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Experienced photographers know Shooting in RAW lets you capture a lot more details of the scene.

But when it comes time to edit these files, you need a RAW photo editor capable of giving you top-quality results.

Every RAW editing software processes images a little differently which can affect sharpness and color, including the Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) effect.

From Adobe Lightroom to Darktable, there are a ton of RAW photo editors out there, and finding the right one can be tricky.

Fortunately, We've got lots of experience, and came up with 8 best software for editing RAW photos, from free options to lifetime licenses.

Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, there is an option for you.

What is a raw photo editor, and why should I use one?

A raw photo editor is program designed to process and enhance raw image files captured by digital cameras.

With the power to adjust exposure, shadows, highlights, and more during post-processing, you can breathe new life into lackluster footage or transform good footage into stunning imagery.

8 Best software for editing RAW photos

Here are our top picks for programs for editing RAW files.

We will briefly discuss each below so you can decide which program is best for you.

1. Adobe Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom is the best photography workflow tool for serious enthusiasts who processing raw files and managing a large library of photos.

2. Capture One Pro

Capture One is a professional-grade photo editing software that is known for its advanced color grading and editing tools.

Many people prefer Capture One Pro for its richer rendering of raw images, but requires an effort to master.

3. DxO PhotoLab

DXO Photolab is an amazing RAW photo editing app which allows us to add filters & effects.

4. On1 Photo Raw

ON1 Photo RAW is the best all round photo editing software.

This tool comes with great features such as an image organizer, Raw processor, layered editor, effects and so many best things.

5. Luminar Neo

Luminar Neo is the most affordable and effective choice in terms of RAW photo editor for you.

The Ai technology allows you to do complicated edits without the need to be a geek, or spend loads and loads of time on the boring bits of post production.

6. ACDSee Ultimate

ACDSee Ultimate offers many powerful photo organizing and editing tools, but its interface can get overwhelming and importing is slow.

7. RawTherapee

RawTherapee is a free, cross-platform raw image processing program.

With its user-friendly interface and numerous features, it is a popular choice among photographers.

8. Darktable

Darktable is a free and cross-platform alternative to Lightroom. I offers non-destructive editing, RAW processing, and a variety of tools for image enhancement.

The interface isn't as intuitive as Lightroom, ant it seems not as fast as Lightroom at editing quickly a bunch of photos .

How to choose the best RAW Photo editor?

Editing RAW images will vary greatly depending on the software you choose to use.

To make sure you choose the right RAW photo editor for your needs, budget, and resources, consider the following features:

Camera compatibility

Make sure you choose software that supports your camera and lenses and provides custom manufacturer profiles.

Camera compatibility is important for achieving accurate colors, maintaining fidelity in the details, and having access to customized tools.

Hardware/OS Compatibility

Before settling on what photo editing software you should use, it's vital to consider its compatibility with your operating system, graphics card, and processor.

RAW Processing performance

All RAW processing editors are NOT the same, so you should pay attention to its RAW processing capabilities, whether the RAW processor is good enough and how well it handles RAW images.

Photography Editing Style

Each photographer has a unique artistic style and needs different editing functionalities.

There are photo editors dedicated to portrait photography, fine art photography, landscape and nature photography, or something else.

Workflow

A good workflow needs an easy-to-use interface and speedy performance.

If you edit images from different places and devices, you might need cloud storage that can keep your pictures synchronized.

Presets and filters

A rich library of presets and filters can save you time and energy. You don't have to recreate the same style over and over again.

Make sure that you choose a photo editor that includes a wide variety of presets and allows you to fine-tune them and save your own for later use.

Digital asset management

Photographers work with large sets of pictures. Besides batch processing, photo editor requires a good image management system, sharing capabilities, and efficient search tools.

If you don't want to use separate software for organizing your images, choose professional photo editing software that provides this functionality. Make sure it allows you to label, rate, sort, share and search images.

Price

Most professional photo editors offer a free trial version.

A perpetual license is a one-time purchase that gives you the right to use a software forever.

With a subscription license, the customer pays monthly or yearly, and the vendor commits to delivering updates over time.

If you're just starting out, a free program may be a much better choice than a more advanced one, even if, technically, it's not as good.

Conclusion

Your RAW editing software should be able to preserve the quality of the photo, have a user-friendly interface, and fast processing speed.

Whether you're a hobbyist or professional, these are 8 of the best photo editing programs out there for handling RAW files.

With Adobe Lightroom being convenient to most photographers, Capture One Pro and Luminar Neo bring in great technology to keep your workflow diverse.

RawTherapee and DarkTable are two of the best free options and are very feature rich.

