Download RawTherapee — Free Raw Photo Processor for Windows PC v5.13 for Windows PC

RawTherapee is a free, open-source raw photo processor for Windows with non-destructive processing profiles, a batch queue, advanced colour and sharpening...

Features

• Non-destructive processing profiles let you revisit, copy and refine raw edits at any time without ever altering the original camera files.
• Version 5.13 brings a Rec2020 default working profile, LibRaw support for newer cameras and a new Michaelis-Menten tone mapper for highlight handling.
• Capture deconvolution sharpening in Selective Editing recovers real detail from lens softness more convincingly than simple output sharpening alone.
• The batch queue lets you apply a finished processing profile to a whole set of images and export them while you do other work.
• It is completely free and open source, yet its demosaicing, colour, noise-reduction and lens-correction tools rival paid raw developers in depth.

Considerations

• The learning curve is steep, with many technical tools and panel names that take real study before editing feels quick or confident.
• There is no digital-asset-management cataloguing like digiKam or Lightroom provides, so organising a large photo archive needs another app.
• Browsing and working through very large libraries can be slow, making it better suited to careful developing than rapid high-volume culling.

RawTherapee is a developing bench for camera raw files, built around one safe idea: your original photo is never altered. Every adjustment is stored as a processing profile, saved as a small .pp3 sidecar file beside the raw image. You can reset an image at any time, save a look you like as your own profile, copy it to other photos from the same shoot, or refine it weeks later, because nothing was ever baked into the file.

Inside that profile sits a deep toolset. You choose how the raw data is demosaiced, then work through exposure, tone and colour tools, noise reduction, lens corrections and local adjustments through Selective Editing. Version 5.13 widened the colour foundation by making Rec2020 the default working profile, added support for newer cameras through LibRaw, and introduced a Michaelis-Menten tone mapper for handling highlights plus capture deconvolution sharpening, which recovers real detail lost to lens softness rather than simply sharpening edges at export.

When a set of images is ready, the batch queue applies a finished profile across them and exports while you do something else. What RawTherapee deliberately does not do is manage your library: there is no catalogue database, so it works on folders through its file browser, and organising a large archive belongs to another app.

RawTherapee is for photographers who develop individual frames carefully and want control that rivals paid raw developers, at no cost. Enthusiasts shooting raw on mirrorless or DSLR cameras, who enjoy understanding demosaicing, colour and sharpening rather than pressing one auto button, will get the most from it. It is especially strong for someone with a favourite look to reuse: build a profile once, apply it across a shoot, adjust per image and queue the exports. Photographers who already organise photos in folders, or pair developing with a separate organiser such as digiKam, will find the missing catalogue no obstacle at all.

It is not for photographers who want one app to import, search, rate and manage a whole archive. There is deliberately no photo library or catalogue management here, so hunting through tens of thousands of images by keyword belongs elsewhere. Nor is it for beginners in a hurry or high-volume shooters culling huge folders quickly: the learning curve is steep, panel names are technical, and browsing very large libraries can feel slow because previews and processing are generated without a pre-built catalogue. If you want speed and hand-holding above depth, a simpler editor will suit you better.

A photographer returns from a wedding with one important frame underexposed by more than a stop: the couple's first dance, shot quickly as the hall lights dropped. In RawTherapee they open the folder - no import, no catalogue - and load the raw file, safe in the knowledge that the original cannot be damaged. They lift the exposure, then use the Michaelis-Menten tone mapper to hold the bright string lights in the background while the shadows come up, instead of letting the highlights blow out as the faces recover.

Noise from the high ISO is tackled next, with careful noise reduction balanced against capture deconvolution sharpening in Selective Editing, so the detail in the dress survives rather than turning waxy. A slight lens correction and a warmer colour balance finish the look, and the whole recipe is saved as a .pp3 profile. Three other frames from the same dance share the same lighting, so the profile is copied across them, tweaked individually, and all four go into the batch queue to export while the photographer makes tea.

Outcome: the underexposed first-dance shot recovered to a printable, natural-looking image, the same rescue applied consistently to its three companion frames, and every original raw file left completely untouched.

Download RawTherapee_5.13_win64_x86_64_release.exe (version 5.13) from this page and save it to your Downloads folder.

Double-click RawTherapee_5.13_win64_x86_64_release.exe, approve the Windows prompt if it appears, and follow the setup wizard — the official instruction is simply to open the package and run the executable installer.

Complete the wizard with the default options, then launch RawTherapee from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut.

Browse to a folder containing your own raw photos, and open one image in the editor to confirm everything works.

Is RawTherapee — Free Raw Photo Processor for Windows PC free and open source?

Yes. RawTherapee — Free Raw Photo Processor for Windows PC is completely free and open-source software. You can download and use it at no cost, and its source code is publicly available.

What is RawTherapee software?

RawTherapee is a free, open-source raw photo processor for developing camera raw files with detailed control. It covers demosaicing, exposure and colour work, noise reduction, lens corrections and local edits, and every adjustment is stored non-destructively as a processing profile, so your original files are never altered. What it deliberately does not include is a photo catalogue for organising a whole archive.

Is RawTherapee safe to use?

Yes. It is free, open-source software that works locally on your own photos, and its whole workflow is non-destructive: edits live in small .pp3 sidecar profile files beside your images rather than being written into them. You can reset any photo at any time, because the original raw file is never changed.

Is RawTherapee any good?

For developing individual frames carefully, yes — its demosaicing, colour, wavelet and sharpening tools rival paid raw developers in depth, and version 5.13 added a Michaelis-Menten tone mapper and capture deconvolution sharpening. The trade-offs are a steep learning curve, no catalogue for organising an archive, and slower browsing through very large libraries.

Can you edit JPEGs in RawTherapee?

RawTherapee is built around camera raw files, and that is where its toolset is aimed: demosaicing, raw colour work and processing profiles all assume an undeveloped original. A JPEG has already been processed and compressed by the camera, so there is far less data for those tools to work with — photographers use RawTherapee as the developing step for raw files, then export the finished image.

Which is better, RawTherapee or darktable?

It depends on whether you want an organiser with your editor. Darktable pairs its raw editor with a lighttable for organising shoots, while RawTherapee is the single-minded developer — deep demosaicing, sharpening and colour-science tools, and no catalogue to maintain. If you already organise photos in folders or another app, RawTherapee's focus is an advantage; if you want one app for both jobs, darktable covers more.