RAW Processing
The workflow of converting unprocessed camera sensor data into a viewable and editable image with creative adjustments.
RAW files contain the complete sensor data captured by the camera without any in-camera processing like sharpening, noise reduction, or color adjustment. RAW processing applies these adjustments manually, giving the photographer full creative control. Key RAW processing steps include white balance correction, exposure adjustment, highlight and shadow recovery, noise reduction, lens correction, chromatic aberration removal, and color grading. RAW files offer significantly more editing latitude than JPEG — a 2-stop exposure correction that would destroy a JPEG produces clean results from a RAW file. Popular RAW processors include Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, and DxO PhotoLab. Each applies its own demosaicing algorithm to interpret the sensor's color filter array data.