Find one with the features that are most important to you and have fun!

If one application alone is unlikely to meet your needs, You can use more apps simultaneously.

Related Posts: Drawing Tablets for Photoshop, Best Graphic Design Laptops.

FAQs

What are the differences between JPEG and RAW file formats?

RAW files are lossless and bigger, because they preserves the full data from your camera sensor, providing more flexibility for post-processing.

In comparison, A JPEG image is essentially all that data compressed down into a smaller file size that's easier to share.

What are some unique features in raw photo editors?

Raw editors often offer advanced features like non-destructive editing, which allows you to adjust images without altering the original data.

They also provide precise control over highlights and shadows, exposure, noise reduction, and lens correction.

What are some free Free apps for editing RAW photos?

There are 2 free and open source programs, RawTherapee and DarkTable that benefit photographers interested in investing in learning how to use them.

It's a shame people do not realize how great these programs are but simply see they are free and assume they are not worth anything.

What is the difference between raw editing and regular photo editing software?

Regular photo editing software typically works with compressed image formats like JPEG, PNG, TIFF, etc.

If you need to carry out detailed retouching and repair work, a Regular photo editing software like Photoshop, Affinity Photo, or Gimp is likely to be your first stop.

Raw editors, on the other hand, work with unprocessed data from your camera, offering greater control over exposure, color balance, and detail.

Do I need a pen tablet for RAW photo editing in Lightroom?

There is much more control over the brush as pen tablets are pressure sensitive, so the harder you press the more effect you have.

Pen tablets for editing photos are better if your doing a lot of masking, dodging, burning, touch-up and such in photoshop, and need to trace more complex shapes that are hard to do with a mouse.

As for RAW photo editing in lightroom and alike, The sliders are done better with a mouse, for speed the mouse wheel or manually imputing numbers can be faster.

If you do want to be faster memorising hotkeys & setting custom defaults help as well as a dual display setup.

Additionally, If you have created a graduated filter in Lightroom, but need to erase portions, then the precision of a pen is invaluable.

Source: https://pctechtest.com/best-raw-photo-editors

The graphic tablet is one of the most necessary accessories in the graphic artist's studio.

It allows artists to use a pen to make creative design such as incredible artwork, illustrations, and animations onto the computer screen.

In addition, it speeds up workflow, improves precision and offers greater ergonomics than a mouse.

Wacom is a well-known brand in the world of digital art, but their tablets can be quite expensive.

Fortunately, there are some best wacom alternatives that offer the same quality and performance without breaking the bank.

Why is Wacom considered the Best?

Wacom is considered by many to be the industry standard. Wacom has been creating drawing tablets for years. They are well known for creating reliable, long-lasting products, with a lot of key tech.

In the industry, most artists use Wacom products because of their quality, durability and superior accurate and precise.

Wacom is known for providing quality driver support. Their tablet drivers continue receiving updates long after a product is released.

Is the Wacom worth the Money?

Wacom tablets are very expensive, It costs twice as much as some of its counterparts in the market.

However, the brand is renowned for its high quality, And their tablet offers an accurate and pleasant drawing performance. In addition, there are some brand premiums.

If you are professional and have a flexible enough budget, then you shouldn't think twice about getting the Wacom.

What types of tablet does the Wacom Offer?

Wacom provides intuos pen tablets for beginners, Cintiq interactive pen displays, and MobileStudio Pro standalone drawing pads to equip and inspire everyone to make the world a more creative place.

Wacom Intuos and Intuos Pro are drawing tablets without a screen, so you need to draw on the tablet while looking at your computer screen.

These drawing tablets aren't as powerful as others but they are the most affordable. This makes them the best option for budding artists who want to start doing digital art without spending too much on a tablet, for now.

Wacom Cintiq has an Integrated screen that comes in various sizes and provide a pen-on-screen experience for precise and natural drawing.

Although the Cintiq models have a screen of their own, they are not “standalone tablets”. They need to be plugged in to your computer to work, and will use your computer's resources to work.

Wacom MobileStudio Pro is a computer and a portable small Cintiq, much like a Microsoft Surface, iPad and samsung galaxy tab.

Therefore, they don't need to be connected to your computer to be able to work with them. It's portable, easy to use, and allows you to draw on the go.

Still, they have one noticeable flaw: the price.

What brand competes with Wacom?

There are a hand full of really good competitive brands out there, and it's really hard to beat prices. Lots of features for a fraction of the Wacom price.

1. Huion

Huion is a chinese company, which was established in 2011. Its logo is a representation of 3 pencils. The number three symbolizes in the Chinese culture “stability, balance, the tripartite confrontation and development”.

