Kelvin White Balance with Area Sampling

This update completely overhauls how the app handles color temperature, turning white balance into a precise, camera-grade tool. In earlier versions, adjusting temperature and tint relied on rough guesswork sliders and a basic eyedropper that merely sampled a single screen pixel, often leading to uneven or unnatural color shifts.

RapidRAW now reads the white balance recorded by your camera in RAW files and lets you toggle into true Kelvin temperatures, ensuring that light adjustments behave just like real-world daylight or warm indoor lamps.

Alongside this, the eyedropper tool has been completely redesigned: as you move across the canvas, a floating preview card displays live color readings, and you can now click and drag a box over any neutral gray or white area to smooth out image noise and calculate the correct balance automatically. Together, these changes make neutralizing unwanted color casts and dialing in the perfect photographic mood both effortless and true to life.

Guided Filter for Edge-Aware Adjustments

Fine detail enhancements no longer produce distracting halos. In place of standard blurs, clarity, structure, dehaze, shadows, and highlights now run through an edge-aware filtering system that cleanly separates broad lighting changes from sharp object contours. When lifting dark shadows or taming highlights, the software captures original surface micro-textures and feeds them back into the picture. Textures like skin, fabric, and foliage stay crisp and authentic rather than muddying together.

Original	Before (Visible Halos)	After (Edge-Aware)

Rewritten Whites Slider

Previously, the whites slider simply boosted areas with a flat multiplier, which easily blew out highlights and erased delicate textures. Now, it applies a smooth, targeted curve that brightens the lightest tones while directly reinjecting fine surface details and mid-level textures back in. As a result, bright areas like clouds, snow, or white clothing gain extra brilliance and pop without turning into flat, featureless patches.

Pick and Reject Flags

Culling large shoots is now significantly faster thanks to a dedicated flagging workflow. You can mark favorites as "Picked" or bad takes as "Rejected" using quick keyboard shortcuts, visual badges, or bottom bar toggles. Rejected photos automatically dim in your library, making it easy to filter them out of view or delete all of them at once with a single confirmation.

Apple RAW 9 Decoding and Denoising Support

Mac users can now tap directly into Apple’s advanced RAW 9 engine. Designed to take full advantage of the Neural Engine, this system demosaics camera sensor data and cleans up image noise in a single unified step. You can enable this engine in the RapidRAW processing settings as your default RAW developer, or pick it inside the Denoise menu. Unsupported cameras or file types seamlessly fall back to the built-in processor without interrupting your workflow.

RapidRAW Cloud Integration

RapidRAW is built on the belief that great photo editing should never be locked behind a paywall. The entire editor, its full RAW processing engine, smart masking, and built-in spot removal tools remain 100% free and run privately right on your own computer. If you have a dedicated graphics card and enjoy managing your own setup, you can even connect your own local server to run advanced generative tasks without paying a single cent. You have total freedom over how you edit, and nothing you already use is being restricted or hidden away.

For those who simply want effortless object removal without buying an expensive graphics card or wrestling with technical installations, RapidRAW Cloud is here purely as a convenience. With a quick sign-in, remote servers handle the heavy lifting for complex textures and large removals - only processing the small patch you brush over and deleting it immediately, so your full RAW files never leave your computer. At $14 a month, it is an easy, zero-hassle upgrade that gives you remote editing when you want it, while directly funding independent, open-source development without venture capital, bloat, or ads.

As this is the initial rollout of RapidRAW Cloud, your early feedback is crucial! Whether it's processing speed, inpainting quality, or workflow suggestions, please share your thoughts via GitHub, Email or Discord so I can continue refining the experience.

Learn more at: https://www.getrapidraw.com/cloud

AI-Free Mode

For photographers who prefer a purely traditional workflow or need to follow strict photo contest rules, RapidRAW includes a dedicated AI-Free Mode. Flipping this single switch completely hides all generative buttons, AI masks, and neural tools, automatically reverting features like noise reduction back to classic algorithms. Your existing edits will still display normally, leaving you with a clean, distraction-free workspace focused entirely on authentic photography.

