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Almost all Linux distros come with preloaded software for managing your photos. Most users stick with these defaults. Hence, the struggle for being the de facto photo organizer is an important and defining one. If you use a GNOME distro, you must have stumbled across either F-Spot or Shotwell – two very popular photo organizers. Shotwell is the standard photo manager in Ubuntu and Fedora, while F-Spot remains the default in openSUSE. Is it worth sticking to your default photo organizer, or do you need to transfer loyalties? This article will help you to decide.

Genesis

For this review, I contacted Jim Nelson, executive director of Yorba, the software group that created Shotwell. I asked him why and when Shotwell was created. Mr. Nelson said, “Shotwell was started in March of 2009. Adam Dingle was the executive director of Yorba at that time, I was its only employee. Adam's (and Yorba's) goal is to improve the GNOME Desktop experience. One place we both agreed that the experience was lacking was in the area of photo management, so we started working on Shotwell.”

F-Spot, meanwhile, probably came into existence circa 2003. However, some contributors were doubtful whether much code existed at that point, noting that Mono itself came into being in 2004 (F-Spot is a Mono application). To the question, why F-Spot was created, Adam Tauno Williams, an F-Spot developer, answered, “I'd guess because the world needed a better photo management app.”

User Interface

F-Spot has a 2-column user interface (UI). The first column has a drop-down menu that allows it to be used for browsing photos tagged in a certain way, in a particular folder, or for showing the options to edit a photo. The second column, which occupies most of the space, displays the photos as square tiles. A time-line bar on the top, equipped with a slider, makes sorting your photos by month or year extremely easy and intuitive. The size of the thumbnails can be adjusted using a slide – this feature is very convenient and shows the developers' understanding that one size does not fit all. The theme can be adjusted in the 'Preferences' dialog. You can choose from a plethora of options ranging from the ubiquitous 'Ambiance' to the lesser known 'New Wave'.

Shotwell also has a 2-column UI. The first column shows the entire photo directory, which includes the Library, Events, all the tags, and a trash folder. The next column shows the thumbnails of the photos. Like F-Spot, there is a slider to adjust the size of the thumbnails. In lieu of the time-line bar of F-Spot, Shotwell offers an alternative: Events. Choosing this option from the first column changes the display in the second column to a series of square (well almost square, the corners are rounded) tiles. Each tile represents a collection of photos and videos organized by the date they were taken. You can rename the events, which makes the tiles resemble albums even more. Also, you can merge events. It's a great way to browse through all your photos, and is aesthetically pleasing as well. You can also activate the search bar in the UI, which is unobtrusive and useful. However, theme customization options are missing.

Import Options

I remember my parents lugging around heavy photo albums when we shifted house, setting up a new photo manager can sometimes be just as tiresome. That is where the 'Import' option comes in. A photo manager’s ability to retrieve photos from a folder, SD card or even another program's library, is of tantamount importance.

While setting up F-Spot, importing the photos was easy. You just had to dissuade F-Spot from creating duplicates of every photo it imported in its own folder, but other than that, the process was quick and efficient. However, when I tried importing photos from an SD card later, F-Spot seemed reluctant, almost xenophobic, about accepting any new photos. In the end I was forced to cancel the unresponsive import window and turn to Shotwell.

Shotwell's desire to get your photos borders on almost stalkerish. It can, of course, follow the normal route to get photos – you specify the folder and it will obtain the photos. But it is not adverse to a bit of blatant stealing as well. Click on the option 'Import from F-Spot' and Shotwell will grab your photos from its rival F-Spot's photo database (audacious indeed). The feature makes migration undeniably easier, though. Insert an SD card and Shotwell will quickly ferret out the pictures from there as well, allowing you to import all the photos in a single click. The import options in Shotwell make an otherwise painfully tedious process bearable.

Searching

Imagine the following scenario: you want to find that great photo someone took of you long ago. You fire up your photo organizer and then abruptly stop. A horrible realization just dawns on you: you don't know the name of the photo and are hazy about the year in which it was taken. Lost in a sea of cryptically named photos, you turn to the search bar. The scenario I just described is not as uncommon as it may seem for photos are often arbitrarily named and finding the one you want can be a particularly tricky task.

