RawTherapee: important settings for turning RAW files into amazing JPEG images quickly

RawTherapee is free and open source tool for converting raw files to jpg files. RawTherapee ia a very powerful and quite easy to use that works under Windows, Mac, or Linux. In this video tutorial I quickly review the most essential settings and how to use them and share my experience. I'll get to the point quickly and focus only the most important settings of RawTherapee to get you on track quickly. You are able to immediately use RawTherapee for converting your raw files into beautiful jpeg files.
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RawTherapee batch processing and automation: • RawTherapee: how to ba...
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[@sevengenerations1989]

Finally a useful 'beginners guide' for Rawtherapee, addressing the basics in order to get started. Thank you!

[@tom_photo]

Thanks! I'm glad I could help you.

[@parshugyanram136]

Superb Video For Begineer!

[@cliffterpher]

This is brilliant Tom. One of the best Raw Therapee tutorials I've seen. Perhaps you would do more and explain the various interfaces and other features. Thank you again.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Cliff. Thank you! Indeed, my plan is to make more RawTherapee tutorials.

[@cliffterpher]

@@tom_photo Excellent!!!

[@AZ-Drone]

Glad to see a beginners guide here starting from square 1. Thanks for your time and effort putting this one together!

[@tom_photo]

Hi! I very much appreciate your positive feedback. Thank you!

[@13DCR]

I just came across your channel and I am so happy to see a photographer using open source software and a free operating system :-) Everbody else is only talking about Lightroom and Photoshop. This is probably because they do not know any better :-) I am anxious to see more content from you on RawTherapee, Gimp and Darktable. And of course I only use Linux ;-) Greetings and salutations to you and your channel, Mike

[@tom_photo]

Hi 13DCR! Thanks so much, I'm very happy you found my video useful. Indeed, I'm planning to post more tips and tutorials on RawTherapee, GIMP, Kdenlive and other free tools I'm using in photography and videography.

[@sailorbunny2388]

The most helpful guide ive watched, thank you so much and please continue doing what you love 🙏🏻

[@tom_photo]

Hi! Thank you so much for your kind words!

[@guitar_md]

Excellent, excellent video. Easy to follow along and got me started with this -- and far beyond. Thank you so much for the amazing video!

[@tom_photo]

Thank you so much, I appreciate it!

[@ulrichsamosii6058]

This is what I have been looking for, Thank you sooooo much. Linux user, Arch and now Pop_os 20.10 testing thanks again.

[@tom_photo]

I'm very glad you found my video useful. Thank you!

[@lisakelly5698]

Great help for a new user who is tired of paying Adobe's crazy prices. Your video was very helpful and I'm subscribing so I don't miss any more. Thank you.

[@tom_photo]

Dear Lisa! Thank you for your positive feedback. I appreciate it.

[@waltervanlille2263]

I like the specific mention of the "soft light" function. A lot of times I find it to be the secret sauce that gets my photo to look just right. In my eyes anyway... Nice beginner tutorial.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Walter! Thank you for making this very valid point. Kind regards!

[@ThamizhMusic]

Excellent tutorial. Thank you Tom.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Thiru! I'm very glad you liked my tutorial. Have fun with RawTherapee, it's a great tool. Kind regards!

[@user-ed3tg7ml5k]

Hello Tom Thanks for the great help you gave me. I have been searching for a couple of days for a program to edit RAW images, and I saw you now by chance while I was looking for this particular program. You have helped me a lot and I am subscribing to your channel because I want to know more Thank you.

[@tom_photo]

Hello! Thank you very much. I'm glad I could help you. And, yes, I have more RawTherapee tutorials planned. Kind regards!

[@i-see-sharp]

Useful and easy to follow! Cheers :)

[@tom_photo]

Hi! Thank you so much. Kind regards!

[@julianj7d374]

Excellent. Thanks. After seeing this I might actually take some raws. Never really had the time.

[@tom_photo]

I'm happy to read that you found my video useful. Thanks.

[@leeyarkess2539]

Excellent video, I learnt a lot of useful information to help in using Rawtherapee.

[@tom_photo]

Hi! I'm very glad to hear you found my video useful. Kind regards!

[@omerdogrukol6362]

Thanks a lot, this is far far from a daunting tutorial. Great video

[@tom_photo]

Thank you so much, Omer! Kind regards!

[@ATAR1]

Great tutorial! Thank you. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get away from LR (and fees), but wasn’t sure which alternative to pick… after watching this I think I’ll try RT. Please post your workflow for file management. And maybe portrait edits too!

