All of them run on Linux, MacOS, and Windows.
I’ve collected five of the best open-source photography programs that I have personally used.
PANORAMA STITCHER HUGIN SOFTWARE
(Of course, Lightroom could become cloud-only and require your soul as the next payment.) Open-Source Software Recommendations Although this can happen with commercial programs, too, the bigger ones like Lightroom are unlikely to be discontinued any time soon. Again, there are exceptions, but in my extensive experience with open-source photography, I’ve found this to be generally true.įinally, open-source projects can cease development if the developers just stop working on it. Although many are getting pretty good, there is no doubt that commercial programs, whose profits are dependent on how enjoyable a program is to use, focus a bit more energy on their user experience compared to the open-source world. Open-source programs are often a bit less polished that commercial ones. The Nikon Z9 is not yet supported in Darktable, my open-source Raw developer Open-source programs rely on users to submit sample Raw files and volunteers to correctly implement support for such Raw files. For example, I use the Raw editor Darktable, and they still have not added support for the Nikon Z9. Open-source Raw editors typically take a bit longer to add support for the latest cameras. Not everyone finds this important, and in practice it’s actually still possible most of the time to get help from the open-source community or even the developers themselves. Nonetheless, there is usually no official customer support that you can rely on.Ĭamera support is another consideration. There is no company behind most open-source programs and thus no number to call when things go wrong. The first issue is support, in more ways than one. Why Not Use Open-Source Software for Photo Editing?ĭespite those advantages, there are also some downsides to using open-source programs rather than their commercial alternatives. Everyone benefits when the quality of post-processing software improves. Not to mention that open-source software with a lot of users will get better and better, thanks to more bug reports and feature suggestions. The more photographers who use open-source programs, the better that commercial software will need to get in order to remain competitive.
Personally, these are major reasons why I prefer to avoid commercial programs.įinally, if you use open-source photo editing software, you’ll be helping to keep competition alive in the post-processing marketplace. There are also no restrictions on the number of computers that you can use with open source software. Unlike Adobe Creative Suite, which periodically phones home, the programs listed here respect your privacy. In other words, they don’t spy on you and treat you like a product. Open-source programs like Darktable also don’t collect your data and use it to make money. Photo from my Nikon Z6 edited in the open-source program Darktable Compare that to a basic $10/month commercial software like Lightroom, which adds up to $1200 over ten years (at minimum it can be higher if the monthly price goes up).
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These photo editing programs are free and developed by volunteers – though sometimes these volunteers are paid by donations. Often, such programs are also under open-source licenses and developed on open platforms like Github, which makes it very unlikely that they will at some point turn into commercial applications.Ī huge advantage of open-source post-processing software is that it saves you money.
PANORAMA STITCHER HUGIN CODE
Open-source editing programs are different than commercial programs in that they are free, and their source code can be read by anyone. Should you try an open source program for photography? Read on to find out! Why Use Open-Source Software for Photo Editing? On the other hand, there are some serious open-source photo editing programs that can replace commercial programs for many people. And indeed, these are by far the most popular. When it comes to image editing, most people probably think of commercial applications like Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, or Phase One’s Capture One Pro.
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