dcraw
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(March 2015) |
 | |
| Original author(s) | Dave Coffin |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 23 February 1997[1] |
| Stable release | 9.28 (1 June 2018[2])[±] |
| Written in | ANSI C |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Platform | Platform independent |
| Available in | English and 11 others |
| Type | rawdecoding software |
| License | GPLv2+ |
| Website | www |
dcrawis anopen-sourcecomputer program which is able to read numerousraw image formatfiles, typically produced by mid-range and high-enddigital cameras.dcraw converts these images into the standardTIFFandPPMimage formats. This conversion is sometimes referred to asdevelopinga raw image (by analogy with the process offilm development) since it renders raw image sensor data (a "digital negative" ) into a viewable form.
A number of other image processing programs use dcraw internally to enable them to read raw files.
Development of dcraw began on February 23, 1997. Version 1.0 was released in revision 1.18, on May 5, 2000.[3]Versions up to 3.15 used the nameCanon PowerShot Converter,starting with v3.40 the name wasRaw Photo Decoder,switching toRaw Photo Decoder "dcraw"in v5.70. Version 8.86 supported 300 cameras.[1]
The development has stalled, with only two releases since May 2015 and the last release dated June 2018,[1]but parts of dcraw are included inLibRaw.
Motivation
[edit]While most camera manufacturers supply raw image decoding software for their cameras, this software is almost alwaysproprietary,and often becomes unsupported when a camera model is discontinued. The file formats themselves are often undocumented, and several manufacturers have gone so far as toencryptall or part of the data in their raw image format, in an attempt to prevent third-party software from accessing it.[4]
Given this ever-expanding plethora of raw image formats, and uncertain and inconsistent support for them by the manufacturers, many photographers worry that their valuable raw images may become unreadable as the applications and operating systems required become obsolete.[5]
In contrast to proprietary decoding software, dcraw strives for simplicity,portability,and consistency, as expressed by its author:
So here is my mission: Write and maintain anANSI Cprogram that decodes any raw image from any digital camera on any computer running any operating system.
Design
[edit]
Because many raw image formats are specific to one make or model of camera, dcraw is frequently updated to support new models. For many proprietary raw image formats, dcraw'ssource code(based largely onreverse-engineering) is the best—or only—publicly available documentation. dcraw currently supports the raw formats of several hundred cameras.[6]
dcraw is built around theUnix philosophy.The program is acommand linetool which takes a list of raw image files to process, along with any image adjustment options desired. dcraw also serves as the basis for various high-level raw image-processing applications (such as viewers and converters), bothfree and open source softwareas well as proprietary software.
GUI front-ends
[edit]SeveralGUIfront-endsfor dcraw are available. These applications use dcraw as aback-endto do the actual processing of raw images, but present a graphical interface with which the image processing options can be adjusted.
- AZImage – image converter (usesLibRawrather than dcraw) for Windows
- darktable– a standalone raw developer for Windows, Linux, and macOS
- dcraw-assist – for Linux
- dcRAW-X – for macOS
- digiKam– for Linux
- DNG Viewer by ideaMK – raw image viewer for Windows
- EasyHDR – for Windows
- gimp-dcraw –GIMPplug-in for Windows, Linux, and macOS
- Helicon Filter– photo editor, can use dcraw for raw processing for Windows
- Konvertor – for Windows
- nUFRaw – a standalone raw developer, a new version of UFRaw for Linux
- Phiewer – for macOS
- RAWDrop – for Windows
- Rawstudio– a standalone raw developer for Linux
- SilkRaw – exports embedded thumbnails and launch batch conversion for Amiga OS4, AROS, and MorphOS
- SNS-HDR – for Windows
- UFRaw– a standalone raw developer and GIMP plug-in for Windows, Linux, and macOS
- Mass Image Compressor – Bulk image compressor for Windows, uses dcraw to read and convert the images to JPEG.
References
[edit]
- ^abcDave Coffin (2018)."dcraw.c,v -- complete unabridged RCS file".Archived fromthe originalon 2019-01-29.Retrieved2019-12-19.[update]
- ^"Index of /dcraw/archive".Retrieved21 February2020.
- ^According to the Revision Control System log
- ^"Raw storm in a teacup?".Digital Photography Review.2005-04-27.
- ^Larry Strunk (2006-03-19)."The RAW Problem".OpenRAW.Archived fromthe originalon 2007-12-10.
- ^"Decoding raw digital photos in Linux".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-10-19.Retrieved2005-10-25.
External links
[edit]
- Official website
- dcraw compiled for Microsoft Windowsby Axel Rietschin
- dcraw compiled for Microsoft Windowsby Bartłomiej Okonek