Huion uses independent innovations to build digital panel and screen systems, stylus pens and other professional product lines.

At this moment, it has a total of three series: Inspiroy, Kamvas, and Kamvas Studio. They all have very iconic characteristics and you can select the right model that fits your demand.

2. XP-Pen

XPPen is another Chinese brand that makes great drawing tablets. It was originally founded in Japan in 2005 and is now affiliated with a parent Chinese company, Hanvon Ugee.

It is a professional and reliable supplier of graphic tablets, pen display monitors, stylus pens and more digital graphical products.

XP-Pen has a huge variety of graphic tablets as well as drawing accessories. Right now, the company provides tablets from 3 different series: Star Series Tablet, Deco Series Tablet, Artists Series Display tablet.

XP-Pen is currently the only company which offers company-developed Linux drivers (still in beta testing). As a comparison, Wacom's Linux drivers are community-developed, and are not actually official drivers.

3. Gaomon

Gaomon is a Chinese high-tech enterprise that is known for independently researching and developing core technology such as animation products and handwritten input digitizer products.

Since our establishment in 2011, GAOMON has developed over ten digital products that have found applications in various fields.

4. Ugee

Ugee is a professional manufacturer specializing in research, development, production, and sale of pen tablets and pen displays.

Founded in Shenzhen, China in 1998, they also established UGEE online drawing school, which served to help young artists learn about and improve their digital drawing skills.

5. Veikk

Founded in china in 2009, Veikk has been dedicated to the research, design, R&D, production, and marketing of digital pen tablets and we have obtained more than 60 product patents.

6. Xencelabs

Xencelabs is a new company which seems to be created by many veterans in the tablet field, such as developers with prior experience in Wacom and other such tablet companies.

Xencelabs developed about 5 different tablet models, 1 of them have a display surface.

How to Choose the Best Wacom Alternative Graphics Tablet?

When considering an alternative to Wacom, it's essential to consider factors such as pen pressure sensitivity, display quality, size, compatibility with software, and overall user experience.

Reading reviews, comparing specifications, and considering your specific requirements and budget will help you find the best alternative that meets your needs.

12 Best Wacom Alternatives in 2023

In this list of the best Wacom alternative models you will find on-par performance whether you need Wacom Intuos alternatives, Cintiq alternatives, or the MobileStudio alternatives, you will find it here!

1. Gaomon S620

2. XP-Pen Deco 01 V2

3. XP-Pen Artist 12 (2nd gen)

4. Huion Kamvas 13

5. Ugee U1600

6. Huion Kamvas Pro 16

7. Huion Kamvas 22 Plus

8. XP-Pen Artist 24 Pro

9. Huion Kamvas Pro 24

10. Apple iPad Pro

11. Samsung Galxy Tab S9

12. Microsoft Surface pro 9

Conclusion

In the end, you're just trying to reduce cost and get decently cheap products to make simple art, not to pay more to get the most performance tablet for professional drawing.

Wacom alternatives are not equal to wacom, but it's close. Every year their products get better and bette.

It's worth looking for good, affordable Wacom alternatives. For the rest of us hobby artists, spending that much is just not in the cards. But it's perfectly possible to find a suitable alternative without sacrificing quality.

With 10 tablets to choose from, Now you should be able to find the best Wacom alternative without going over budget. We hope you'll find this list useful!

Having a great pen tablet is always a good investment for an artist. Once you get used to using your device, you'll never want to use a mouse ever again.

Source: https://pctechtest.com/good-cheap-alternatives-to-wacom

Wacom One and the Huion Kamvas 13 are very similar pen display tablets. both are fantastic devices for students and hobbyists in the market for a display tablet on a budget.

So, which is better for you? To help you make the choice, Pctechtest have compared the Wacom One vs Huion Kamvas 13 on both specs and value or money.

Which brand is better and why?

In the field of digital art and graphic design, two brands come up as contenders for the best tablet for artists.

Through the years, Wacom had been the main player in the field producing high-quality drawing tablets. Huion came in later and started off with cheap drawing tablet options for beginner artists.

As years went by, Wacom also came up with beginner-centered drawing tablets that were cheaper and rookie friendly.

Huion on the other hand also grew to make high-quality professional devices that matched up to the high-quality standard set by Wacom.

Design and Build Quality

The wacom one has a very minimalist look with just a screen at the front.

On the other hand, Huion Kamvas 13 has 8 shortcut buttons along with the screen at the front.

Both the tablets are made of plastic and have comparable built quality.

Screen Quality

Both the tablets come with a 13.3 inch 1920 x 1080 pixel full HD display.