Reorderable and Collapsible Adjustment Panels

Your editing workspace is now completely modular. You can drag and drop to reorder entire sections and individual tools, hide controls you rarely touch, and collapse items to save vertical space. The app automatically remembers your preferred arrangement and open sections, keeping your workspace clean, organized, and tailored to how you work.

Savable Custom Aspect Ratios

You can now save your favorite custom crop aspect ratios as permanent presets. After typing in any unique width and height, clicking the save icon adds it directly alongside your standard crop buttons with an automatically formatted label. These custom ratios stay saved across all your editing sessions, and you can remove them anytime with a single click.

• Precision Curves: Added a fine adjust mode for tone curves, plus inactive channels now show as colored overlay curves and reference markers.
• Crop Enhancements: Center-anchor crop resizing by holding Ctrl/Cmd, and align framing with a new center mark guide.
• Export Options: Added borders and aspect ratio padding to exports, embedded sRGB ICC profiles, and refreshed export presets.
• AI Task Controls: Added real-time progress tracking in the UI with the ability to cancel running AI tasks.
• Interface Polish: Streamlined adjustment panel customization and improved default tool visibility across the workspace.
• Metadata & Color Fixes: Improved lens EXIF detection and refined continuous RAW magenta highlight corrections.
• Localization: Added full Dutch & Netherlands language support.
• Stability & Bug Fixes: Resolved various issues and refined overall application performance.

A huge amount of community effort went into making this release possible. While I was away on a one-week road trip through Austria, several amazing contributors stepped up to keep the momentum going, with a special shoutout and massive thank you to @lalibertemarc for their exceptional help, dedication, and consistently high-quality contributions across this release cycle.

Due to the introduction of the new ...

Highlight Recovery

To be 100% honest with you: highlight recovery was always one of the weaker spots in RapidRAW. I spent so many hours trying to get it right in the past that I started telling myself it was just "too hard" to solve nicely. But over the last few days, I had a strong urge to finally crack it, and I'm honestly blown away by how well it works now. RapidRAW can now reconstruct clipped highlights (> 1.0) using the remaining color channel information.

The results speak for themselves:

Example 1 (Shot by Wojciech Wolas):

Before	After

Example 2:

Before	After

Example 3:

Before	After

Alongside this, I reworked parts of the shader pipeline. To reflect how the math actually works now:

• The Exposure slider (previously EV Shift) is now a true Exposure slider that cleanly pulls down overexposed highlights.
• The old exposure slider has been renamed to Brightness. It runs after the tonemapper, letting you tweak perceived image brightness without introducing clipping.

New Crop, Pan & Zoom Shortcuts

It might seem like a small detail, but this is a massive workflow improvement. You no longer have to open the crop tool and drag the corner handles every single time:

• Ctrl + Mouse Wheel: Quick crop in/out
• Ctrl + Drag: Pan inside the crop frame
• Shift + Drag: Straighten / rotate (as before)

This makes reframing and checking compositions super fast and intuitive.

Library Navigation

The Sources panel now includes an active folder navigation header, letting you quickly move back and forth between directories.

Masonry Library Grid

Added a new thumbnail view mode that arranges photos into a clean masonry layout, utilizing all available screen space.

Alongside this change, the Original Ratio thumbnail mode is now enabled by default.

Neutral Grey Canvas

You can now toggle the canvas background to a neutral middle-grey in the settings. This helps avoid optical contrast illusions and color bias while editing.

• Export Subfolders: Added support for exporting to the original folder with a custom subfolder.
• Smoother Vibrance: Rewrote the vibrance algorithm to behave much more smoothly and predictably.
• 16-Bit TIFF Export: Added support for exporting images in 16-bit TIFF format.
• Quick Filter State: The expanded/collapsed state is now remembered across sessions.
• EXIF & Metadata Fixes: Fixed several bugs that caused EXIF data to go missing & metadata now shows up properly inside the Albums view.
• Under-the-Hood: Squashed a bunch of bugs for better overall stability.

1. Install libgphoto2 on your machine

RapidRAW uses libgphoto2 to communicate directly with connected cameras over USB. Because the tethering binary links dynamically against this library to stream live view and control camera settings, the driver must be present on your system for the app to detect and control your camera.

