Questions? Answers.
Membership
Can I use my Darkroom+ membership across my Apple devices?
Yes! Once you paid to access Darkroom+ on one device, you can use it on any number of your other iPhone, iPad or Mac. You don't have to purchase or subscribe to Darkroom+ multiple times. You do have to make sure to login on all devices using the same App Store account you used to make the purchase.
If you have iCloud Keychain turned on, your devices will share access to your unlocked premium features automatically.
Alternatively, in the app go to Settings at the left top of the photo grid. Once in Settings tap the 'Already made a purchase?' option and all your previous purchases should be fully restored.
What does a Darkroom+ membership cost?
Prices vary per country, but the prices for the United States are $32.99 for our yearly membership, $4.99 for our monthly membership, or $99.99 for our one-time lifetime membership. We recommend going to our app store page to see the exact pricing in your country.
All Darkroom+ membership options, including the one time purchase option, unlock all features now and moving forward.
Note: Occasionally we do pricing tests to have an up-to-date understanding of what people think Darkroom is worth. If we ever make a structural pricing change that affects existing customers, we will clearly communicate that.
Can I try Darkroom+ without a subscription trial?
Yes, you can. Darkroom is a free app, and a lot of the features we provide are fully free and unrestricted to use. You can even use all our Darkroom+ features without any trial or purchase, you just won't be able to export when you do use our premium Darkroom+ membership features. To export with Darkroom+ features, we do provide a trial.
How do I restore a Darkroom+ membership, on a new device?
If you have iCloud Keychain turned on, your devices will share access to your unlocked premium membership features automatically.
If that doesn't work in Darkroom, go to Settings, you can find the option at the left top of the photo grid. Once in Settings tap the 'Already made a purchase?' option and all your previous purchases will be fully restored.
If that doesn't work you might want to make sure you are using the same App Store account as you made the original purchase with. You can also try and logout of the Apple App Store, and then log back in. You can also check to see the status of the App Store, and other services on Apple's System Status page.
Can I use App Store Family Sharing with Darkroom+?
Yes. We have enabled family sharing for all our membership options. You can read more about App Store Family Sharing at Apple Support. Specifically, make sure to turn on Purchase Sharing in the Family Sharing settings.
Important: Apple restricts the number of devices that can share in-app purchases such as our Darkroom+ Forever or legacy membership. The limit is approximately 10 devices, which may be important for families considering the average number of devices in a household.
Make sure to check how many devices are using a Family Sharing account, each family member needs to review their devices individually in the Apple ID settings. There isn't a centralized feature to view all devices using shared in-app purchases.
When you using our subscription membership options you will not have such limitations.
I don't like subscriptions, can I just buy Darkroom+?
Yes, you can. We know some people prefer outright buying access to their software, instead of using a subscription. As such, our Darkroom+ membership is also available as a one time (forever) purchase, and not only available as a subscription but. The only difference is the cost, which is higher upfront. You can find it in the app anytime it says 'try Darkroom+', you will have to make sure to tap 'show all purchase options' to see the forever purchase option.
The discount I was offered in the app didn't work!
We are sorry for the inconvenience. We do occasionally run seasonal promotions, which we announce both in the app and across our social media channels. If ran into any issues please contact us and we will make sure to help you out.
Do you have any discount promo code?
We generally don't provide discount, promo, or offer codes for educational, institutional, or other purposes. We do occasionally run seasonal promotions, which we announce both in the app and across our social media channels.
Can I switch from a Darkroom+ subscription to the forever purchase?
Yes you can. First, you will have to cancel your currently running subscription. For which the instruction can be found below. Then, let it lapse. Once the subscription period has lapsed, you can go to settings in the app and make a new purchase.
How do I cancel my Darkroom+ trial?
You can cancel your Darkroom+ trial at any time. You can do so yourself on your App Store account. There you will find the option to cancel your Darkroom+ trial subscription. You can also find the instructions at Apple's User Guide.
Can I cancel a Darkroom+ subscription, or get a refund?
You can stop or cancel your subscription yourself on your App Store account.
For a Forever purchase, Apple handles all sales and therefore also all refunds. Follow their instructions at Apple Support.
What is a legacy purchase?
The legacy purchase provided access to limited features for a one-time fee until February 2020. Since then, Darkroom has moved to the Darkroom+ membership, with more features. Legacy customers have access to limited Darkroom+ features introduced prior to 2022. Learn more by heading to our dedicated Legacy Purchase page.