[@tom_photo]

Hi ATAR1! Thank you very much! Indeed, I'm planning to post more on RawTherapee, including my workflow and some advanced topic as well. So far I've produced a video on RawTherapee batch processing and templates: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKOWn5yuhb6Wj5I

[@paulcasey4935]

terrific. thank you for this

[@tom_photo]

Hi Paul! Thank you so much for watching. Kind regards!

[@nikikinz-nik]

I'd like to see more tutorials please. I enjoyed your "only essentials" approach and would like to follow a progression to a more advanced level using this software. Very nice video. Above all - useful! Oh by the way, are you around Belgium. The exercise photograph reminded me of my time in Northern France.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Nikikinz! Thank you for your kind words. I'm certainly going to make more tutorials. The pictures I'm showing in the video were taken in Southern Estonia. Kind regards!

[@albertobelfast]

This is a great video. Can you make more of these Raw Therapee tutorials? Maybe with some portrait photos?

[@tom_photo]

Hi Alberto! Thank you for your positive comments. Yes, I plan to make more RawTherapee videos and I will remember your request to use portrait photos.

[@albertobelfast]

@@tom_photo thank you. All the best

[@badger67]

Thank you. You have a new subscriber.

[@tom_photo]

Thank you. I'm glad you found my video useful.

[@kenlynn7150]

Good to see something that actually helps

[@tom_photo]

Hi! I very much appreciate your positive feedback.

[@zygmuntIIIwuzza]

Great video, subbed

[@tom_photo]

Hi Alfred! Thank you very much, indeed!

[@tims3927]

got me constantly checking if my neighbours practice piano...:D

[@tom_photo]

Thanks Tim :)

[@gracielapena1905]

Thanks a lot!

[@tom_photo]

Thank you! You're most welcome.

[@jkeiffer]

This was helpful. I wish you could turn on/off the different modules like Darkroom, but this does help. What do you do in Gimp with the tiff that you couldn't do in RawTherapee?

[@tom_photo]

Thank you for this question. RawTherapee is very powerful and there aren't too many things that you cannot do in RawTherapee. I like to do additional touch-up in Gimp because I like the lens aberration fixing functions in Gimp a little better. Also, I can have a bit better control over sharpening in Gimp. I usually do all of my sharpening only in Gimp. You really don't have to use Gimp after RawTherapee but I'm just used to doing it; Gimp is always a part of my photo manipulation pipeline.

[@accentontheoff]

@@tom_photo Also, I presume, things like local adjustments, blemishes etc.? Can you do those in RawTherapee?

[@tom_photo]

@@accentontheoff Exactly. GIMP is a bit more capable when it comes to "normal" photo manipulation; when you don't have raw files.

[@accentontheoff]

@@tom_photo Got it thanks.

[@user-ff9rx7kq2g]

Again, awesome

[@tom_photo]

Hi! Thank you so much! Best of luck to you!

[@accentontheoff]

Basic question here. The tonal width setting that you mentioned around 3:45 which you left alone… is that setting (and maybe others like it) created by the RAW Therapee when the raw image is loaded, as part of some default profile. Any pointers on understanding all those default settings? Thanks! (P.S. This tutorial is a great help.)

[@tom_photo]

Hello! Thanks for this question. Yes the tonal width settings are created by RAW Therapee upon loading the image. It seems to me that RawTherapee uses some almost hard-coded settings, not too dependent on the actual image you load. The idea behind these settings is that you can create a threshold beyond which the pixels are untouched when you correct highlights or shadows. Best of luck to you!

[@accentontheoff]

@@tom_photo Got it! thanks for the reply.

[@explore_if]

AWESOME

[@tom_photo]

Hi! Thank you so much. Kind regards!

[@johnpeck11]

This will be a goto for me.

[@tom_photo]

Hi The Traveling Man! Thank you so much. Kind regards!

[@homerhomer7542]

Hi, I am new to the Raw Therapee and have a question, if you can help. Why my CR2 In RT became green in color? I am Linux Mint user. I would appreciate your comment on that.

[@tom_photo]

Thank you for your question. I wish I could help you but unfortunately I have no experience with CR2 or Canon for that matter. However, I did a Google search and, indeed, other people have also reported CR2 problems. I'm glad you're bringing up this point because it's important.