• macOS (via Homebrew):

  brew install libgphoto2 pkg-config

• Ubuntu / Debian:

  sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y libgphoto2-dev pkg-config

• Arch Linux:

  sudo pacman -S libgphoto2 pkgconf

• Fedora:

  sudo dnf install libgphoto2-devel pkgconf-pkg-config

2. Download Tethering Build

(Note: Windows and Android are not supported for camera tethering due to OS driver limitations).

Liquify Tool

I've added a new Liquify tool that gives you the ability to reshape and warp specific parts of an image. It's perfect for subtle structural adjustments or creative distortion directly within your RAW workflow.

Retouch Tool

A dedicated Retouch tool is now available for smoothing out textures and fixing skin blemishes. It intelligently preserves edges, ensuring your subjects retain their natural look and fine details without unwanted blurring.

Guided Perspective Correction

Fixing architectural distortion is now much easier. You can draw up to four guide lines directly on the canvas to automatically correct the perspective and perfectly align structures and buildings.

Edge-Aware Filter for AI Subject Masks

I've implemented a new post-processing step for AI subject masks. The masks are now edge-aware, meaning edges snap precisely to the actual subjects in the image. This renders the transitions much more natural and eliminates the "pasted-on" look.

Rewritten Crop Panel & Transform/Lens Correction

The crop panel and transform/lens correction modals have been completely unified. All sliders are now directly integrated into the crop panel, allowing you to preview your changes in real-time on the main image canvas without needing to open a secondary modal.

Rewritten EXIF Caching Engine

To improve efficiency, I realized the old EXIF architecture wasn't optimal. Previously, the app created a .rrdata sidecar file for every single image just to store metadata for filtering and sorting. Now, metadata is cached directly in the application directory, and a .rrdata file is only created when you actually make adjustments to an image. This keeps your folders much cleaner.

Rewritten Thumbnail Engine

Previously, RapidRAW generated one medium-large thumbnail per image to use in both the library grid and the main canvas while loading. I've completely rewritten this engine to generate one low-resolution thumbnail for the library and one high-resolution thumbnail as an intermediate preview. This drastically improves both library performance and the visual clarity of images while they finish loading.

Categorized Mask Creation Panel

The mask creation panel has been redesigned. Masks are now categorized and structured, making it much faster and more intuitive to access the exact tool you need.

Auto-Apply Lens Correction

To speed up your workflow, there is a new context menu shortcut that allows you to automatically apply lens corrections to all selected images at once.

Straighten Shortcut

You can now hold Shift + Drag directly on the image canvas to quickly draw a horizon line and auto-straighten the image.

• Sharpening Algorithm Refinements: Reduced artifacts around high-contrast edges when using the sharpening slider.
• Original Preview Toggle: The "Show original preview" logic has been completely rewritten. It now toggles instantly and utilizes the same rendering path as the normal canvas.
• EXIF Metadata Consistency: Fixed bugs that prevented certain EXIF tags from copying over correctly to exported images.
• GPU Processor Auto-Healing: Improved error handling with automatic GPU recovery if rendering errors occur.
• Denoise Exposure Fix: Resolved a bug that caused denoised images to appear noticeably darker or underexposed compared to the original RAW.
• Wayland Improvements (Linux): Fixed compatibility issues under Wayland sessions, meaning manual environment workarounds are no longer required.
• 100% Zoom Toggle Option: Added a new setting to instantly jump between fit-to-screen and a 1:1 (100%) zoom view with a single click, instead of having to zoom in granularly.
• Mobile & Tablet UX: Refined interfaces and slider interactions for touch devices.
• Visual Updates: Refreshed and updated icons throughout the application.
• Under-the-Hood: Addressed numerous backend bugs for improved overall stability.

1. Install libgphoto2 on your machine

RapidRAW uses libgphoto2 to communicate directly with connected cameras over USB. Because the tethering binary links dynamically against this library to stream live view and control camera settings, the driver must be present on your system for the app to detect and control your camera.

