Corel AfterShot Pro vs dcraw

Corel AfterShot Pro 3 is RAW photo-editing software for organizing, editing, and outputting photos on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Non-destructive editing lets users create multiple image versions while preserving the original file. Photos can be accessed in existing folders without catalog import, or managed with optional catalogs. Preset-based batch controls can be applied to one photo or thousands, and bulk renaming and resizing are supported. The Blemish Remover offers circle, brush, polygon, and freehand tools. Text and graphic watermarks can be applied to individual images or batches, with controls for size, rotation, position, and transparency. Listed formats include JPG, TIFF, and RAW formats from leading camera manufacturers; JPG and TIFF are output formats. TIFF files can be sent to PaintShop Pro, Photoshop, or another external editor. A Plugin Manager helps find and install plugins, and the maker provides an API and SDK for plugin creation. The software is 64-bit only. The listed purchase is $79.99 USD as a one-time payment, and a 30-day trial is listed.

dcraw is a free utility for decoding camera RAW photos, displaying metadata, and extracting thumbnails. The maker’s page reports support for 731 cameras, with documented examples of camera-specific formats including CRW, CR2, MRW, NEF, and RAF. Its four interpolation methods are bilinear, VNG, PPG, and AHD. Output color-space choices include sRGB, Adobe RGB, ProPhoto RGB, XYZ, and ACES. By default, dcraw writes PGM, PPM, or PAM; the -T option writes TIFF with metadata. The maker provides C source and Linux build instructions, including a gcc command, and says a self-contained DCRAW.EXE can be built for DOS or Windows from a source file in the directory. A basic plugin loads RAW files into GIMP, while the manual lists gphoto2 and Netpbm utilities among related command-line tools. The maker describes using it to process camera images after downloading them to a Linux PC. One important format limit: dcraw cannot decode JPEG files. It is free for all uses and is listed for Linux and Windows.