Features
Where is, or are you considering feature X?
If you can't find it in the app it's probably not there. And most likely, we are considering adding it in the future. We have a publicly available community feature suggestion board where you can see what we are planning to add, where you can suggest additional features, and even vote on our, your, and others features to help us understand what you think is important.
Can I resize my photo or video?
Unfortunately, no. Darkroom currently does not have the ability to resize photos or videos, by making them smaller or upscaling them. We are considering adding this in the future. You can crop, and you can inset a photo on a frame.
How do I import photos or videos from my camera?
- You can import photos and videos directly into Darkroom from a digital camera, an SD memory card, or another iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that has a camera. Depending on your model, use the Lightning to USB Camera Adapter, the USB-C to SD Card Camera Reader, or the Lightning to SDCard Camera Reader.
- Once you have your digital camera or SD card connected to your device (iPhone, iPad, Mac), open Darkroom at tap the Import button, found in the album selector.
- Select the photos and videos you want to import and import them.
Can I browse and edit photos on an external hard drive?
Unfortunately, no. Darkroom currently does not have the ability to browse and edit photos on an external hard drive without first importing them first. We are considering adding this in the future.
How do I save/export/share my edited photo?
You can save an edited photo by tapping Export in the top right when you are viewing or editing a photo. Or even if you tap and hold a photo in the Library Grid. From the Export sheet you will be able to save and share to many third party services.
Note that by default Darkroom edits all your photos non destructively, meaning we never automatically save any of the edits to your original photo without your explicit consent. If for any reason you ever did save an edit to a photo and you want to undo or revert back to the original you can easily do so:
- Go to the History tool, or use the ... menu when viewing the photo.
- And tap Revert Photo option.
How do I create a custom preset (filter)?
Anytime you either edit your photo yourself, or after you have selected a preset and made additional edits you will see a Create Preset button, right above the preset strip in the Preset tool. Just tap or click it, name it, et voila you now have a custom preset. Ready for you to speed up your workflow or share.
How do I update a shared preset (filter)?
You can update a shared preset by going to the Presets tool, and then tap the My Filters tab.
- First select the preset in question and then tap the ... action button.
- Tap the Unshare action.
- Now make any edits you wish.
- Then come back to the presets tool, select the preset in question and then again tap the ... action button.
- Now tap the Update action.
- Finally, the last step is to Share your preset again. This will keep the same link, but will update the preset for anybody who installs it next.
How do I delete a shared preset (filter)?
You can delete a shared preset by going to the Presets tool, and then tap the My Filters tab. Now tap the ... button on the preset you want to delete and select Delete. This will remove the preset from your device, and will unshare you preset as well. It will no longer be available for anybody else.
Do you have an Android or Windows app?
The short answer is No. We don't have a version of Darkroom for Android or Windows, as we currently don't have the resources to invest in making the amazing Darkroom experience also available on Android. Also, Darkroom has been made possible, and is therefor heavily reliant on Apple specific developer technologies, which would make bringing it to other non Apple platforms a considerable investment and effort.
Occasionally copycat apps have appeared on the Google Play Store, but we have always been able to get them removed. We are not affiliated with any of those apps, and we strongly recommend not using or trying them.
Do you have a Beta program to help test and try new features?
Yes, welcome thrill seekers. You are welcome to live on the cutting edge trying out the great new features in our Beta program, in which you can participate by going to our Beta page. Please make sure to read the instructions carefully, to understand the risk. And please provide us feedback when you participate!
Is Darkroom available in my language?
We provide support for 16 languages; English, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish. If your language isn't in the above list, just send us an emailto request it!
Please note that we follow the language iOS is set in. As of iOS 13 you can now set the language per App. Go to System Settings → Darkroom →Language.
Are some features missing or removed on Mac?
Yes, we had to make some trade offs which resulted in changes to our feature set on the Mac. That said, our intention is to bring feature parity to every device when we can.
- Custom App Icon — On Mac you can only do this yourself manually. We created a special 'Alternate Mac App Icons' instructions page that lists out all the steps required for you. Unfortunately it is not possible for Mac apps to change the appearance of the App Icon from within the app itself.
- Hashtags — On iPhone, and less so on iPad, there are social apps that allow for quick and easy integration for quickly sharing your photos and videos together with Hashtags. On Mac those apps simply aren't there, and in some cases there aren't even web versions either.
Why can't I use the Darkroom extension in the Apple Photos app?