• macOS (via Homebrew):

  brew install libgphoto2 pkg-config

• Ubuntu / Debian:

  sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y libgphoto2-dev pkg-config

• Arch Linux:

  sudo pacman -S libgphoto2 pkgconf

• Fedora:

  sudo dnf install libgphoto2-devel pkgconf-pkg-config

2. Download Tethering Build

(Note: Windows and Android are not supported for camera tethering due to OS driver limitations).

Focus Stacking

RapidRAW now includes an intelligent Focus Stacking tool alongside the panorama stitcher and HDR merge features. Focus stacking lets you combine multiple exposures captured at varying focus distances into a single image with incredible front-to-back sharpness and extended depth of field. This is essential for macro, product, and landscape photography, where physical optical limits prevent keeping the entire scene in focus.

Reorganized Context Menu	Focus Stacking

Camera Tethering (macOS & Linux)

RapidRAW now supports native Camera Tethering for studio, portrait, and product photography workflows. Connect your camera over USB to shoot directly into your workspace.

What you can do:

• Real-time Live View: Stream live view with composition guide overlays, 90° rotation, and horizontal flipping.
• Camera Controls: Adjust Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, White Balance, and more directly from the sidebar.
• Automatic Color Grading: Automatically apply a chosen preset to incoming shots the moment they are captured.
• Ghost Overlay: Overlay your previous shot on top of the live view to keep framing and perspective consistent across shots.
• Instant Ingestion: Captured photos automatically save into your current library folder and can open straight in the editor.

Important: System Requirements & Dedicated Builds

Because tethering relies on the system library libgphoto2, it is provided as a separate build (_tethering) for macOS and Linux.

To use tethering, you must install libgphoto2 on your system first, then download the corresponding _tethering package from the tethering release downloads table below.

Built-in Analog Film Emulations

RapidRAW now comes with built-in, scientifically modeled analog film emulations out of the box, powered by the open-source spektrafilm project by Andrea Volpato.

Highlights & Color Pipeline:

• True Scene-Referred Pipeline: Unlike standard display-space LUTs that clip highlights and crush shadows, these emulations run in a scene-referred V-Log color pipeline directly inside the GPU shader. This ensures natural highlight roll-off, rich organic color response, and deep tonal transitions.
• Non-Destructive & Adjustable: Fine-tune the look with the intensity slider, combine it with tone curves, or stack it with film grain and halation for an authentic analog aesthetic.

Special thanks to Andrea Volpato for creating spektrafilm and making these spectrally accurate film profiles available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Rewritten Sharpening Algorithm

The sharpening tool now uses a multi-scale deconvolution algorithm with built-in halo suppression and directional edge smoothing. It enhances fine micro-details cleanly across the frame without creating harsh ringing artifacts or amplifying shadow noise.

Drag & Drop Image Move System

You can now easily organize your library by selecting multiple images and dragging them directly into folders or albums.

• Full EXIF Metadata Preservation on Export: Exported images now preserve and embed full camera capture and EXIF metadata.
• Tablet & Touch Interface Restoration: Restored side panel layouts and controls on tablet and touch screen devices.
• Inpainting Auto-Cropping: Added automatic canvas cropping for generative AI inpainting workflows.
• Stability & Bug Fixes: Resolved various issues and refined overall application performance.

1. Install libgphoto2 on your machine

RapidRAW uses libgphoto2 to communicate directly with connected cameras over USB. Because the tethering binary links dynamically against this library to stream live view and control camera settings, the driver must be present on your system for the app to detect and control your camera.

• macOS (via Homebrew):

  brew install libgphoto2 pkg-config

• Ubuntu / Debian:

  sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y libgphoto2-dev pkg-config

• Arch Linux:

  sudo pacman -S libgphoto2 pkgconf

• Fedora:

  sudo dnf install libgphoto2-devel pkgconf-pkg-config

2. Download Tethering Build

(Note: Windows and Android are not supported for camera tethering due to OS driver limitations).

Fully Customizable Workspace

Previously, RapidRAW had a very specific, rigid interface: your sources and folders were always on the left, and your adjustment panels were always on the right.

Now, the workspace is fully customizable. If you aren't happy with the default panel arrangement, you can change it entirely. By simply grabbing the panel icon in the panel tab switcher, you can drag and drop panels around, reorder them, and create your own custom split views. You can finally build a layout that fits your exact workflow perfectly.

