Getting Started · 34

Frequently Asked Questions

Purchases

What is Darkroom+?

Darkroom+ is our collection of premium features available through a subscription or purchase. Learn more by heading to our dedicated Darkroom+ page.

Please note that Darkroom is a free to download app. You will be able to use and experience all our Darkroom+ features without any trial or purchase, you just won't be able to export. To export with Darkroom+ features, we do provide a trial.

Can I use my purchase across my iPhone, iPad, and Mac (M1 or Intel)?

Yes! You don't have to purchase or subscribe to Darkroom+ multiple times. Once you paid to access Darkroom+ on once device you can use it on any number of your other devices. You do have to make sure to login on all devices using the same App Store account you used to make the purchase.

  • As of Darkroom 4.4, 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, 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 should be fully restored.

How do I restore a purchase I have made in the past?

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 should 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 AppStore, and then log back in. You can also check to see the status of the AppStore, and other services on Apple's System Status page.

How do I view, change, or cancel my Darkroom+ subscription?

For detailed information you can go to Apple's documentation. Your Darkroom+ purchase or subscription can be managed from your App Store account, available in the App Store app or Settings in iOS. To quickly go there tap or click this button:

Manage your Subscription

Or go to Settings in the app and tap the Manage your Purchase button there.

What does Darkroom+ cost?

The pricing varies per country, listed below are the prices for the United States. We recommend going to our app store page to see the exact pricing in your region. Details on what's included are listed here.
  1. Monthly Subscription = $6.99 ($83.88 per year)
  2. Yearly Subscription = $32.99 ($2.75 per month)
  3. Unlock Everything Forever = $74.99, this is a one time purchase

All Darkroom+ membership options, including the Unlock Everything Forever option, unlocks all features now and moving forward, as the title would suggest.

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.

How do I switch from a subscription to the Darkroom+ forever single purchase?

First, you will have to cancel your existing subscription. For which the instruction can be found above. And let it lapse. Once it subscription period has lapsed you will see the Darkroom+ reminders in Darkroom. Tap on any, or go to settings to tap the option and pick the Unlock Everything Forever option.

Why do you have a subscription?

First of all, anyone who paid for anything prior to Darkroom 4.4 in early 2020 will keep having access to all the features they originally purchased and those that where added up until that release for free. So, even if you only bought a single preset/filter set 4 years ago, you’ll have access to all the presets and all the tools we made available prior to the introduction of Darkroom+. That includes video export, flag & reject, watermarking, and customizing the app icon!

However, as our product offerings grows, all new premium features will be Darkroom+ membership-only. New customers today are funding the development of those features with our membership. We think this is a fair trade-off between the promises we made to existing customers, and the promises we’re making to new customers. We have 8 years of history to demonstrate our commitment, and we hope you in turn trust us with yours.

For more in depth information please read our release post for details.

How can I get a refund for a purchase?

Apple handles all sales and there for also all refunds. Follow their instructions at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204084


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 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.

View Suggestion Board

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.

  • Clarity - Due to an unfortunate Apple macOS bug Clarity is not available on macOS Big Sur 11.3 till 11.6. But is on earlier versions of Big Sur and also macOS 12 Monterey.
  • 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.
  • Shortcuts Actions & Siri Integration — Shortcuts Actions functionality is now available starting with macOS 12 Monterey.

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!

Do you have an Android App?

The short answer is No. As we haven't taken any outside funding, we're only accountable to the people who matter: our users. That also means we currently don't have a version of Darkroom for Android, as we currently don't have the resources to invest in making the amazing Darkroom experience available more broadly.

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 email to 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 SettingsDarkroom Language.


RAW

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, and you’ll notice a new Tone Map slider. This tone map slider is one of the primary inputs to that magic box that we can now control, and expose to you. We default at 100%, which runs the magic box at full strength, and you can turn that down all the way to 0%, giving you just the RAW data.

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.

RAW, what's the deal?

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.

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 can 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 recommend Adobe 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) 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.

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.


How do I...?

How do I adjust my Videos?

  • Starting with Darkroom 4.6 videos will show right in your Library without any action required. You will be able to view and play them back by simply tapping them.
  • Screen recording videos can be found in the Screenshots smart album.
  • The ability to adjust and export your videos requires you have our Darkroom+ purchase.
  • In SettingsExport Options there are video format options.

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 SD Card 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.

How can I use Darkroom with Siri and Shortcuts Actions?

There are actually a couple of different ways to use Darkroom with Siri and Shortcuts Actions.

  1. Apply a preset, Crop, Frame, Watermark: Go to the Shortcuts app, which is pre-installed since iOS 13, and create create a new shortcut or automation. Then, simply search for "Darkroom" or "Photos" and you will find our Shortcut Actions with which you will be to automate like never before.
  2. Hashtags: Go to settings in Darkroom and Add a custom Siri Shortcut for one or more of your Hashtags Sets to quickly copy those hashtags with a simple command. Read more in our release post.

Note that these options are not available on Mac.

How do I access the Photos Edit Extension?

As of Darkroom 6.2 we no longer support the Photos Edit Extension, as it was to much of a constrained environment, forcing us to disable a lot of features. For a more detailed you can read our release post.

