There are four popular RAW processors that are available free: darktable, RawTherapee, nufraw, and DCRaw. To learn about how you can add them into your workflow and to discover some additional RAW processing options for GIMP, read on!īecause GIMP’s developers don’t build in native RAW support, you’ll need to choose an external RAW processor in order to open and edit your RAW files in GIMP. There are a couple of other methods to open RAW files in GIMP, but those two programs are the best free options available. You can apply any non-destructive adjustments you want, and then it passes the processed RAW file directly back into GIMP for additional editing and closes itself.

Once you’ve got an appropriate processor installed, opening a RAW file in GIMP will automatically launch it as a plugin.

They can both open any RAW files produced by a modern camera, and they integrate seamlessly and instantly with GIMP. The two leading options are darktable and RawTherapee. You’ll need to install a secondary program to handle your RAW files called a RAW processor. GIMP doesn’t know how to open RAW files by default, but there are a few different ways to get around this problem.

For example, Nikon cameras use the NEF format. Modern cameras use RAW formats to get the best possible image quality, and most camera manufacturers use their own unique proprietary version of a RAW file.

Darktable or rawtherapee for gimp