F-Spot has some great search options under 'Find' in the menu bar (elementary, my dear Watson). You can drag multiple tags into the 'Find bar' to locate your image. However, more useful is the find 'By Date' option which allows you to specify a time range within which to search. You can search by rating, and even look through the import rolls to find your missing photo. The only criticism I have is of F-Spot's tendency to suddenly disappear. This whimsical disposition renders your painstaking search useless, and is a glitch that needs to be resolved. Further, F-Spot's Houdini act can occur during any task, not just while searching, which is extremely annoying to say the least.

Shotwell also has a decent array of search features. The search bar allows you to filter your results using rating, tags, the format, and whether the photo/video is flagged or not. Choosing 'New Search' under the 'Edit' entry in the menu bar opens up an advanced search dialog. This option is extremely powerful and, if you're patient, you will eventually unearth your photo. Shotwell's search may not be as convenient as F-Spot's, but it is certainly more comprehensive. 

Photo Editing

Sepia. Red eye reduction. Crop. Words that would have been meaningless to most people a few years ago, are now a part of the lexicon of anyone who owns a smartphone. A photo management program today simply has to offer some basic editing options.

Choosing 'Edit' from the drop-down menu in the first column of F-Spot reveals the following options: Crop, Red Eye reduction, Desaturate, Sepia tone, Straighten, Soft focus, Auto colour, and Adjust colours. This arsenal of tools, while allowing users to fine-tune their picture to perfection, may also overwhelm some less-experienced users. The sidebar also shows the histogram for the image, and a drop-down menu which allows users to restore the original image. The knowledge that the original would be safe made me much more comfortable while experimenting, and is, in my opinion, one of the best features of F-Spot. F-Spot also allows users to open the image using the image viewer, browser, or an external photo editor.

Shotwell allows you to crop the image, remove Red Eye, adjust exposure, tint and saturation. However, its standout feature is the 'Enhance' button. Clicking this wand-shaped button magically transforms your photo, almost always for the better. This simple option will be appreciated by most users. And lastly, Shotwell is well aware of its own limitations, right clicking on the photo gives you the option to edit the photo in a more fully-fledged photo editor such as the wonderful GIMP.

Export Options

At last, we're nearing the journey's end. After importing the photos from the camera and editing them, we're ready for the final step. Which is? Why, putting them online for the whole world (or at least a part of it) to see, of course.

F-Spot allows you to export your images to Flickr, Picasa Web and a few other sites. The ability to upload images to Facebook, however, is sorely lacking. Shotwell allows you to publish your photos to Flickr or Picasa Web as well as Facebook. F-Spot provides an option to create a Photo CD, which is also handy.

Conclusion

Both of the photo managers offer great functionality, and have a simple UI and a robust tagging system. However, Shotwell is the clear winner for me. Its UI is a bit more beautiful, its search slightly more powerful, and its exporting options more comprehensive. F-Spot is still a wonderful photo organizer with an intuitive time-line bar, and will perhaps be better appreciated by those who want more photo-editing options. 

However..

If you think both of the options I mentioned were inadequate, wait for the next issue of FCM where I review yet another FOSS photo management app - digiKam. digiKam was hailed by Lifehacker as the best photo management software for Linux, it might just be what you’re looking for.

Epilogue - Smile Please

One last thing. While interviewing Mr. Nelson, I asked him whether he regarded F-Spot as a competitor. His reply gave me much food for thought. After clarifying that he did not want to ‘bury’ F-Spot, he said, “If people are using FOSS of any variety, that's a success!” Now isn’t that reason enough to smile?

Summary

F-Spot (top right)

The Good
Simple and intuitive UI with a convenient time-line bar
Comprehensive photo editing options
Great tagging system
Easy and powerful search options

The Bad
Crashes often without any warning
Lack of Facebook export feature

Website: http://f-spot.org/Main_Page

Available for: Linux only

Shotwell (bottom right)

The Good
Beautiful UI especially in 'Events' mode
One click 'Enhance' picture option
Quick and efficient import feature
Great export options

The Bad
Search bar is often not sufficient, you have to open advanced search

Website: http://www.yorba.org/projects/shotwell/

Available for: Linux only

The Winner of this Software Showdown is:

Shotwell!