Customizable Workspace	Reorder Panels	Split Views

Unified Library & Edit Views

While the Library and Edit views are still technically separate, the strict wall between them is gone. You can now use all the tools from the edit view directly inside the library view!

This means your beloved adjustment panels stay open all the time now. You can seamlessly tweak sliders and continue editing an image using the right-side controls without ever having to leave your library grid.

Library Editing	Multi Panel Workspace

• Export Stability & Memory Optimization: Exports now consume significantly less VRAM, preventing out-of-memory crashes and improving stability on lower-end systems during heavy processing.
• Display Color Accuracy: Resolved an issue that caused subtle color shifts on P3 wide-gamut displays (particularly noticeable on Apple Displays).
• Image-Based LUTs & Batch Presets: Added full support for image-based LUTs (.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .tiff) alongside the ability to batch-import multiple presets simultaneously.
• WGPU Renderer Upgrades: Enabled the White Balance color picker tool when running the application with the WGPU renderer.
• File Path Shortcut: Added the Cmd/Ctrl+L keyboard shortcut to instantly copy the file path of the currently selected image to the clipboard.
• Expanded Localization: Added Catalan language support.
• Updated Dependencies: Upgraded the underlying rawler backend and Lensfun database.

Lens Blur (Bokeh)

Sometimes you capture a great shot, but the background is just a bit too distracting or lacks that premium optical depth. To solve this, I've implemented a new depth-based Lens Blur tool that generates realistic depth-of-field blurring. You have full control over the effect: you can dial in the blur amount, add diffusion, choose your preferred bokeh shape, and fine-tune the exact depth range to seamlessly separate your subject from the background.

Beyond standard background defocusing, the fine-grained depth range controls also allow you to emulate a tilt-shift lens effect. By isolating a precise horizontal or vertical band of focus, you can easily transform cityscapes and wide landscapes into miniature-style scenes directly inside RapidRAW.

Culling View

Culling through a massive shoot just got a lot faster and more intuitive. I've added a dedicated Culling View that allows you to place up to 6 images side-by-side on your screen. This makes it incredibly easy to compare similar shots for sharpness and composition. You can instantly apply star ratings and view essential metadata right alongside your grouped images to pick the absolute best shot of the bunch.

This tool came in super handy for me during a recent shoot. I had taken a series of long exposure drone shots of a waterfall, where subtle wind gusts meant only a couple of frames came out pin-sharp. By loading the entire bracket side-by-side in Culling View, I was able to easily spot the sharpest capture, rate it 5 stars, and move on in seconds without having to constantly flip back and forth.

Group RAW + JPEG

If you shoot in RAW+JPEG mode, your library can quickly become a cluttered mess of duplicates. This update introduces a new grouping feature in the library view options that stacks these pairs together. You can choose whether you prefer the RAW or JPEG to be displayed as the primary file, optionally ignore mismatched EXIF dates, and easily toggle between the two formats right from the image information overlay.

Command Line Interface (CLI)

RapidRAW now includes a headless export tool for batch processing photos in automated scripts, terminal pipelines, or server environments without opening the GUI:

# Export an entire folder using edits found in .rrdata sidecar files
rapidraw export /path/to/photos --output /path/to/output_dir --format jpeg --quality 90

# Export a single image directly to a specific target file
rapidraw export /path/to/photo.raw --output /path/to/output.png --format png

# Batch export a folder using a custom adjustments JSON file to override sidecars
rapidraw export /path/to/photos --output /path/to/output_dir --adjustments /path/to/preset.json

Checkout the README for more information.

