A fast RAW photo editor for Linux
Lightroom has no Linux app, and neither do most paid culling tools. LightPhotos ships native Linux builds for ARM and x86. It is free, open source, and under 28MB.
What you get
- Fast culling. Rate a shoot from the keyboard with 0–5 stars, check focus at 100% with Space, and filter by rating.
- Non-destructive RAW editing. Exposure, tone, white balance, vibrance, denoise, spot removal and Auto Tone, rendered on the GPU.
- Plain folders. No import and no database. Edits live in a
.lightphotosfolder beside your photos, so they back up and sync with everything else. - Export. Full-quality JPEGs at the size you choose, or straight to your own Immich server.
- Private. The desktop app makes no network requests. See Privacy.
How it compares with other Linux tools
Linux already has excellent open-source photo editors. LightPhotos does not try to match their depth. It aims to be the quickest way through a shoot.
| LightPhotos | darktable | RawTherapee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source | Free, open source | Free, open source |
| Best at | Culling a shoot quickly and simple global edits | Deep editing and library management | Detailed RAW processing |
| Learning curve | Minutes. A handful of sliders and shortcuts. | Steep. Many modules and concepts. | Moderate to steep |
| Library | Your folders, no import | Import into a database | File browser |
| Masks and local edits | Spot removal only | Extensive | Some |
| Runs in a browser | Yes, in Chrome | No | No |
Plenty of people will use both: cull in LightPhotos, then take the handful of keepers that need masks into darktable.
Requirements and limits
- Ubuntu 24.04+, Debian 13+, Fedora 40+, or similar, on x86-64 or ARM64.
- Distributed as a
.tar.gz. Unpack and run, nothing to install system-wide. - RAW decoding on Linux uses the open-source rawler decoder. Tested Sony, Canon, lossless Nikon, Fujifilm GFX, Panasonic, Pentax and Leica files open fully, as do iPhone ProRAW and Pixel DNGs.
- Fujifilm X-Trans files can be browsed and rated from their embedded preview but not yet edited. Nikon High Efficiency NEF, the OM System OM-5 II and Samsung Galaxy DNGs do not open. The full list is on tested cameras.
Get it
Download for Linux. The download page picks the right build for your CPU. Coming from Lightroom on another machine? See how LightPhotos compares with Lightroom.