[@peterdavis4816]

I have only just discovered your channel Tom and find it a great tutorial. One question. When I save exactly the same output to TIFF (16 bit float) and JPEG, the TIFF image is a lot lighter/washed out while the JPEG appears the same as the working image in RawTherapee. I'm using Windows 64bit version and viewing the edited images in the native Windows Photo Viewer. Any idea why this would be so? I note that you use Gimp to view your edited file.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Peter. Thank you very much. Your question is very interesting. This is something I've never seen. I use Linux for photo editing. My first idea is that maybe the Photo Viewer you are using doesn't properly display the 16 bit TIFF. Can you try a different viewer? What happens when you open them in GIMP? What happens when you save your image as an 8 bit TIFF? Let's figure this out. I'm happy to help.

[@peterdavis4816]

@@tom_photo your suspicions were correct Tom, an 8 bit TIFF opened fine in the Windows Photo Viewer. When I opened the 16 bit TIFF in Gimp (I needed to update from 2.8.22 to 2.10.32 to handle 16 bit files) the image needed to be converted from an embedded RTv4_sRGB profile to the GIMP built-in sRGB color profile. I'm not sure if this had any bearing on the Windows Photo Viewer.🤔 To be fair the same was required for the JPEG file too.

[@tom_photo]

@@peterdavis4816 Thanks for letting me know. I'm glad you could figure it out. Best of luck to you!

[@richardslater677]

Perfect

[@tom_photo]

Hi Richard! Thank you so much!

[@Lookshine9559.]

Hi, thanks for sharing this video. I've question about the JPG file, I can't open it in my files, what should I do? 'cause I wanne add it on instagram

[@tom_photo]

Hi! Thank you for your question. What is the computational system you're using: Windows, Mac, Linux? Although RawTherapee is for raw files it should also work with JPG files. You could try this: Using file explorer navigate to your JPG file. Then select "open with" and the select RawTherapee from the list.

[@tyik]

Is there a way to read images file stored in ext drive?

[@tom_photo]

Hi tyik! Yes, RawTherapee makes no distinction between hard drive and external drive. If your external drive is properly mounted and recognized by the computer the it will show up in the file menu of RawTherapee just like a normal folder. Let me know if you have problems. Kind regards!

[@reflux043]

Im trying to find the best way to explain this. On a fujifilm x-t20, if i shoot jpg + raw, then convert the raw file to jpg without editing or enhancing the picture in any way, will it turn out exactly how the original jpg looks, or will the converted raw image to jpg look different (and show more detail)? Basically, do i have to edit or enhance the raw file with post-editing before converting it to jpg to get it to look different from the original jpg taken in camera, or will the converted raw image (without post-editing) always look different? I don't see the point in converting a raw file to jpg if it ends up turning out the same as if i just shot jpg. I hope you understand what i mean!

[@tom_photo]

Hi! Thank you for asking. Yes, I understand what you mean; you explained it very clearly. When you take a raw file, open it in RawTherapee, and then export it as a JPEG, the photo will be different from the JPEG that your camera produced (when you shot raw and JPEG in parallel). This is because the camera's JPEG engine is different from RawTherapee (and the settings that RawTherapee applies). The only way you can get the same JPEG out of a raw file as your camera would have produced is to use the camera's onboard software to convert raw to JPEG. Fuji cameras have that option. But even then, you need to make sure that the settings are selected the same way as you did when you shot your photo in the first place. Let me know if I answered your question. Kind regards!

[@reflux043]

@@tom_photo You sort of answered it! What i meant was that people always say raw is better than jpeg. So if i were to shoot raw, then convert it to jpg without touching it in post editing, would i have a better photograph, or do you need to edit & enhance raw files to produce a better jpg image than the original jpg shot in-camera?

[@tom_photo]

​@@reflux043 Hi! Oh, I see what you're asking. Great question. No, if you simply take the raw file and automatically convert it to JPEG, then it is not better than the JPEG that the camera would have produced. I would even argue otherwise. The camera probably makes better decisions as to what the best settings for that particular JPEG are. So if you decide that you want a JPEG and want it automatically (without tweaking any raw file settings), then just shoot JPEG. Cheers!

[@sclogse1]

Much appreciated. I imagine this software does not do layers.

[@tom_photo]

Hi sclogse1! RawTherapee can link with GIMP and this is a way to use layers.

[@neilfpv]

It's so weird. Nothing happens when I press CTRL+s. It's not popping up the save window.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Neil! Thank you for bringing up this point. I see this sometimes, too, and I think it's a bug. The software sometimes forgets this shortcut. In this case you can use the save icon at the bottom of the window (but this depends on your particular layout). It may also help if you close the software and start it again. Best of luck to you!