While the new UI features are the stars of this release, this update also brings major under-the-hood performance optimizations and heavily requested workflow improvements:

• Performance: Drastically improved thumbnail loading speeds, especially for users storing their libraries on HDDs. Optimized the underlying performance of the library and image analytics scopes. RapidRAW now tries to read the embedded jpeg first, before decoding the full RAW image for the thumbnail.
• Cropping Upgrades: The crop tool has been enhanced with area preservation and crop-centered rotation for a much smoother framing experience.
• Export & Memory: Significantly reduced overall RAM usage during export operations and calibrated the quality curves for JPEG XL (JXL) exports for better file-size-to-quality ratios.
• Workflow Enhancements:
  • Selection is now kept between the library and editor view.
  • Added a quick shortcut for library searching.
  • Added a quick shortcut to jump straight into the settings.
  • Made automatic adjustment synchronization optional for multi-selections, giving you more control over batch edits.
• Metadata & Decoding: Improved EXIF lens metadata extraction across the board and fixed an issue with Canon multi-exposure White Balance.
• Linux Stability: Resolved bugs that were causing the app to run slow for Linux users with NVIDIA GPUs.

Manual Clone & Heal Inpainting

While AI is fantastic for many tasks, there are specific scenarios where you just need pixel-perfect, algorithmic manual control that operates at your image's full resolution. To give you that control, I have implemented dedicated Clone and Heal tools. They work beautifully: simply set your source point, and you can seamlessly heal blemishes or copy exact pixels over to your target area.

Before	After Clone & Heal

Here is a look at the new tools in action:

Using the Tools	New Inpainting Tools

Refined AI Inpainting

While building out the manual clone and heal tools, I took the opportunity to improve the AI inpainting engine. I spent time optimizing its performance, resolving color space issues, and ensuring the generated patches blend much more coherently with the surrounding pixels. I'm very happy with the new results.

Here is a quick comparison showing how the blocky quantization artifacts from previous versions have been eliminated:

Original Image	V1.5.8 (Blocky Artifacts)	V1.5.9 (Clean & Coherent)

Improved Shadows & Blacks Shader

I noticed that the previous approach for lifting shadows and blacks could sometimes result in a plastic, unrealistic, or overbaked look. To fix this, I have rewritten and optimized the underlying shader algorithm, resulting in a much more natural and pleasing roll-off in the darker areas of your images.

Original	Previous Algorithm	New & Improved Shader

HDR Merge Improvements

This version introduces robust deghosting and auto-alignment capabilities for merging HDR brackets. This means that even if your handheld source images aren't perfectly aligned, the final merged result will remain sharp and free of distracting ghost edges. Additionally, this update resolves several color space issues during the HDR merge process that were previously causing merged files to appear drastically underexposed

• Performance: Improved thumbnail loading speeds by utilizing native file transfers and updating the core rendering engines for better overall performance and stability.
• Workflow: Added "Open With" external editor support, allowing you to easily hand off images to other applications.
• RAW Handling: Implemented a smart fallback mechanism that loads embedded JPEG previews for undecodable or currently unsupported RAW files.
• Local Contrast Tweaking: Clarity & Structure's intensity is now stronger.
• Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed an issue where copying adjustments directly from the filmstrip wasn't behaving correctly.
  • Resolved AI model and LUT download issues affecting Android users.
  • Inpainting now also works on rotated or flipped images.
  • Squashed several Windows-specific bugs, including an issue with offscreen windows and folder export errors.
• Under the Hood: Bumped various system dependencies to keep everything secure and up-to-date.

Preset Intensity Slider

Sometimes a preset is a bit too strong or too subtle. To give you better control, I have added an intensity slider that appears when you select a preset, allowing you to fine-tune its overall strength to better fit your photo:

Hue Slider

There's a new global hue slider in the color adjustments panel. This new control allows you to shift the overall color tones in your image for quick color corrections or creative adjustments:

Quick Bottombar Filters

To save you from constantly switching screens, I added quick filter options directly to the bottombar. Now you can easily filter your current image list without needing to navigate back to the main library settings:

Folder Sorting

To help keep your workspace organized, you can now customize how the folder tree sorts your directories. You can choose the ordering option that works best for your library structure:

New Languages

To make RapidRAW more accessible to photographers worldwide, I have added translation support for two new languages:

• Korean
• Traditional Chinese

• Improved the reliability of folder and album image counts so they remain accurate.
• Resolved an issue where background indexing could get stuck in an infinite loop.
• New cameras are supported.

