Overview
What is RapidRAW ?
Section titled “What is RapidRAW ?”RapidRAW is a modern, high-performance alternative to Adobe Lightroom®. It delivers a simple, beautiful editing experience in a lightweight package (under 20MB) for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Why RapidRAW was built ?
Section titled “Why RapidRAW was built ?”I developed this project as a personal challenge at the age of 18. My goal was to create a high-performance tool for my own photography workflow while deepening my understanding of both React and Rust, with the support from Google Gemini.
For who is this ?
Section titled “For who is this ?”RapidRAW is for photographers who love to edit their photos in a clean, fast, and simple workflow. It prioritizes speed, a beautiful user interface, and powerful tools that let you achieve your creative color vision quickly.
It is not for users who seek absolute, perfect color accuracy. While the results are great for most purposes, the focus is on a fluid, creative process rather than perfect color precision.
RapidRAW is still in active development and isn’t yet as polished as mature tools like Darktable, RawTherapee, or Adobe Lightroom®. Right now, the focus is on building a fast, enjoyable core editing experience. You may encounter bugs - if you do, please report them so I can fix them :) Your feedback really helps!
Key features
Section titled “Key features”1. Core Editing Engine
Section titled “1. Core Editing Engine”- GPU-Accelerated Processing: All image adjustments are processed on the GPU using a custom WGSL shader for rapid feedback.
- Masking: Create masks with AI subject, sky and foreground detection. Combine with traditional Brush, Linear, and Radial masks for great control.
- Generative Edits: Remove objects or add new elements with text prompts. Each edit creates a non-destructive patch layer, powered by an optional ComfyUI backend.
- Full RAW Support: Supports a wide range of RAW camera formats thanks to rawler.
- Non-Destructive Workflow: All edits are stored in a
.rrdatasidecar file, leaving your original images untouched. - 32-bit Precision: Ensures high-quality adjustments without banding or data loss.
2. Professional Grade Adjustments
Section titled “2. Professional Grade Adjustments”- Tonal Controls: Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks.
- Tone Curves: Full control over Luma, Red, Green, and Blue channels.
- Color Grading: Temperature, Tint, Vibrance, Saturation, and a full HSL color mixer.
- Detail Enhancement: Sharpening, Clarity, Structure, and Noise Reduction.
- Effects: LUTs, Dehaze, Vignette, and Film Grain simulation.
- Transform Tools: Crop with aspect ratio locking, Rotate, and Flip.
3. Library & Workflow
Section titled “3. Library & Workflow”- Image Library: Effortlessly sort, rate, tag, and manage your entire photo collection for a streamlined and efficient workflow.
- Folder Management: Integrated folder tree, create, rename, and delete folders directly within the app.
- File Operations: Import, copy, move, rename, and duplicate images and their associated edits.
- Filmstrip View: Quickly navigate between all the images in your current folder while editing.
- Batch Operations: Save significant time by applying a consistent set of adjustments or exporting entire batches of images simultaneously.
- EXIF Data Viewer: Gain insights by inspecting the complete metadata from your camera, including shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and lens information.
4. Productivity & UI
Section titled “4. Productivity & UI”- Preset System: Create, save, import, and export your favorite looks.
- Copy & Paste Settings: Quickly transfer adjustments between images.
- Undo/Redo History: A robust history system for every edit.
- Customizable UI: Resizable panels and multiple beautiful UI themes with smooth animations.
- Panorama Stitcher: Seamlessly combine multiple images into a wide panorama.
- Exporting: Control file format, quality, naming scheme, metadata, resizing options on export.