[@jordanwilliams1546]

How do I open external ssd file for photos on RawTherapee? I been having the hardest time whenever I open the ssd or camera memory card folder 📁 nothing shows

[@tom_photo]

Hi Jordan! Great question. This is something I have never attempted before with RawTherapee. Since I'm traveling I cannot unfortunately run the tests for you. What computer are you running: Linux, Mac, Windows, something else?

[@jordanwilliams1546]

@@tom_photo thanks for replying I’m on Mac, it took me some hours of searching but I found a thread online that said I had to open Rawtherapee on the terminal

[@tom_photo]

@@jordanwilliams1546 Hi Jordan. I managed to test this on a Mac. What worked for me was this: I first opened the SD card folder using the Finder (equivalent to file manager). Then I right-clicked on the the file name and I selected "Open with" -> "RawTherapee". Let me know if this worked for you.

[@jordanwilliams1546]

@@tom_photo thanks I’m going to try this later on and let you know

[@user-ff9rx7kq2g]

Ty ty ty

[@tom_photo]

Hi! Thank you very much for watching! Kind regards!

[@δαμάω]

I have the impression that the photo after editing looks different in the viewing module, differently in the editing module and differently after exporting the jpg photo to the disk

[@tom_photo]

Hi Damian! Than your your message. This is interesting. I've not noticed anything like this. Can you describe this problem a little more? Also what version of software are you using and what computational system do you have? Kind regards!

[@δαμάω]

@@tom_photo Heh, I am using an old Toshiba satellite a350 laptop. Maybe it's a hardware issue. Rawtherapee 5.9

[@tom_photo]

@@δαμάω Hi! Thanks. I'm assuming that you have Windows? I have not run RawTherapee on Windows before. I'm using Ubuntu Linux and I have never had this issue. Maybe someone else is able to comment on it , too. Kind regards!

[@Kyoto99952]

Really great tutorial. But when I clicked ''Automatic'' (under size) the app closed and the file was lost hahha.. i tried again to click that button and it happened again.

[@tom_photo]

Thank you for your feedback. Let me see if I can help you with the issue you had. I'm assuming you pressed "automatic" under "Distortion correction"? What is the OS you are running: Win, Mac, Linux? What is your raw file format (what camera produced the file)? Are you using the latest RawTherapee?

[@Kyoto99952]

@@tom_photo Thanks for your quick reply. I didn't see your message till now! Im using Windows 10, RawTherapee 5.8, Panasonic Lumix G80 and it's saved as .jpg. I first transfer my files to my computer and save in in a folder. Then I choose the photo from that folder.

[@Kyoto99952]

@@tom_photo The app just crashes completely if I use that button, quite strange. Is it an important function though?

[@tom_photo]

@@Kyoto99952 Hi. I think the fact that you're loading a JPEG could be causing it. Camera software usually takes care of the distortions for the JPEG that the "distortion correction" function is designed to fix. It's there mostly for the raw files. Maybe if you load a raw file the software won't quit?

[@SirSteveFury]

Setting exposure etc is useless when you can only achieve the low resolution image.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Steve! Thank you for your comment. I'm not fully certain that I understand exactly what you mean. If you could clarify a bit may I'll be able provide a better answer. Cheers!

[@SirSteveFury]

@@tom_photo Hi Tom. I couldn't get past RawTherapee only displaying the low res preview. I think it couldn't find the correct camera and lens correction (If that makes sense). After a couple hours of fussing with it, I installed and tried it in Darktable and I can edit them there. I get the high resolution RAW file to work with using Darktable, not just the low resolution preview.

[@tom_photo]

@@SirSteveFury Hi Steve! Thank you for the clarification. In RawTherapee you can zoom in on you preview by scrolling the mouse over your image. Lens correction is under the transform tab. I think both RawTherapee and Darktable are very fine tools. I started using RawTherapee because it works for what I'm trying to achieve. Best of luck to you!

[@pastore0506]

Could not make out what you were saying as your speech was very quiet.

[@tom_photo]

Hi George! Thank you for your feedback. So far nobody has found the video too quiet. Let me help you figure it out. I'm certain you've tried turning up your volume already. So, the next thing is to test if your KZbin volume is not down. This is the speaker icon you'll see when you hover over the KZbin window. You can also go to your computer sound control window and turn the volume over 100%. External speakers can also help. I'm quite certain some of your sound settings have been turned down. Sorry that your sound is not adequate. I hope some of those suggestions will work for you. Kind regards!