What are the practical differences between Lightroom, Photoshop, Camera Raw, darktable, RawTherapee, GIMP, and Bridge?
Asked 4/5/2018
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2 answers
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I’m a hobbyist photographer trying to understand how these photo apps fit together rather than start a brand-war discussion. I’ve used Photoshop for years, Lightroom for several months, and recently learned about darktable, RawTherapee, GIMP, Bridge, and Adobe Camera Raw.
What are the practical differences between these programs today? In particular:
- Which ones are RAW developers versus pixel editors?
- When would I use Lightroom/Camera Raw/darktable/RawTherapee versus Photoshop or GIMP?
- What role does Bridge play compared with Lightroom?
- Is Camera Raw basically the same kind of tool as Lightroom?
I’m mainly looking for a clear workflow-oriented explanation for a newer enthusiast.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
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Partial answer only (no experience with photoshop c.s.):
Darktable and RawTherapee are both "global" editors for raw files. With that I mean that all operations work on the whole image (or on rather coarse selections). Both are quite capable, and both need some experience to get the best out of them.
For edits that require very precise selections, or in general more complicated editing, you'll need the GIMP, which is a bitmap editor. With such an editor, it's possible to be precise down to a pixel. Also, it's the only one that has layer capability. But it cannot deal with raw files. (There is a plugin that links to RawTherapee for the GIMP).
In practice, that means you'll want both the GIMP and one of Darktable or RawTherapee. Note that to the best of my knowledge, Darktable is still in beta for its windows version.
None of these three programs are really useful for cataloguing your image collection, though. If you want a free program for that, have a look at Digikam.
Originally by user72870. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user72870
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A useful way to separate them is by job:
- Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw, darktable, and RawTherapee are primarily RAW developers. They make mostly global or relatively broad adjustments to RAW files and are used for developing and organizing photos.
- Photoshop and GIMP are bitmap/pixel editors. They’re for detailed retouching, precise selections, compositing, and layer-based work.
- Bridge is mainly a browser/organizer, not a full RAW workflow tool in the same sense as Lightroom.
From the answers provided, darktable and RawTherapee are both capable RAW editors, but for edits requiring very precise, pixel-level control, you’d move to GIMP (or Photoshop). A bitmap editor is also where layers matter.
So the practical workflow is often:
- Start in a RAW developer for exposure, color, contrast, and general image development.
- Move to Photoshop/GIMP if you need masking, compositing, or fine retouching.
Camera Raw is essentially Adobe’s RAW-processing component and is closely related in purpose to Lightroom’s develop tools.
In short: use a RAW developer for developing RAWs; use Photoshop/GIMP for detailed pixel editing; use Bridge mainly for browsing/management.
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