digiKam is awesome! But the UI is a mess

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I have too many pictures… like I guess many of you.

And while trying to just use Dolphin, then a bit the Gallery features of Gwenview, I think DigiKam is actually better for my task.

It is pretty new to me to have such a huge app for something so simple, but it makes sense and I already really enjoy many features.

But the UI, what the hell?

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Many KDE apps have a few too many buttons, and I always like to remove the text. Maybe add some hidden gems that for whatever reason are not included.

But in DigiKam…

  • there are 4 bars
  • one preview, one file list, one image gallery
  • the 2 bars on the side have vertical text that is cut off
  • the 2 vertical bars are not removable

Do you actually use it like this?? This is the first KDE app where I could not stand the default.

I added all the side buttons to the top toolbar, added some spacers, removed the menu, added a flexible spacer, removed most of the text.

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I am still missing a slider for the zoom.

But most importantly, there is no way to change or remove these useless side bars?

No way to make the text disappear, which is not useful at all as it is cut off.

I think a side panel makes sense, but 4 is just crazy.

I also think for general use digiKam is a bit overcomplex (for example Aves on Android also has tags and a map, but not all the rest).

But lets start with the UI bars, do you agree?

How can I remove them? Should they even be here by default, or would using a few flexible spacers in the toolbar be enough?

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Btw I am using the DigiKam Flatpak and have just looked at the config file in the flatpak folder.

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For the text … it is not cut off with default settings on a FullHD screen or larger. There is actually plenty of space remaining, but adding the ability to turn it off when desired would of course be useful for users that like/need a bigger font size.

For the panels: the left panel controls the view, the right panel provides tools. I find this layout useful, it works well for me. Merging the two panels would make the UI more cumbersome imho.

So no, I, personally, do not agree, but I wouldn’t mind all this being configurable.