Repolode
Submit
pch

pch/rawmakase

A fast, non-destructive RAW photo editor for Linux, macOS and Windows with Lightroom-style controls and Lightroom catalog import.

Open-source alternative to:Adobe Lightroom

View on GitHubWebsite
Stars
1,632
Forks
63
Open issues
36
Last commit
6 hours ago

What is it?

RAWmakase is a RAW photo developer written in Rust, aimed at photographers who want Lightroom-style editing without a subscription. It develops RAW files along with JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WebP, AVIF and JPEG XL, and exports JPEG, 16-bit TIFF or PNG. Edits are stored in its own catalog, so original files are never modified.

The editor offers white balance, tone controls, curves, HSL mixing, color grading, detail, crop and lens corrections, along with experimental spot removal and local masks. It can import a Lightroom Classic catalog with ratings, flags, labels, keywords and compatible develop settings, and it supports Lightroom XMP presets, DCP and XMP camera profiles, and .cube LUTs. A command-line interface handles rendering, thumbnails, catalog import and benchmarking, and the app can be controlled through MIDI, scripts or an MCP server.

The project is early software still in active development, so rendering may change between versions and results are aimed at close rather than exact Lightroom parity.

Key features

  • 01Lightroom-style develop controls including white balance, tone, curves, HSL and color grading.
  • 02Non-destructive editing that stores changes in a catalog and leaves originals untouched.
  • 03Imports Lightroom Classic catalogs, ratings, labels and compatible develop settings without writing to them.
  • 04GPU-accelerated previews on Metal, Vulkan and DirectX 12 with a CPU fallback.
  • 05Command-line tools for rendering, thumbnails, catalog import and profile import.
  • 06Supports MIDI controllers, scripts and an MCP server for external control.

Use cases

  • Editing RAW files on Linux as an alternative to Lightroom.
  • Moving an existing Lightroom Classic library to a free editor while keeping ratings and keywords.
  • Batch rendering or exporting photos from the command line.
  • Applying Lightroom XMP presets and camera profiles to RAW files.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install on macOS with Homebrew

    brew install --cask pch/tap/rawmakase
  2. 2

    Install on Ubuntu 24.04+ / Debian 13+ from the downloaded .deb package

    sudo apt install ./rawmakase_<version>_amd64.deb
  3. 3

    Download the package for your system from GitHub Releases and launch it

Things to know

  • Early software in active development; rendering may change between versions and edited photos can look different after an upgrade.
  • Backwards compatibility is not guaranteed until 1.0.
  • Exporting to WebP, AVIF and JPEG XL is not available yet.
  • Spot removal and masks are experimental and not yet measured against Lightroom.

In collections

Desktop GUI apps & toolkits

Topics

#raw-editor#photography#image-editing#rust#lightroom#cross-platform#desktop-app#linux-desktop#omarchy

FAQ

What is rawmakase?
A fast, non-destructive RAW photo editor for Linux, macOS and Windows with Lightroom-style controls and Lightroom catalog import. RAWmakase is a RAW photo developer written in Rust, aimed at photographers who want Lightroom-style editing without a subscription. It develops RAW files along with JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WebP, AVIF and JPEG XL, and exports JPEG, 16-bit TIFF or PNG. Edits are stored in its own catalog, so original files are never modified.
Is rawmakase free to use? What license does it have?
rawmakase is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is rawmakase still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to rawmakase was on Nov 7, 2026.
What can I use rawmakase for?
Editing RAW files on Linux as an alternative to Lightroom. Moving an existing Lightroom Classic library to a free editor while keeping ratings and keywords. Batch rendering or exporting photos from the command line. Applying Lightroom XMP presets and camera profiles to RAW files.
How do I install rawmakase?
Install on macOS with Homebrew: brew install --cask pch/tap/rawmakase Install on Ubuntu 24.04+ / Debian 13+ from the downloaded .deb package: sudo apt install ./rawmakase_<version>_amd64.deb Download the package for your system from GitHub Releases and launch it
Where can I get rawmakase?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/pch/rawmakase

Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.

Related projects