RawTherapee 5.5 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu

Last updated: September 11, 2019

RawTherapee

RawTherapee RAW image editor released version 5.5 last night with exciting new features. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.10, Ubuntu 18.04.

RawTherapee 5.5 release highlights:

  • Filter to remove striping artifacts and banding artifacts for any camera has a PDAF entry in camconst.json.
  • Ability to specify custom working color spaces through the workingspaces.json file.
  • Unbounded processing – allows you to decide whether out-of-gamut colors should get clipped.
  • New Shadows/Highlights tool (replaced previous one).
  • Contrast threshold mask which divides an image into areas of high and low detail, allowing the effect of certain tools (Sharpening, Post-Resize Sharpening, Microcontrast, Demosaicing) to be focused where it matters most and to mitigate the effect on areas where it would be undesirable.
  • Dual-demosaic algorithms, making use of the new contrast threshold mask, allowing one to use a combination of demosaicing algorithms where one is best for details and the other best for plain areas.
  • New color toning methods: Grid and Regions
  • Support for Blackmagic and Canon Magic Lantern lj92 encoded files.
  • New Soft Light tool which enhances contrast and saturation by emulating the effect of blending an image with a copy of itself in “soft light” blending mode in GIMP.
  • New Haze Removal tool to reduce the effects of haze or fog.
  • The Resize tool allows you to specify whether you want it to upscale or only downscale.
  • New icon and cursor theme. New cameras support, and new input color profiles.
  • Other new features, enhancements, and bug fixes.

Download / Install RawTherapee 5.5 in Ubuntu:

The official Linux Appimage, single executable file to launch the software, is available for download at the link below:

Go to file’s properties, allow executable file as program, and finally run it to launch RawTherapee 5.5.

There are also a few PPA repositories that contain RawTherapee packages for Ubuntu. I’ll update the tutorial once the 5.5 release package is available.

UPDATE: For Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, Linux Mint 19.x, you can install RawTherapee 5.5 via the unofficial PPA.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for “Terminal” from app launcher. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dhor/myway

Input your password (no asterisks feedback when typing) when it prompts and hit Enter to add the PPA.

2. After that, upgrade the software via Software Updater if a previous version was installed:

The upgrading process may be kept back if you were installing it from Ubuntu Software.

A workaround is simply running following commands instead to install or upgrade RawTherapee:

sudo apt-get install rawtherapee

How to Remove:

To uninstall the free raw developer, run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove rawtherapee

And remove the PPA via Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab, by removing the line says “http://ppa.launchpad.net/dhor/myway/ubuntu”.

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I'm a freelance blogger who started using Ubuntu in 2007 and wishes to share my experiences and some useful tips with Ubuntu beginners and lovers. Please comment to let me know if the tutorial is outdated! And, notify me if you find any typo/grammar/language mistakes. English is not my native language. Contact me via ubuntuhandbook1@gmail.com Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/ubuntuhandbook1

One response to RawTherapee 5.5 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu

  1. Hello
    With your advice, Rawtherapee 5.5 command line installation fast and efficient.
    thank you so much
    cordially