The Darkroom Photos Editing Extension was unfortunately discontinued. This decision was necessitated by Apple's resource-intensive restrictions on extensions, which impeded the full utilization of Darkroom's editing tools within Apple Photos. To seamlessly transition, you are encouraged to utilize the faster Share Extension for direct photo opening in Darkroom from the Photos app. More details can be found here.
What happened to the ProRAW Tone Map slider?
Darkroom used to have a tone map slider for ProRAW photos. Unfortunately we had to remove it due to major memory and performance issues in combination with other features. Fortunately, the improved ability of the Highlights & Shadows tools to recover details in ProRAW photos, and the use of the blacks and whites sliders, enables similar results to the tone map slider.
What happened to the Portrait Depth Blur slider?
The portrait depth background blur slider has been removed due to considerable performance constraints and instability when using the Apple provided portrait blur functionality. If you wish to change the blur, you can now do so in the Apple Photos app itself. We do intend to bring back a mask blur option at a later point.
General
Why does Darkroom need access to my photos?
Darkroom needs access to your photos to be able to view and edit them. It is up to you to either give us full access, in which we can display and access all your photos, or you can choose to only give us access to selected photos. We will never access your photos without your permission. We never upload or remotely store your photos. We never share your photos with anybody, they never leave your device unless you explicitly share them yourself. For more detail read our Privacy Policy.
What is your policy on Privacy & Copyright?
Giving us permission to access your photos is a privilege and act of trust. We believe it's paramount to understand what we do with that privilege. That's why we've written our Privacy Policy using simple, clear language.
How do I report an issue, bug, or crash?
If you just have feedback or an idea, please use our publicly available community feature suggestion board where you can see what we are planning to add, where you can suggest additional features, and even vote on our, your, and others features to help us understand what you think is important.
If you are experiencing an issue, bug, or crash, first of all we are sorry for the inconvenience and kindly request that you please follow these steps:
- Make sure you are using the latest version of Darkroom and iOS.
- You will help us most by finding precise and detailed steps to reproduce the issue. This is honestly the most important thing for us.
- Use the 'Ask a Question' option in the app's settings to report the issue. This is helpful as this method sends us a little bit of context along with your message.
- Send us a screenshot, or even a screen recording video would help us tremendously as we'd be able to watch along.
- If you have multiple issues, make sure to clearly report them separately.
Please always try and use the 'Ask a Question' option found in the app, if for what ever reason you can't, you can also send us an email.
Why do photos seem to be downloaded so often?
The key bit of context to have is that Darkroom is built on top of Apple iCloud Photos. By default Apple chooses to optimize local on device Photos storage, to ensure there is enough space for newly capture photos. Which you can change if you'd like. Apple has documentation on this available. What this means is that Apple Photos fairly quickly unloads large images like RAW from your device silently in the background, and only keeps a JPG preview around. So if you then want to view or edit it, we have request iCloud to download it the original large RAW image.
Importing photos crashes the app.
We are aware of an issue in which importing photos can cause Darkroom to crash. We are working on a fix, but in the meantime we recommend importing photos in smaller batches.
Importing on Mac doesn't work.
Darkroom may not have access to all folders and drives. It does not by default. To enable this, you will have to follow these instructions:
- Go to System Settings, and open the Security & Privacy section.
- Open the Privacy tab.
- Scroll down to Full Disk Access.
- Either drag the Darkroom app into the list, or click the + button.
Performance and stability with large photos and specific editing tools.
We are aware of a class of issues are caused by memory constraints in our current rendering engine, especially evident when handling large (RAW) images, during extended editing sessions, and using specific tools such as clarity, highlights and shadows, and grain. Our team is committed and actively working on resolving these problems. We appreciate your patience and are committed to enhancing the app's performance and stability. If you encounter any further issues or wish to provide feedback, please contact us through the app's feedback section or our support email. Your input is crucial in helping us improve the app for all users.
File Formats
What are RAW Photos?
RAW photos are special and different from other file types. A RAW file is a pure capture, an equivalent to a digital negative - an unprocessed image. RAW files always remain raw, any edits always need to be saved to another file. They allow for a lot of editing flexibility because of the much broader exposure range, and that comes at the cost of significantly larger file sizes. They are mostly very useful when capturing evening or night photos, or situations where you have very bright and dark areas.
Also note that our RAW editing tools are not as extensive as some other tools. We know, and we wish they where, but some other companies have a historical advantage over us. One step at a time we will get there too.
