pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Find a tool, such as LR/PS cc and then tune into youtube and watch hours of free videos. Without the homework you not likely develop a reasonable workflow of any tool.

Paul Buckhiester Loc: Columbus, GA USA

Lynda.com

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

That's one and so is Morganti and Kost. each of these all have videos soup to nuts!

cthahn

Take a class from a professional and learn the correct way to use and understand RAW. Everyone will give a different answer or suggestion here.

Coyote9269 Loc: USA

Very true. Also with the ability to lease /rent Photoshop CC it makes it more cost effective.

texashill Loc: Texas Hill Country

I was in the same situation about three months ago. I am a real estate agent and use a large sensor point and shoot, Cannon G1X II. I had been reading on this excellent site about how much improvement can be achieved by shooting in RAW. I downloaded some free trials but, as you say, the results were not right. I finally tried LightRoom. It works great for me. I particularly like the highlight and shadow sliders. There are many great free online tutorials. I now have much improved capability to handle a larger dynamic range.

jwn Loc: SOUTHEAST GEORGIA USA

Canon supplies in the box DPP4 with its cameras, I would assume other mfgs supply similar programs for editing and conversion. Its free and designed to work with your camera and updates are free.

blackest Loc: Ireland

Not on Ubuntu Linux you can't.

Lightroom and Photoshop doesn't run either.

RickL Loc: Vail, Az

aflundi Loc: Albuquerque, NM

I also recommend Darktable. It does a reasonable job of doing enough default processing to give you a good starting point to work from, which you can easily back out of if you wish. I suggest you concentrate on the white balance, tone-curve, and equalizer modules.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Then set up a windows partition.

bcplimpton Loc: Southern New Jersey

RawTherapee (RT) can be set up to use GIMP as an external processor. It passes a 16 bit TIFF image to GIMP. RT also is capable of applying changes to many images at once and is non-destructive (uses a side file to hold changes). Step 1 apply the picture controls you want (in color tab) and then the Lens ICC in the Lens/Geometry settings. Once that is done, you should be very close to the JPEG and can improve from there with RT and/or GIMP.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

The significance is not being able to apply the same configuration to multiple files, but rather to easily generate a unique configuration for each image (and not having to wait as each is actually processed), and then doing all of those as a batch process while you do something else. A huge time saver for projects with hundreds of shots.

BTW, RawTherapee probably has the most sophisticated interpolation algorithm of any raw converter available, bar none!

pappleg

Raw files cannot be gimped. I use Nikon and set if for Raw +Jpeg Fine so you get both with a single exposure. The Jpeg is viewable and shows essentially what you have in the Raw file. Although it is not very intuitive I highly recommend Lightroom/Photoshop. Scott Kelby publishes very good references for this software but it is very complex. Easiest learn is via U-tube videos for specific purposes. LR/PS is available on disc for one-time charge of $145 via Amazon or by subscription model direct from Adobe for $9.99/month which is constantly updated. Most photo operations are done in Lightroom with vast ways of modifying/adjusting your images but if you want to remove something (moles, wrinkles, power lines, etc.) you toggle into Photoshop, save your changes, and then go back to Lightroom. I have been at it for just under a year and have only scratched the surface. HDRs are amazingly easy in LR.

Hope that helps. Pat

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Does Ubuntu or any Linux OS support ICC color management? If not, you need to use Windows or MacOS.

Does Ubuntu or any Linux OS issue periodic updates to add camera raw profiles for digital cameras? If not, you need to use Windows or MacOS.

Digital cameras typically save STANDARD files as JPEGs. They save raw data in PROPRIETARY files. Interpretation of a raw file requires the camera manufacturer's raw profile for that specific model of camera, or at least the camera manufacturer's own software (that typically came with the camera). Lacking either of these will stymie you.

A raw image must be opened using your specific camera's raw profile. It is then converted to a "working color space", using your imaging software's defaults OR the camera EXIF data from the menu settings used at the camera. This "working color space" is a very wide gamut color space such as ProPhoto RGB, that can include/describe/contain every color captured by the camera. From the working color space, the image is converted to your monitor profile, which should be a CUSTOM profile that YOU MAKE, using a colorimeter or spectrophotometer and software (a kit from DataColor or X-RITE). Done correctly, this allows you to see and adjust the color image correctly, then save it as an image file (JPEG, TIFF, PNG, etc). As the image is saved to a file, it is converted from the working color space to sRGB or Adobe RGB (1998) — sRGB for the Internet (always!) and most photo labs, Adobe RGB ONLY for printers or labs that request it. It is very important to adjust images with reference to a calibrated and profiled monitor if you want good prints, or if you want others to see your images the way you saw them.

So... If your OS and software cannot support proper color management, and if you don't bother to calibrate AND PROFILE your monitor to standard, you are chasing your tail.

I would suggest you need at least:

8GB RAM
2.7 GHz Quad Core i5 processor
500 GB conventional hard drive
Graphics Adapter with 1.5 GB dedicated RAM
Monitor capable of 100% sRGB and 80 to 100% Adobe RGB color space and 1920x1080 pixels
Windows 10 or MacOS 10.12.x
DataColor Spyder5Pro+ calibrator or X-RITE Color Munki

As for software, spend $50 and get Affinity Photo for Windows or Mac. It is one of the very best values in imaging software today.

There's one more missing ingredient that is more important than any of the above, if you don't have it, and that is knowledge. Go online and scour YouTube for videos on ICC Color Management, Affinity Photo, and digital photography in general.