Command Line

RapidRAW can be used from a terminal in three ways:

1. Headless export: render photos with their edits to files, without opening the window.
2. Open a photo: start RapidRAW with a file, or send a file to a running RapidRAW.
3. External editor: let another app hand a photo to RapidRAW and get the finished file back.

The executable

The name is case-sensitive on Linux and macOS. In the examples below, replace RapidRAW with the command for your system.

Headless export

RapidRAW export <source> --output <path> [options]

export must be the first argument and <source> must come directly after it. The source is a single image or a folder.

Examples

# Export a folder (and all its subfolders) as JPEG quality 90, using each photo's edits
RapidRAW export ~/Photos/2026-10-25 --output ~/Exports/2026-10-25

# Same, but WebP at quality 80
RapidRAW export ~/Photos/2026-10-25 --output ~/Exports/web --format webp --quality 80

# One photo to an exact file name; the format follows the extension
RapidRAW export ~/Photos/DSC04512.ARW --output ~/Desktop/hero.tiff

# 8-bit TIFF and keep camera metadata
RapidRAW export ~/Photos/shoot --output ~/Exports/tiff --format tiff --tiff-bit-depth 8 --keep-metadata

# Apply the same adjustments to every photo, ignoring their own edits
RapidRAW export ~/Photos/scans --output ~/Exports/scans --adjustments ~/look.json

Options

How it behaves

• Each photo is rendered with its own .rrdata edits, exactly like in the app. Photos without edits are exported with default settings. Virtual copies are exported as separate files.
• Files are named <original name>_edited.<format>, for example DSC04512_edited.jpeg.
• The folder structure below the source is recreated in the output folder.
• If a file already exists, _1, _2 and so on are added. The only exception: when you export a single photo to an explicit file name, that file is overwritten.
• File dates are set to the capture date.
• AI masks are recalculated if needed. A working GPU is required, just like for the app.
• You can run headless exports while the RapidRAW window is open.

The adjustments file

--adjustments expects a plain adjustments object, the same format as the "adjustments" part of a .rrdata file. Easiest way to make one:

1. Edit a photo in RapidRAW.
2. Open its .rrdata file (for example DSC04512.ARW.rrdata) in a text editor.
3. Copy the value of "adjustments" into a new file such as look.json.

A .rrpreset file from the Presets panel does not work directly, because it wraps the adjustments in extra structure.

Exit codes

There is no --help. Unknown options are ignored without an error, so check your spelling. On Windows, progress messages may not show in the terminal; check the output folder and the exit code instead.

Example: export new shoots every night (Linux / macOS)

#!/bin/sh
for dir in ~/Photos/incoming/*/; do
  name=$(basename "$dir")
  RapidRAW export "$dir" --output ~/Photos/web/"$name" --format webp --quality 82 || echo "failed: $name"
done

Open a photo

RapidRAW <file>

Starts RapidRAW (or brings the running window to the front) and opens the file in the editor. This is also what happens when you double-click a supported file after installing RapidRAW.

Open and edit from another app

Some apps (photo managers, DAMs, scripts) can hand a photo to an external editor and wait for the result. RapidRAW supports this:

RapidRAW --edit <source> --output <file> [--format <fmt>] [--quality <n>]

RapidRAW opens the photo with a bar at the bottom that shows where the result will be saved. Edit the photo as usual and click Done. RapidRAW exports to the output file (format from --format or the file extension, quality 90 by default, 16-bit for TIFF, metadata kept) and closes.

Example for a photo manager's "Edit with..." setting:

RapidRAW --edit "%f" --output "%f_edited.tif"

See also

• Export for all export options in the app.
• File Formats