What is ProRAW?
ProRAW is a new image file format, introduced in iOS 14.3 and iPhone 12 Pro, that gives you the convenience of processed JPEGs with the editing range of a RAW photo, without either of their flaws. The only negative is the file size. This is made possible by iOS taking a RAW photo which it then runs through a magic box of HDR, Night Mode, Deep Fusion, AI…the works. When it's done, you get a beautifully processed image.
Yes, Darkroom is ProRAW-aware. When we notice a ProRAW photo, we'll indicate it with a new badge. Darkroom used to have a tone map slider, Unfortunately we had to remove it due to some major memory and performance issues.
To capture ProRAW using Apple's Camera app, follow these instruction for enabling through System Settings. You can also us an app like Halide to do so.
Why does my RAW Photo look darker?
You just ran into one of the realities of shooting RAW. For those of you shooting in RAW+JPG on an iPhone it's very easy to come to the conclusion that the RAW photos look wrong and to dark as compared to the JPG. The thing is that the JPG is a heavily automagically processed image generated by Apple. Where as the RAW image is literally the raw set of pixels as they where captured by your the camera sensor. With RAW photos the editing is fully up to you. Honestly, these days shooting in RAW is rarely going to have a better outcome than using the automagically processed JPG, especially in high contrast situations.
Does Darkroom support the RAW file format used by my camera?
Most likely yes. Darkroom uses Apple provided system-level support to handle RAW photos. As such they do the heavy lifting for us. They have conveniently created lists of supported cameras for all of us:
It is possible, when you buy a completely new camera, that support isn't available yet. Fortunately Apple updates the supported camera list regularly through software updates.
How I still edit an unsupported RAW photo?
You can do so by converting the RAW image to DNG. DNG is an open standard digital negative format that we do support. There are a couple of apps that enable you to convert RAW to DNG for you. We recommendAdobe Digital Negative Converter for Mac. It's free and works great.
Important: Make sure you have the latest version of the app. We have seen a couple of instances in which the conversion failed, but updating the app fixed the issue.
I'm getting an error when opening a RAW photo
A couple of things could be happening.
- Compressed RAW: A couple of the recent cameras (Fuji, Sony, Nikon) shoot in Compressed RAW format by default, but Apple and us do not have support for that. So you will have to switch to Uncompressed RAW format on your camera.
- File Transfer: We have seen a couple of instances in which the file transfer by cable or app caused a corruption in the file. Often times trying to transfer again can help solve the issue.
- RAW Badge not showing: Unfortunately not all devices have the hardware capability to load or process RAW files. See our requirements at the bottom for more details.
Can I playback Live Photos?
Sorry, you currently can't playback Live Photos in Darkroom. We are considering adding this back in the future.
Can I process ProRes Video?
It's currently not possible to process and export Apple ProRes video in Darkroom. Currently exporting will show an error message. We do intend to make this possible in the future.
Can Darkroom display, edit and export HDR photos & videos?
Darkroom currently can't display, edit or export HDR photos or videos. We are considering adding this in the future.
HDR (high dynamic range) in Camera helps you get great shots in high-contrast situations. iPhone captures several images in rapid succession at different exposures and blends them together to bring more highlight and shadow detail to your images. For more information head to Apple's documentation.
Still have a question?
Contact our product support to ask any question you might have, or even just to share feedback.
Suggest a new feature!
Head on over to our public feature suggest board to create, vote on and discuss your suggestions →
Explore our core features
Navigate and master our key features through detailed posts.
Learn the basics of Darkroom
Make precise selections with a single tap
Advanced color adjustments with color wheels
Quickly sort through your photos
Advanced editing with curves
Make any color pop, or fade away
Apply all your favorite edits to your 4k videos
Protect your photos with a custom watermark
Change the app icon to match your mood
Navigate and filter through your albums and folders
Organize your photos into albums and folders
Make your photos pop with a custom frame
Find the perfect preset for your photo
Share your favorite presets with friends or the world
Organize and curate your presets
Smoothen or sharpen the smalles of details in your photos
Bring back details in the brightest and darkest areas
Adjust the black and white point of your photo
Add a natural grain to your photos
View the distribution of tones in your photo
Speed up your workflow with iPad and Mac keyboard shortcuts
Run Darkroom actions from the Shortcuts app
Launch Darkroom from your favorite camera app
Edit multiple photos at once