YEAR END TOP 5 RAW EDITORS FOR 2022

2022 is coming to a close and after a year of non-stop testing we are happy to release the third installment of Best RAW Editors. This is our most comprehensive iteration yet so if you are on the fence of which RAW editor to use or to buy, check our the video. We will cover the advantages, disadvantages, standout features and at the end a slideshow comparison so you can be the final judge of which RAW editor to get. If you like this content don't forget to subscribe, like and share this content. If I missed a RAW editor that should have made it to the list let me know in the comments.

RAW EDITORS in this list:
Capture One 2022
Adobe Lightroom
Luminar Neo
DXO PhotoLab 6
ON1 Photo RAW 23

[whooptydj]

The comparison portion was great! Thanks. I use Neo and On1 . Use to use Lightroom but I'm against subscriptions.

[hootal]

EXCELLENT review in every way. I appreciate the intelligent approach of highlighting each apps positive and negative features. A great help for me because I am trying to find the best Lightroom alternative.

[bhovis]

Good review! I have all of these editors (but have dropped Neo and am dropping Lightroom) and I pretty much agree with your ranking, although there are situations where I’d choose to use one of them. In my experience with Capture One (four years) it definitely has the best raw development (most resolution and detail) and the most precise editing features which makes it my favorite.

[davidlappleby]

First Rate, congratulations on an excellent and well-balanced comparison.

[jobomumpiz]

wonderful comprehensive and helpful review. Thanks a lot! I'm considering to swap out ExposureX7 with PL6 because it natively supports the orf-files from my OM-Systems camera and I like the dehazing and especially the Deeprime noise reduction. LR drops out because of the subscription-model and C1 seems just too pricy for me as hobbyist. For HDR, Panoramas and Stacking I use Affinity Photo 2.

[vladislavihl]

I use the PL6 to prepare the RAW files for further processing in LR6. I‘m really impressed how the PL6 performs in recovering color and structure information in shadows and highlights but I was unable to finish my shots there with the colors that would fit my taste. But with only one or two sliders in LR6 applied to the tiff file imported from the PL6 I get the look I want. For the time being it’s the best workflow I could develop for the stills aiming maximum information in all areas and authentic colors.

[schoebelski]

Brilliant comparison approach, highlighting the main characteristics. Many thanks. New sub😃👍. ...so I will update my C1 from v21 to 23 then. ...although the very new LR AI masks seem to be very compelling..Hmmm.

[alonzohollingsworth]

This was great comparison. I use a couple of raw editors (PL6, Capture One using Photo Shop and Affinity Photo which wasn't included) but based on your comparison, I'd have to agree that Capture One Pro is the winner. If Capture One Pro is still offering a life time price and including free updates, I will most likely go with them. Great video.

[wallystellmacher]

Good review. I only disagree with the masking abilities of LR and C1. The recent updates of LR make it a masking machine. Everything is possible. Luminosity, tonal, color masking. Masking with one click (sky, face, hairs, etc.). In its variety it‘s much superior to C1.

[gandolfred]

I recently discovered the free raw-editor "Dark Table". I was surprised by the huge number of possibilities, flexible interface settings, masks and layers, etc. Also a good option. 😉

[rayclifton]

I have PL6, Luminar Neo & Capture One. I use them all in different images but my go to is generally PL6 - love its dehazing and noise reduction. Going to drop Capture One, sadly, because of their profiteering cost restructuring model which only seems to benefit professionals.

[Rocky_KO]

Capture One also has a refine mask option @ 18:07
You said @ 7:24 that ON1 is the only one with mask refining so I think that's what you're looking for with Capture One.
What adjustment did you do for the final slideshow?

[PeterMcDadeArtist]

I would like an asset (Raw files) manager separate from the editors. I haven't tried Capture One but have all the others while looking for a Lightroom replacement, which in the meantime keeps getting better.

[carldaniel]

Adobe Camera Raw ACR v15.1 is incredible for Fuji files.... no worms.

[frankwalders]

Nice review, but why you put one above the other stays a bit mysterious for me. Except for Luminar all three of them have their strong points.

[ColdCoffeePhotography]

Why no Affinity photo 2 included? And where would you put that in that list in retrospect please?

[jordanking]

But for DxO, with the masking spillover you mentioned, that's not really a drawback on the software side, that's a user error. Because wouldn't you need to decrease the brush size in order to get what you wanted selected without spilling over into what you don't want selected? Yes I understand that there would be gaps in what you want selected in which case that makes sense, but in this example, you had a big brush size so naturally it was going to spill over.

[JohnScheppler]

Is there a free or low cost raw photo editing program that you would recommend? A shoot out video like this one on cheaper photo editing programs would be great too. Thanks

[ThePNWRiderWA]

I like Lightroom the best as it’s object selection is superior and library mgmt. I had on1 and I agree it has a confusing interface. I use pure raw from DXO to preprocess noisy files. Neo is too $$$ with the plug-ins capture one is going to a subscription model at twice the cost of adobes

[gandolfred]

📌 When AI masks are added to Capture One, like in ON1 or Lightroom, it will definitely be the leader. 🤗