Wacom one has a TFT LCD panel with 72% NTSC / 99% sRGB color coverage .

Huion Kamvas 13 has an IPS LCD panel with 120% sRGB color gamut. It means that the Kamvas 13 has a wider color gamut.

A monitor with a wide color gamut can display more colors, making the image more vivid and immersive.

Screen Technology

Huion Kamvas 13 has a laminated screen, while the wacom one doesn't.

The parallax is minimal thanks to the fully laminated screen, which reduces the gap between the pen tip and the display surface, resulting in a more accurate drawing experience.

In addition, Both the tablets use anti-glare matte films on their displays which helps reduce glare and reflections on the screen.

These films are textured which provides resistance to the stylus while drawing, giving you more control over your stylus.

Stylus

Both of the pens are comfortable to hold and come with a very ergonomic design. Also, They have the same EMR technology for unlimited hours of ergonomic, battery free creativity.

The Wacom one Pen supports 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, 2,540 LPI resolution and tilt recognition.

The Huion PW 517 pen supports tilt response, 5,080 LPI resolution and up to 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity.

Comparing the two styluses, the Huion stylus has a higher pressure levels and it will allow you to make finer differences in line thickness.

However, Unless you're doing hyper-nuanced creative work, you likely might not note a lot of a distinction between having eight,192 pressure tiers and having a fragment of that quantity.

Shortcut Buttons

The Wacom One lacks any buttons on the tablet – there are only one on the pen itself. You can buy an optional remote, which adds 17 buttons, including a touch ring, but this is extra expense.

With eight shortcut buttons, the Kamvas 13 beats the wacom one hands down in this area. If you value using keyboard shortcuts, then this may be the deciding factor for you.

Tablet Stand

The wacom one has foldable legs that lift the tablet at an angle of 19°.

With Huion Kamvas 13, you have an adjustable plastic stand that allows you to create at your best angle.

Compatibility

Both Wacom One and the Huion Kamvas 13 works with Windows, Mac as well as certain Android and chromebook devices.

For Windows and Mac OS computers, you need to download the respective drivers of Wacom One and Huion Kamvas 13 from their official site.

For Android and Chromebook devices, you don't need to download any driver. You can simply plug in the tablet and start using it.

Connectivity

Both wacom one and huion Kamvas 13 tablet come with a 3-in-1 cable.

The end that goes into the tablet is USB-C. The other ends requires 2 USB-A ports and one HDMI slot on your computer.

However, Huion Kamvas 13 also supports single USB-C cable connection. This method requires devices that support USB3.1 Gen1, DP1.2 and above standards.

The USB-C to USB-C cable can be purchased separately in their store. 3rd party USB-C cables are not supported because of the custom size of the slot.

Accessories

Wacom one only providing a limited number of accessories, It has a built-in tablet stand, an all in one super-simple cloth loop and only 3 replacement nibs.

Huion is more generous with accessories, Kamvas 13 comes with a lot of accessories like drawing glove, tablet stand, pen holder and 10 replacement nibs.

Bonus Software

Wacom One is bundled with some free trials of photo editing software, graphic design software and art drawing software . such as wacom bamboo paper, 3 months of Clip Studio Paint Pro, 3 months of Magma Pro Plan, 3 months of Skillshare, 3 months of Affinity suite and 3 months of Bluescape.

Huion Kamvas 13 doesn't come with so-called bonus software. Anyway, you can always opt for free art software like Medibang Paint Pro, Gimp, Mypaint and Krita.

For one time paid software, consider Sketchbook, Paint tool SAI, Artrage 6, or the Clip Studio Paint.

Price

Huion Kamvas 13 pen display cost as little as $260, while wacom one 13 cost 400 dollars.

Surprisingly, the Huion Kamvas 13 is significantly cheaper than the Wacom one despite having better features.

Does the Wacom One and Huion Kamvas work without a computer?

The Wacom One needs a computer or at least an Android device to work. The same goes with the Huion Kamvas 13.

Conclusion

The Wacom One and Huion Kamvas 13 are solid entries into the budget drawing tablet market.

They both are great devices, have a very comparable stylus and overall have very similar drawing experience.

If you're looking for a digital display that includes Wacom's world-class input, look no further.

Despite lacking some features that would be nice to have, wacom one performs its core functions extremely well.

If you're just starting out with digital art, you might want to consider a more budget-friendly option - Huion Kamvas 13.

You cannot go wrong with either of them. it all comes down to your budget and preferences.

Source: https://pctechtest.com/wacom-one-vs-huion-kamvas-13