digiKam 5.3.0 Released, Linux AppImage Available for Download

digiKam AppImage

The digiKam photo management software has reached the 5.3.0 release a few days ago. AppImage bundle for Linux users now is available.

AppImage is an open-source project dedicated to provide a simple way to distribute portable software as compressed binary file, that standard user can run as well, without to install special dependencies. All is included into the bundle, as last Qt5 and KF5 frameworks. AppImage use Fuse file-system, which is de-compressed into a temporary directory to start the application. You don’t need to install digiKam on your system to be able to use it. Better, you can use the official digiKam from your Linux distribution in parallel, and test the new version without any conflict with one used in production. This permit to quickly test a new release without to wait an official package dedicated for your Linux box. Another AppImage advantage is to be able to provide quickly a pre-release bundle to test last patches applied to source code, outside the releases plan.

The bundle include main 3rd-party libraries used by digiKam as Lensfun, OpenCV, and Exiv2. All are optimized for digiKam, and without extra or experimental configurations which can crash the application in special cases.

digiKam 5.3.0 also brings various bug fixes, see here for more details.

Install digiKam 5.3.0 in Ubuntu:

Download .appimage (i386 for 32-bit, or x86_64 for 64-bit) from the link below:

DigiKam Download Page

Then make the appimage executable from its context menu -> Properties window.

digikam-appimage-executable

Finally run the AppImage to launch digiKam (see top picture).

To install digiKam 5.3.0 in traditional way:

The new release is available in the PPA repository for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, and their derivatives. Follow the steps below to install or upgrade it:

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:philip5/extra

digikam-ppa

2. To upgrade from a previous digiKam 5.x, launch Software Updater and install the updates:

upgrade digikam 5

Or run the command to install it for the first time, or upgrade via command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install digikam5

How to Remove:

To remove digiKam 5.x, run apt command with remove option:

sudo apt remove digikam5 && sudo apt autoremove

The PPA can be removed via System Settings -> Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.

About ml

ml is a part time stay-at-home dad who've been using Ubuntu Desktop for a few years. He writes in the free time and wishes to share some useful tips with Ubuntu beginners and lovers.