Version 5.9 of the freeware raw file conversion software, RawTherapee, has just been released offering many new features and enhanced camera compatibility.

The latest version comes two years after the release of Version 5.8 and, like its predecessors, it’s available for Linux and Windows computers, with the MacOS version coming at an undisclosed future date. Raw formats and colour profiles are now supported for a large number of cameras, including recent releases from Canon, Fujifilm, Hasselblad, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Panasonic, Ricoh, Sigma, and Sony. New features in Version 5.9 include:

  • A Spot Removal tool in the Details page for removing small blemishes;
  • A new saturation slider has been added to the Haze Removal tool;
  • The Colour tab gains a new automatic white balancing function via Temperature Correction, while the auto white balance feature is renamed ‘RGB grey’;
  • A Pre-process White Balance tool has been added to the Raw tab, enabling users to decide whether channels should be automatically balanced by the app or whether the values the camera captured should be retained;
  • The Film Negative tool has been enhanced, and now supports photographs that are not in raw format;
  • A new Perspective Correction tool (Transform tab) that allows automatic perspective correction;
  • The program now supports DNG files with a high dynamic range and offers flat field correction, hot/dead pixel correction, multiple-frame Raw files, dark frame subtraction, and pixel-shift compositing with automatic ghost masking;
  • The user interface has been improved to make it easier to see which tools are in use;
  • A new ‘centred square’ crop guide is provided for working on images intended for use on social media.

Click here to visit the RawTherapee website for more information and access to download links.