Comparison of RAW software for Linux
this page has been migrated to our new wiki site
For more generic information on RAW images see RAW images and Open Source Software.
In order to be included in this page RAW processing software needs to at least provide a means to adjust the EV and color temperature of a RAW image. Non open source programs are included in order to give a better understanding of the different feature set covered by OSS and proprietary RAW processing software.
Here is what the abbreviations used in this page mean:
- ? — unknown or requires checking
- n/r — not required
- n/a — manufacterer/developer doesn't provide information on this
Hover the mouse pointer over a footnote number to display the footnote text.
General information
Application | Version | month/year | License | dcraw | language/toolkit | i18n | docs | plug-ins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bibble | 4.9.5 | January/2007 | non-free | n/r | n/a | yes1 | yes | yes |
dcraw | 8.68 | March/2007 | GPL2 | n/r | ANSI C/console | yes3 | man page | no |
dcraw-assist | 0.50 | March/2007 | GPL | >= 8.60 | ?/KDE | no | no | no |
digiKam | 0.9.3 | September/2007 | GPL | 8.77 | C++/KDE | yes | yes | yes |
Lightzone | 2.1 | January/2007 | non-free | n/a (?) | Java | no(?) | yes | no (?) |
Picasa | 2.2.2820 | ?/2007 | non-free | n/a (?) | n/a/WINE | yes | yes | no |
Rawstudio | 0.5.1 | February/2007 | GPL | 8.48 | C/Gtk+ | yes | no | no |
Raw Therapee | 2.0.1 / 3.0a | April/2007 / Jan/2010 | non-free / GPL | ?4 | C++ (?) | ? / yes | yes | no |
UFRaw | 0.11 | March/2007 | GPL | 8.62 | С/Gtk+ | yes | yes | no |
Editing a session
Application | Internal thumbnails browser | Camera import | Comparison of 2+ shots | Sorting | Deleting |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bibble | yes | no | no | yes | yes |
dcraw | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r |
dcraw-assist | no | no | no | no | no |
digiKam | yes | yes | Yes | yes | yes |
Lightzone | yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Picasa | yes | yes | no | yes5 | yes |
Rawstudio | yes | no | no | yes6 | yes |
Raw Therapee | yes | no | no | no | no |
UFRaw | no | no | no | no | no |
Reading and writing
Application | Interpolation | Native WB presets | JPEG/EXIF | TIFF 8bit/EXIF | TIFF16bit/EXIF | DNG read/write | Non-destructive7 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bibble | ? | ? | yes/yes | yes/yes | yes/yes | yes8/no | yes |
dcraw | 4 colours, VNG, AHD | no | ? | ? | ? | yes/no | no |
dcraw-assist | ? | ? | no | yes/? | ?/? | yes/no(?) | no |
digiKam | 4 colours, VNG, AHD, PPG, Bilinear | yes9 | yes/yes | yes/yes | yes/yes | yes/no | no |
Lightzone | yes | no | yes/yes | yes/? | yes/? | ?/no | yes |
Picasa | n/a | no | yes/yes | yes/no | ?/no | no | yes |
Rawstudio | n/a | no | yes/no | yes/no | yes/no | no | yes |
Raw Therapee | ? | no | yes/? | yes/? | yes/? | no | yes |
UFRaw | 4 colours, VNG, AHD | yes10 | yes/yes | yes/no | yes/no | yes(?)/no(?) | yes |
Processing
Application | EV/auto | Handling highlights | WB picker/auto | Curve | Saturation | Noise reduction | Sharpening | Contrast | Copy'n'paste settings |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bibble | yes/yes | yes | yes/yes | yes | yes | yes11 | yes | yes | yes |
dcraw | yes/yes | yes | no/yes | no | ? | yes12 | ? | ? | no |
dcraw-assist | ?/? | ? | ?/? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | no |
digiKam | yes/yes | yes | yes/yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no |
Lightzone | yes | ? | yes/yes | n/r | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Picasa | yes/yes | ? | yes/yes | no | ? | no | yes13 | ? | no |
Rawstudio | yes/yes | no | yes/yes | no14 | yes | no | no | yes | yes15 |
Raw Therapee | yes/yes | ? | yes/yes | yes16 | yes | yes17 | yes18 | yes | no |
UFRaw | yes/yes | yes19 | yes/yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes20 | no21 |
Transformations
Application | Mirror (Flip) | CW and CCW | Crop | Straighten | Wideangle | Devignetting | Chromatic aberrations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bibble | ? | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
dcraw | no | yes | no | no | no | no | no |
dcraw-assist | ? | ? | no | no | no | no | no |
digiKam | yes | yes | yes22 | yes | yes | yes | no |
Lightzone | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | no |
Picasa | no | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no |
Rawstudio | yes | yes | yes23 | yes | no | no | no |
Raw Therapee | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
UFRaw | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
Viewing and printing
Application | Zooming | Panning | Histogram | Showing EXIF | Color management | Printing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bibble | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
dcraw | no | no | no | n/a | yes | no |
dcraw-assist | no | no | no | ? | ? | no |
digiKam | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Lightzone | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Picasa | yes | yes | yes | no | no (?) | yes |
Rawstudio | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no |
Raw Therapee | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
UFRaw | yes24 | no | yes25 | yes | yes26 | no |