In the artistic field of photography, photographers usually go for a bigger format when doing high-end fashion shoots, product shoots, and events coverage. Most photographers like to use the RAW format when saving their pictures as it keeps all data present when the shot is made, which makes it easier to edit on basic or professional editing tools like Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop.
Seamless RAW conversion Natively edit raw images, with fused development and retouching functions. All processed on the GPU in 16-bits for maximum quality and speed. Not bad for free! Judging from the reviews, this is good free RAW editing software. SCARAB Darkroom is another promising piece of freeware for RAW conversion. It is currently in BETA mode and only works on Windows computers. Many people on Digital Photography Review claimed to really favor this software for editing their RAW files.
For this topic, we will be sharing some features most RAW photo editing software have to help out photographers search for the software that fits them best. Advanced photographers and photo enthusiasts looking for more editing tools can search the net for more Professional Photo Editing Software.
Most online photo editing software usually support RAW format, so no need to worry on that one. What you need to be aware are only the editing tools available for editing your pictures. Some basic tools include exposure adjustment, brightness, contrast, sharpness, etc. Though there are a lot of basic tools to start editing your pictures, most software will posses those tools, which will be no problem as well.
Some software have more advanced options to edit photos like color adjustment and guides to help you out like a histogram, to guide you on the balance of colors and exposure in your pictures. Some software also support multicolor options to help you print out pictures the way you want them to be printed.
Some RAW photo editing software also has features for you to decorate and improvise photos through the use of filters and overlays to help make your picture stand out. Again, no need to worry on whether these software support RAW format as most software displayed on this article supports RAW format as well as other software available on the net.
For photographers using Mac to edit RAW format photos, there are a lot of editing software available for download. You can search the web for a Mac Photo Editor.
Some photographers only need minimal editing tools to fix pictures or just need a simple converter to convert RAW format to JPEG format, which is the most known format for pictures. These kinds of converters are easily available on the net for download.
Other advanced software are also available in the Internet for download. More detailed features of advanced software include support for grayscaled pictures, noise reduction, etc., which is an advantage for most photographers as they rely heavily on cleaning tools to help make their photos neat.
Some RAW photo editing software you can find online now supports multiple cameras, which means you should be able to upload and do basic photo editing of your pictures with not problems at all. RAW photo editing software found on the net are also available for Mac users to download. Incorporating RAW format editing software with Apple’s photo editing software is also a great advantage to have more editing options for your pictures and easily sync them to your Apple devices.
If you feel the need to have moreyou can search the net or read more forums online to know which software will fit you best in editing your photos or converting RAW format pictures to JPEG for distribution.
Not everyone can afford to pay for RAW editing software such as Photoshop or Lightroom. So, I have compiled a list of free RAW editing software for the photographer on a budget. I can’t personally vouch for any of these programs as I use Photoshop and Lightroom for all of my RAW conversion.
1.Able RAWer 1.4 is freeware for RAW conversion and editing. It is only compatible with Windows currently. I wasn’t able to locate very many reviews of the software, but what I did find was mostly negative unfortunately. One reviewer sited the incredibly complicated and hard to learn user interface and felt that it wasn’t software that was worth downloading, even for free.
2. Stepok’s Raw Importer appears to be very popular among users. Like Able RAWer 1.4, it is only compatible with Windows. Reviews claimed that it was easy to use, did what it was supposed to, but was a bit slow. Not bad for free! Judging from the reviews, this is good free RAW editing software.
3. SCARAB Darkroom is another promising piece of freeware for RAW conversion. It is currently in BETA mode and only works on Windows computers. Many people on Digital Photography Review claimed to really favor this software for editing their RAW files. It appears to support most cameras, so I would certainly recommend giving this free software a try!
4. Google’s Picasa does support RAW files, and is of course free to use. However, most people feel that it is too basic. It’s not recommended on its own.
5. ArcSoft PhotoStudio Darkroom is compatible with both Windows and Mac, and it is completely free to use the trial version of the software for editing your RAW files. Reviews are mixed. A few people claimed that they actually charge you for customer support, and are in general shady. Others were happy enough with the software itself. I tend to take any claims of poor customer support very seriously. It’s one of my pet peeves and will make me stay far away from a product! For this reason, I would not recommend trying this software.
6. Capture One, which is typically premium RAW editing software, is offering a limited time free download of the express version of the software. You will be asked a question about a certain issue of digital photographer magazine. It might be worth it to purchase the issue since the software typically sells for $129!
I’m sure there is some free RAW editing software that I missed, but I bet something on this list will work for you if you are on a budget. However, I would always recommend purchasing Photoshop and Lightroom if you can afford it.