/projects/users/wiki/Manual_exportimport_of_styles_presets_and_masks

The core of it is:

Export from old context

sqlite3 ~/.config/darktable/library.db
.output presets.backup
.dump presets
.output styles.backup
.dump styles
.output style_items.backup
.dump style_items
.output masks.backup
.dump masks
.quit

Import on new context

Always stop darktable before playing with your darktable library file. Also, keep backup copies of your darktable library file before tampering with it.

sqlite3 ~/.config/darktable/library.db <presets.backup

sqlite3 ~/.config/darktable/library.db <styles.backup
sqlite3 ~/.config/darktable/library.db <style_items.backup

sqlite3 ~/.config/darktable/library.db <masks.backup

I did it and it worked for me, though not at first try. I had to edit each backup file and add a DROP TABLE tablename before every CREATE TABLE tablename.

Originally by user34215. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user34215

9y ago

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes, but not as a simple standalone preset export in older Darktable versions. Module presets are stored in Darktable’s library database, so the usual way to transfer them is to export and import the relevant database tables with sqlite3. Community answers mention exporting/importing the presets, styles, style_items, and masks tables from ~/.config/darktable/library.db.

Important: quit Darktable first, and back up library.db before editing it.

A more manual workaround is to export each preset as a style and then import those styles on the other machine, though that can be tedious.

There’s also a third-party Python tool that can selectively export presets from the Darktable library database.

One caution: because presets live in the library database, they may be lost if that database is rebuilt unless you’ve backed them up separately.