While more useful as a processing tool in conjunction with another editing application, RawTherapee is still a perfectly functional editor in its own right, offering several features familiar to Photoshop users. If GIMP is Photoshop, think of RawTherapee as Lightroom. RawTherapee is an open-source cross-platform photo editor that offers a non-destructive, 32-bit engine and utilizes powerful algorithms to help you develop the highest quality image possible. Compared to RawTherapee, uploading can take up to double the time.īest Free RAW Photo Editing Program for Budget Computers: RawTherapee Unfortunately, cataloging speed is anything but enjoyable. Want to view your images by applied presets? By geotag? darktable makes navigating your photos a fun, intuitive process. Do not be fooled, though: just beyond those simple controls lies a wealth of robust tools for more advanced usersĪs a photo organizing software, darktable both excels and fails in equal measure. The same can be said for achieving perfect shadows and highlights, modifying the graduated density of your image, or adding grain. Adjusting contrast, brightness and saturation are a breeze, manipulated by simple sliders. While by no means a beginner software, the interface is sneakily slick for a program with this much power under the hood.
New functionality is added regularly which only increases the appeal. Like GIMP, darktable is also open-source. If you know Lightroom, you will have no problem navigating darktable. One of the most common is UFRaw: a GIMP plugin that may actually come installed with GIMP depending on where your source your download.īest Free Lightroom Alternative for RAW Photo Editing: darktable Thankfully, there are numerous free and simple RAW converters out there that work in conjunction with GIMP - not unlike how Adobe Camera RAW and Photoshop function together. The process is so seamless it appears invisible. In reality, any RAW file opened in Photoshop is processed through Adobe Camera RAW, then opened in Photoshop. No, you cannot “just open” a RAW file in GIMP without a helping hand - but neither can you in Photoshop. The second reason offers the chance to provide a little education.Īdobe has crafted such a complete ecosystem that we sometimes do not realize what each program is and is not capable of on its own. First, GIMP is simply an excellent program and equal to Photoshop in many ways, with a zero on its price tag. You will need to rely on an additional program or plugin to send your RAW photo for demosaicing and then to GIMP in TIFF format.Īt this point, you may be asking yourself why we have chosen to open a list of “Best Free RAW editors” with a program that cannot natively perform this task. On its own, GIMP lacks the ability to open RAW photos natively. To work with RAW photos in GIMP, the community’s contributions prove necessary. When you download GIMP, you get more than the program - you gain an active community of fellow editors, eager to provide tutorials, develop plug-ins, and increase functionality. Layers, masks, curves, brushes, clone stamps, perspective changes - they’re all here. There are not many bells and whistles you don’t get with GIMP. We have selected six programs we believe represent the cream of the crop. Just as important, though, are usability, interface, and how well a program suits a user’s experience level. Rendering, processing, batch processing, and asset management are critical functional elements to consider.
When compiling a list of free applications for editing RAW, many factors come into play. Thankfully, just as RAW has become democratized, so too have the programs needed to work with these files. As such, the highest power options often come with a price tag to match. No wonder, then, that more photographers than ever are on the hunt for software powerful enough to edit these files without compromising their unique quality.Īny RAW editor is an advanced piece of software, relying on complex processing and rendering to get the job done.
Even cell phones are now capable of capturing - and editing - the unparalleled color, detail, and dynamic range RAW files have to offer. One of the most exciting advancements in digital photography over the last several years has been the rapid increase in the ability to shoot and edit RAW photos.
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