First Launch

When you open RapidRAW for the first time you land on the splash screen: a half-screen image and a panel with two main actions, Open Folder and a gear icon for Settings.

Open your first folder

Click Open Folder and pick the folder containing your photos. RapidRAW reads the photos in that folder directly; there is no separate "import" step and no catalog database.

Once a folder is open, the splash screen is replaced by the Library view. Next time you launch RapidRAW, the splash will additionally offer Continue Session to jump back into your last folder.

App settings (gear icon on the splash screen)

Click the gear icon on the splash screen to open the Settings panel. This is where every global preference lives:

General: theme, thumbnail size & aspect, library appearance, tagging shortcuts, pinned folders.
Processing: GPU backend (Auto / Vulkan / DirectX 12 / Metal / OpenGL), live preview quality, RAW handling, AI model paths.
Shortcuts: the full keyboard-shortcut reference.

The theme picker is in Settings → General, not inside the library. Themes change the entire look of the app and affect the splash-screen artwork.

The Library view

After opening a folder, RapidRAW shows the Library:

Region	Purpose
Left sidebar	Folder tree under the active root, plus pinned folders.
Center grid	Thumbnails of photos in the selected folder.
Top header	Library title + current folder path; controls for Search, View options, Community Presets, Open another folder, Go Home.
Right panel	Hidden by default. Slides in only when you click the export button on a multi-selection: it shows the Library Export panel.

The library has no "edit panel." Every editing UI lives in the Editor, which you enter by opening a single photo.

Open a different folder, or pin one

In the top-right of the Library header there are two folder-related buttons:

Open another folder (folder icon): switch the current root to a different folder.
Go Home (house icon): return to the splash screen. From there you can open another folder or use Continue Session.

To pin a folder so it stays in the sidebar across sessions, right-click the folder in the tree and choose Pin folder. Pinned folders are stored in Settings → General → Pinned folders.

The View Options button in the header (a sliders/grid icon) opens a small dropdown that controls how the library displays photos. These are per-library-display settings, distinct from the global app settings:

Sort criteria (capture date, filename, rating, color label, ascending/descending)
Filter criteria (by minimum rating, by color label)
Library view mode (current folder vs recursive flat list)
Thumbnail size (small / medium / large / list)
Thumbnail aspect ratio: Fill Square or Original Ratio

That last toggle is the only thumbnail aspect choice; there are no other aspect modes.

Open a photo for editing

Double-click a thumbnail, or
Press Enter or Space with a single thumbnail selected.

The center switches to the editor canvas, the filmstrip appears at the bottom for jumping between photos without leaving the editor, and the right panel becomes active. Press Escape to come back to the Library.

Tour of the keyboard

A few shortcuts that pay off immediately:

D open the Detail/Adjustments panel.
R open Crop.
M open Masks.
B toggle Before/after.
F toggle Fullscreen.
Space cycle zoom (fit, 2× fit, 100%).
Arrow ←/→ previous/next photo.

The full list is at Keyboard Shortcuts.

Where edits are saved

The first time you change anything on a photo, RapidRAW writes a small .rrdata sidecar file next to the original image (e.g. IMG_2231.NEF becomes IMG_2231.NEF.rrdata). This file holds every adjustment, mask, and crop. Your original RAW is never modified.

Move or back up your photos and their .rrdata files together to preserve edits. More on this in Importing Photos.