RawTherapee 5.9

Raw image files save the data obtained by digital cameras and scanners with practically no information loss. Yet, since they are not fully processed, the images cannot be printed or edited with common bitmap graphics editors. RawTherapee is intended to work with RAW photographs, which means that it allows making various types of adjustments to the image. In addition, it can also edit other formats, including BMP, TIFF, and PNG.

The program has a nice and intuitive interface, which resembles that of a file explorer. Thus, it lets you browse through your disk and preview the photos stored there. However, it is used quite differently from other similar software, which might make the learning curve steeper.

Most of the editing you can perform with this tool is related to enhancing the quality of the picture. In this regard, it lets you sharpen, reduce noise, defringe and change contrast levels. Likewise, it supports adjusting white balance and vibrance, mixing channels, equalizing HSV, managing colors and demosaicing. Also, some optical anomalies can be fixed, including flat fields, dark frames, black points and chromatic aberration. Moreover, just like standard picture editors, RawTherapee helps you carry out other more frequent operations, such as resizing, rotation and cropping.

Luckily, the program works without altering the original file. Instead, it lets you save the results as JPEG, PNG and TIFF files. Besides, its multi-threaded algorithms can process any change in practically no time and with very accurate results, even when batches of pictures are being edited simultaneously.

In general, RawTherapee can come in handy to process RAW images. It can be perfect for experienced photographers. It is also excellent news that this product is open source, which means you can use it at no cost. Additionally, the program has the advantages of being cross-platform and supporting command line usage.