Instead, you can use our Darkroom Share Extension

  1. Tap Share in the Photos app, and scroll all the way to the end (right) of the app options.
  2. Tap the big More (•••) button.
  3. In the list that comes up toggle on Darkroom.
  4. Finally, re-order the list to make Darkroom accessible as one of the first in the list.

How do I Batch edit my photos?

  1. In the main Library, tap Batch at the top right.
  2. Tap-and-hold on the photo, that has the edits you want to copy, and tap the Copy Edits option.
    • Open use the … menu when viewing a photo, or go to the History tool.
  3. Then, tap (and drag left/right, and up/down) to select the photos you wish to apply edit to.
  4. Tap the pasteboard icon, third from the right, for the copied edits to be applied.

Please note that non of the edits from the transform/crop and frame tool are copied.

How do I set a watermark on my photos?

In settings in the app you will find the Export Watermark option right at the top. Here you can set any text or image to be overlaid on all your exported photos. There also is a similar option found in Export Options.

Additionally, you can set copyright meta data to be added to all your exported photos by going to Export Options and scrolling all the way to the bottom.

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.

Can I use my presets (filters) accross my devices?

Yes. It requires that you use our Backup & Restore options found in settings. We do not yet have automatic sync like functionality.

  1. On the devices with your custom presets, go to settings and tap Back up Custom Presets.
  2. On any of your other devices use the Restore Custom Presets to download all your custom presets from your other device.

This functionality also backs-up the order and favorite state of all your presets.

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.

How do I share or install a preset?

If you have received a Darkroom Preset link simply tap the link, and Darkroom will open and present you with the option to install the preset.


Issues

Why do I see diagonal lines on my exported photo?

There is a bug on iOS 14.4 and up, but resolved on iOS 15, that causes diaginal lines to appear in your exported photos when you use HEIF instead of JPG as your export file format. With Darkroom 5.7 we included a workaround for the issue on the older versions of iOS 14.

Why do photos seem to be downloaded so often?

The key bit of context to have is that Darkroom is built on top of iCloud Photos. By default Apple chooses to optimize local on device Photos storage. Which you can change if you'd like. Apple has documentation on this available. But it means Photos 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 request iCloud to download it.

Watermark is not applied when exporting.

This is an issue that started to appear on iOS 11. To resolve it all you have to do is the following:

  1. Go to WatermarkSettings in Darkroom.
  2. Change the type of Watermark from Image to text.
  3. Then close Settings, to ensure you changes are saved.
  4. Then go back to Watermark Settings, and set your Watermark to image again.
  5. And close Settings again, to ensure you changes are saved.

Importing on Mac doesn't work or crashes.

Darkroom does not have access to all folders and drivesIt does not by default.. To enable this, you will have to follow these instructions:

  1. Go to System Settings, and open the Security & Privacy section.
  2. Open the Privacy tab.
  3. Scroll down to Full Disk Access.
  4. Either drag the Darkroom app into the list, or click the + button.

Darkroom on Mac crashes when trying anything.

Darkroom requires that you have set a Photo Library as your System Photo Library. To ensure you have a System Photo Library set:

  1. Open the Photos app, from Apple.
  2. After Photos opens the library, choose Photos Preferences from the menu bar.
  3. Click the General tab.
  4. Click the Use as System Photo Library button.

Apple has detailed documentation on how to manage and set your System Photo Library: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204414

When I Revert a Portrait photo, my depth information seems lost.

The good news is that although your portrait photo appears to have lost depth information, the depth tools aren't showing, and the depth badge is gone, it is only hidden and still available! You can easily retrieve it by following these steps.

  1. Open the portrait photo in question in the Photos app.
  2. Tap the Edit button at the right top.
  3. You should see a white outlined Portrait button at the center top, tap it.
  4. Once the Portrait button turned yellow it means depth information is enabled again.

Due to limitations of the tools Apple provides apps like Darkroom, we aren't able to retreive the hidden depth information for you.

Why is my Mac window size not remembered?

It can, but there are two circumstances that can prevent it from happening. We have yet to gain the tools from Apple to be able to completely solve this.

  • Make sure that in System Settings General, the Close windows when quiting an app option is disabled.
  • When you close a window, and quit the app, the window size is remembered. But when you close a window, and tap the app icon to activate Darkroom again, the window uses the default size. We hope this issue will be resolved in a future macOS update.

How do I report an issue/bug?

  1. Make sure you are using the latest version of Darkroom and iOS.
  2. You will help us most by finding precise and detailed steps to reproduce the issue. This is honestly the most important thing for us.
  3. If the issue causes a crash, the app unexpectedly quits, follow our Crash instructions.
  4. Send us a screenshot, or even a screen recording video would help us tremendously as we'd be able to watch along.
  5. If you have multiple issues, make sure to clearly report them separately.

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. Please give it a read.

Requirements

  • macOS App:
  • RAW Editing:
  • Portrait Editing: iOS 11, and iPhone 7/8 Plus & iPhone X/S/Max.
  • HEIF Editing: iOS 11, and iPhone 6 and later. Apple Documentation

Can't find an answer to your question?

Please feel free to contact our product support and ask any question you might have, or even just to share feedback.

feedback@darkroom.co
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