Is Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software a better RAW converter than Adobe Camera RAW? Which do you recommend?

EOS magazine: Digital Photo Professional (DPP) comes free with Canon EOS cameras and is therefore much cheaper than buying Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom or Photoshop Elements. It’s a very capable RAW processor and we’re very happy with the images that we’ve processed with it. However, Adobe Camera RAW has a LOT more features than DPP, including much greater control over brightness and contrast and sophisticated tools for extracting shadow detail and interpolating images. Adobe Camera RAW is a much better product than DPP, but then again, it should be as it costs more. DPP isn’t designed to match the features of Adobe Camera RAW and it shouldn’t be expected to.

The bottom line? DPP is an excellent RAW processor and you’ll be very happy with the results. Adobe Camera RAW does a lot more but costs more. Perhaps someone out there has tested DPP against other RAW conversion programs and can tell us what they think?

As with many things, the answer lies with you. Test out a few RAW converter programs (you can download trial versions from the manufacturers’ websites) to see which one meets your budget and needs best.

You may be asking if DPP is better than other RAW converters because it’s made by Canon, who would naturally understand their own digital files extremely well. The answer to this is no, there’s no obvious quality advantage to be gained by using DPP.

Reader feedback: What do you think of the answer to this question? Click on the stars to rate the answer (five is best). Do you have anything to add? What do you think of Canon’s Digital Photo Professional RAW converter? How does it compare to other programs? Please respond using the comments form below.