RAW editing, unleashed

Make precise RAW edits non-destructively, from first tweak to final export — all in one seamless workflow.

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How to edit RAW files in Affinity

Need a professional RAW editor that doesn’t box you in? Here’s how RAW photo editing works in Affinity.

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Develop with precision

Open your RAW file and adjust exposure, white balance, shadows, highlights, and fine detail directly from the source data. Use intuitive RAW image development controls to shape your image before it ever becomes a flattened pixel layer.

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Keep it non-destructive

Embed your RAW adjustments non-destructively, so you can revisit and refine them at any stage. No baked-in edits or locked decisions. Just full creative control.

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Retouch, composite and export

Take your image from RAW development to final delivery in a single document. Retouch, composite, color grade, and export with zero disruption.

From RAW to ready, in one app.

Affinity combines professional RAW editing, non-destructive control, and advanced retouching in a single workspace. Work from high-resolution image data, refine every detail, and make finishing touches before exporting – without sacrificing quality along the way.

Creative using Affinity RAW editing feature to adjust exposure, white balance, and shadows on a portrait photo.

Edit fearlessly. Undo easily.

Affinity’s non-destructive RAW workflow keeps your original images intact. Push exposure, recover highlights, and experiment with confidence, knowing every adjustment stays flexible from the first edit.

Before-and-after comparison of a RAW photo edit, showing a close-up portrait of a person in a swim cap shift from a muted pink tone to vivid pink and blue lighting.

No plug-ins or round trips needed.

Your entire RAW workflow is under one roof. No bouncing between apps, no external tools slowing you down. Everything stays connected, efficient, and under your control.

Affinity's Pixel Studio workspace showing a layered edit of a portrait, with a Layers panel listing Colour Grading, Retouching, and Curves adjustments.

FAQs

  • Yes. Affinity supports fully non-destructive RAW editing, so your original image data remains intact while every adjustment stays fully editable.

  • Absolutely. After RAW photo editing and development, you can retouch, composite, apply live filters, and export — all within the same document.

  • No. Affinity is a complete professional RAW editor with built-in RAW development tools, so you can manage your full workflow without external plug-ins.

  • RAW photo editing is the process of adjusting unprocessed image data captured by your camera sensor. Because RAW files contain more information than JPEGs, they allow greater flexibility in exposure correction, color grading, and detail recovery.

  • Used by millions of professional photographers across the globe, Affinity offers everything you need from a photo editor (including advanced RAW editing capabilities) — free of charge. It also includes vector and layout tools in the same app, so you can keep photo and design work together.

  • Yes. With the use of macros available in Batch job processing, you can apply consistent adjustments across multiple RAW files, helping maintain uniform results across large photo sets.

The RAW power you need