See http://libopenraw.freedesktop.org/ for up to date information.
libopenraw is an ongoing project to provide a free software implementation for camera RAW files decoding. One of the main reason is that dcraw is not suited for easy integration into applications, and there is a need for an easy to use API to build free software digital image processing application.
It also has the goal to address missing feature from dcraw like meta-data decoding and easy thumbnail extraction.
Status
This is currently a work in progress. The only code available is in git. Once a release will be made, it will be announced here.
Planned feature
- Support for as much file format as possible. NEF, CRW, CR2 and DNG obviously as they are the most common (well DNG not really but it is "standard").
- Modular low level API that allow:
- Identify the file
- Parse the file
- Extract the meta-data and the previews
- Allow processing the RAW data in different way, including having them extracted for an application custom processor.
- High level API that allow:
- Provide and standard thumbnail - Done
- Preprocess the file using standard parameters
- Extract the metadata as EXIF (and XMP)
- Convert to a DNG file
Plans
- Get a basic thumbnail extractor for CR2, CRW, DNG, NEF, ORF - Done
- Get a basic metadata extractor for CR2, CRW, DNG, NEF, ORF
- Get a basic RAW processor for CR2, CRW, DNG, NEF, ORF
Getting code from git
* Anonymous git
* `git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/libopenraw.git`
* For developers (needs authorization).
* Get a username if you don't have one: See <a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/AccountRequests">http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/AccountRequests</a> for details.
* Check out the tree: `git clone git+ssh://git.freedesktop.org/git/libopenraw.git`
Links to documentation
Given how manufacturer document these formats, we have to reverse-engineer or use documentation issued from reverse engineering.
Implementation
- dcraw the current reference implementation for RAW decoding.
- jrawio a Java library that implements RAW image decoding
File format
- RAW file standards try to match current standard with currently undocumented file formats and its summary.
- TIFF on which DNG and apparently other RAW format are based on.
- Adobe DNG a "standard" format that Adobe tries to push.
- X3F Foveon, the Foveon partial documentation.
- MRW Minolta RAW
- RAWpository archive of sample image data in RAW formats
Metadata
TBD
-- ?HubertFiguiere
Communication
There is mailing list for developers available now. Visit http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/libopenraw-dev to subscribe