RAWdemptionBeta

A RAW editor for the Mac. Free.

Install for Mac
Apple silicon · macOS 13 or later · 15 MB

Why I made it

I shoot mostly on a Sony and a Ricoh GR. When I dropped Lightroom I tried the free editors, and honestly they actually could do everything, but they felt clunky to me, slow to get around and not that nice to look at.

So I made my own. Open a folder, keep the good ones, edit, export. That's pretty much it, and it's free.

Library and editor

Open a folder and your photos are just there. Pick one, and the sliders you'd expect are on the right.

Mountains612 Photos
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ƒ/81/320 sISO 10024 mm
Sony α7 IV · 14 August 2025 at 07:12
Snowy mountains, open in the editor
Fit
LibraryNo importing, no catalogue. Folders, favourites, and Things down the side.
EditorBasic, colour, detail and effects in one panel. Every slider redraws while you drag.

Your profile

Your photos already know how you shoot. Which cameras and lenses you reach for, your focal lengths, the hours you're out. All worked out on your Mac.

Morning, Alex. Soft light out there Saturday 16 August · with RAWdemption since 3 March 2025
Supporter
TodayThis weekLast weekThis monthThis yearAll time

2,214 photos this year across 3 folders, 486 edited, 402 exported. Your Sony α7 IV did most of the work.

Taken2,214▲ 380 more than last year
Edited486▲ 92 more than last year
Exported402in 37 exports
Favourites1286% keepers
Cameras
★ Sony α7 IV1,412 · 64%
Ricoh GR III644 · 29%
iPhone 15 Pro158 · 7%
Lenses
★ FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II980 · 44%
GR Lens 18.3mm F2.8644 · 29%
Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG DN432 · 20%
Focal lengths Mostly wide, around 28 mm
Ultra-wide14–20 mm
Wide21–35 mm
Standard36–60 mm
Portrait61–105 mm
Tele106+ mm
When you shoot Early mornings, then golden hour
0:006:0012:0018:0023:00

The four numbers are for everyone. The rest of the page is a thank-you for Patreon supporters.

The rest of it

Exporting, masks and Things.

Exported 12 photos in 4.6 s
JPEG 85 · Full size · sRGB → RAWdemption Exports
Show in FinderDone
Export 12 photos
Format
JPEGHEICTIFFPNGAbout 9.4 MB per photo
Colours
sRGBDisplay P3
Quality
85
Size
OriginalLong edge
Border
NoneWhite
Timestamp
NoneDD.MM.YYMM.DD.YY
Metadata
Include camera info and location
Save to
~/Pictures/RAWdemption ExportsChoose…
CancelExport
ExportJPEG, HEIC, 16-bit TIFF or PNG, in sRGB or Display P3. Several at once, while you keep editing.
Masks
SubjectPeopleBackgroundBrushLinearRadial
SubjectAmount 100
Exposure+0.40
Shadows+18
Saturation-12
MasksOne click for the subject, people or background, or draw your own.
Things
Mountains612
Sky1 204
Water488
Snow233
Forest301
Show all 86
ThingsYour library, grouped by what's in it. Worked out on your Mac.
Things

Photos grouped by what's in them, worked out on your Mac.

Masks

Brush, linear and radial, or one click for the subject, people or background.

Copy & paste

Get one photo right and paste the edit onto the rest.

Sort & filter

By date, name, camera, lens or focal length.

Favourites

Press . to heart a photo. Saved next to the photos.

Crop & straighten

Common ratios, and auto-level for wonky horizons.

Fast

About 0.07 s to the next photo, 16 RAWs exported in about 6 s on my M2 Pro.

Border & date

An optional white border and an old-school date stamp.

Your files stay put

No import, no catalogue. Edits are small files beside your photos.

Questions

Something else? Settings › Feedback in the app comes straight to me.

Will it stay free?

Yes. Editing and exporting are free and always will be: no limits, no subscription, no ads, and nothing that's free today will be put behind a payment later. Patreon is optional. It lets me spend more time on RAWdemption, and as a thank-you, supporters get their full profile page and every Thing.

Which cameras does it open?

Most RAW files from Canon, Fujifilm, Leica, Nikon, OM System/Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax/Ricoh, Sony and others, plus DNG. Sigma's Foveon cameras aren't supported. JPEG, HEIC, PNG and TIFF open too. If your camera doesn't work, tell me in Settings › Feedback.

Will my photos look like they do in Lightroom?

Not exactly. Every editor develops RAW files a little differently, and so does your camera's JPEG. Expect some difference in contrast and colour.

And a word to the pros: if your trained eye spots a red that isn't quite the red you know, I believe you, and I'm sorry. RAWdemption isn't Lightroom and doesn't pretend to be. It's one person, not a building full of colour scientists. If something looks off, send me the photo through Settings › Feedback.

Did you use AI to make it?

Yes. I'm a photographer, not a developer, and I wrote RAWdemption with AI coding assistants, mostly Claude. A RAW editor made by one person in their spare time wouldn't exist otherwise.

Your photos never leave your Mac. Things and the one-click Subject and People masks use Apple's Vision, on your Mac's Neural Engine. Nothing is uploaded and no AI service ever sees your photos.

Does it change my photos?

Never. Originals are only read. Each edit is a small recipe saved in a hidden .lightbox folder beside the photos, along with your favourites, so edits travel with the folder to another drive or Mac. Exports are always new files.

Which Macs does it run on?

Macs with Apple silicon (M1 or later) on macOS 13 Ventura or later. 16 GB of memory is recommended for smooth editing of 24-megapixel RAW files; Intel Macs aren't supported.

Why does installing need Terminal?

macOS only opens an app downloaded in a browser if Apple has notarised it, which takes a paid developer membership. RAWdemption is free and made by one person, so it isn't notarised, and macOS calls it “damaged” instead. The Terminal command installs the very same app without the “downloaded” label that triggers this. The install script is short enough to read, and every update after that is signed and checked by the app before it installs.

Can it replace Lightroom?

For a lot of people who shoot for fun, yes. It covers what I used Lightroom for day to day. It doesn't do catalogues across many drives, tethered shooting, print layouts or plugins, and I don't plan to add them.

Is it finished?

No. It's in public beta. If something breaks or looks off, Settings › Feedback sends it to me. I read every report.

It's free.

No trial, no subscription, no ads, and nothing free today ends up behind a paywall later.

If you like it and want to chip in, there's Patreon. You never have to.

RAWdemption icon
RAWdemption 0.9.33 beta
3.1 MB · Apple silicon · macOS 13+ · 16 GB memory recommended

Open Terminal (⌘ Space, type Terminal), paste this and press Return:

curl -fsSL https://rawdemption.com/install.sh | bash

It downloads the app, checks it and puts it in Applications. No password, nothing else installed. Read the script if you like; it's short.

Why Terminal?

macOS only opens a browser-downloaded app straight away if Apple has notarised it, which needs a paid yearly developer membership. I make this on my own and give it away, so for now macOS calls it “damaged”. Nothing is wrong with the file.

Both ways above just do what you'd do by hand. After that, every update is signed with RAWdemption's own key, and the app checks it before installing.