Expanded Multilingual Support

Following up on the initial German translation I introduced in v1.5.6, I have expanded the app's language support. RapidRAW now supports eight additional languages, which you can select directly within the settings menu:

• Spanish
• French
• Italian
• Japanese
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Chinese (Simplified)

• Library Performance Enhancements: I have focused heavily on optimizing library navigation and thumbnail loading. These adjustments reduce rendering overhead and resource spikes, making scrolling and browsing through large folders feel noticeably smoother.
• Copy-Paste Fixes: I resolved an issue where copying and pasting adjustments or lens correction parameters between images would occasionally fail to apply or behave inconsistently. The copy-paste system should now work reliably again.

Full Internationalization & German Translation

I’ve rewritten all core components to support full internationalization (i18n). This makes the entire application multilingual at its foundation, paving the way for further community translations down the road. With this update, I am officially shipping German as the first supported language alongside English, which you can toggle directly in the settings.

Advanced Library Filtering & Search Queries

I’ve implemented a more robust search input that parses structured queries and regular search terms into interactive tags. You can now quickly narrow down large libraries using metadata attributes directly in the search bar.

Supported query fields include:

• Exposure & Optics: iso:>=1600 (or iso:<400), aperture:<=2.8 (or f:<4), shutter:>=1/125 (or s:<1), focal:>=50 (or mm:85)
• Hardware: lens:50mm, camera:Sony (matches make or model)
• Metadata & Organization: color:red, rating:>=4

You can combine multiple query tags and choose between AND (match all) or OR (match any) modes with a single click inside the search bar to handle complex logical filtering.

Multi-Root Folders, Custom Albums & Folder Icons

To make cataloging and browsing more flexible, I’ve expanded the library database architecture:

• Multi-Root Folders: You are no longer restricted to a single parent folder. You can now add multiple independent directories (and pin them!) from different drives or locations on your system.
• Custom Albums: You can now create virtual albums to group images together without physically moving the source files on your storage. It's in beta for now as I haven't found an elegant solution to resync the album after a file move outside of RapidRAW for now.
• Custom Icons: To help keep your workspace organized, you can now assign custom icons to individual folders or albums within the library tree.

Dedicated EXIF Overlays & Metadata Caching

I've added a dedicated EXIF display option directly inside the library grid and list views. In the revamped View Options panel, you can set the EXIF overlay to Off, On Hover, or Always Show. Under the hood, I also built a metadata caching system so the app doesn't have to parse raw files every time a thumbnail enters the viewport, making scrolling through large folders feel much lighter.

Track, Filter, and Sort by Edited Status

To make managing your progress through a large shoot easier, I have implemented an Edited Status tracking system. RapidRAW now keeps track of which images have active adjustments.

• Indicators: A visual indicator now highlights edited files in your library.
• Filtering: You can quickly clean up your grid by filtering for Edited Only or Unedited Only images.
• Sorting: A new sorting option lets you group your files by edit status, pushing all modified files to the beginning or end of your library view.

Improved Canvas Mask Overlays

Making local adjustments is now more intuitive. I’ve moved the control handles for linear, radial, and brush masks so they render directly over the image canvas. This lets you position, rotate, and scale your active masks with smoother feedback.

Expanded View Options Panel

I've rebuilt the View Options dropdown to put more fine-grained library controls at your disposal:

• Major Backend Refactoring (Zustand Migration): To solve performance bottlenecks and prevent unnecessary UI calculations, I did a major refit of the state management architecture. I decomposed the giant state tree into five isolated Zustand stores: useEditorStore, useLibraryStore, useUIStore, useSettingsStore, and useProcessStore. Now, when you resize a panel or adjust a slider, only the components that actually rely on that specific data re-render, resulting in a snappier interface overall.
• Batch Lens Correction Copy/Paste: Thanks to the new EXIF caching system, you can now copy and paste lens correction parameters across multiple images at once. This should make applying lens corrections to an entire shoot much faster. Do not forget to enable it in the copy & paste settings modal ;).
• Resource-Aware Export Pipeline: The export backend has been refactored to check your system resources. It automatically scales and manages concurrency based on your device's available memory and processor cores, making batch exports safer on systems with limited resources.
• Improved Brush Tool: The masking brush uses now a more accurate preview.