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Publishing · head to head

Pressbooks vs RawTherapee

Pressbooks logo

Pressbooks

Publishing

Open source book production built on WordPress, and the default tool for open textbooks

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
RawTherapee logo

RawTherapee

Photography

Open source raw developer with selectable demosaicing algorithms and floating point processing

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Pressbooks self-hosting is free in licence terms only; it requires WordPress multisite administration, upgrades and backups, which is a real staff cost most institutions underestimate.; RawTherapee there is no catalogue, only a folder browser, so any library management, keywording or search has to happen in a separate application.
  • They diverge on capability: Pressbooks covers Single source, three outputs, RawTherapee covers Selectable demosaicing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Pressbooks and RawTherapee actually diverge.

Attributes where Pressbooks and RawTherapee differ
AttributePressbooksRawTherapee
PlatformsWeb, Self-hostedLinux, Windows, macOS
CategoryPublishingPhotography

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Pressbooks

  • Single source, three outputs
  • Cloning and adaptation
  • H5P interactive content
  • LMS integration
  • Open source under the GPL
  • Accessibility tooling

Only in RawTherapee

  • Selectable demosaicing
  • Floating point pipeline
  • Local adjustments
  • Wavelet levels
  • Processing profiles
  • Colour management

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Pressbooks

  • A university library replacing a commercial textbook by adapting an existing open textbook rather than commissioning a new onenot RawTherapee
  • A course team that wants readings delivered inside Canvas or Moodle with embedded exercises rather than as a static PDFnot RawTherapee
  • A research institute publishing reports that must exist as a web page, an EPUB and a printable document without maintaining three filesnot RawTherapee
  • A consortium standardising open textbook production across several institutions with a shared catalogue of adaptable titlesnot RawTherapee

RawTherapee

  • Difficult raw files where the demosaicing algorithm visibly changes the result, such as fine fabric, foliage or architectural detailnot Pressbooks
  • Archive and restoration work where a free tool with strict colour management is preferable to a subscriptionnot Pressbooks
  • Photographers who want to understand and control each processing stage rather than accept a vendor renderingnot Pressbooks
  • Producing a high quality sixteen bit TIFF to hand to GIMP or another editor for compositingnot Pressbooks

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Pressbooks

  • Self-hosting is free in licence terms only; it requires WordPress multisite administration, upgrades and backups, which is a real staff cost most institutions underestimate.
  • Professional print PDF output depends on a commercial rendering engine that is licensed separately, so the genuinely free self-hosted route produces web and EPUB output but not press-quality print.
  • Design control is limited to the supplied themes unless someone writes custom CSS, so books tend to look recognisably like Pressbooks books.
  • There is no distribution, no ISBN service and no retail channel, so it produces files and web pages but plays no part in selling anything.
  • The editing experience inherits WordPress conventions, and authors working on long or heavily structured manuscripts find it slower than a dedicated writing application.

RawTherapee

  • There is no catalogue, only a folder browser, so any library management, keywording or search has to happen in a separate application.
  • The default rendering is deliberately neutral and looks flat next to the camera JPEG, which means every user has to build their own processing profiles before the tool is pleasant to use.
  • Support for new camera models and for Fujifilm X-Trans sensors arrives later than in commercial converters because it depends on volunteer work and upstream library updates.
  • The interface presents several hundred controls across many tabs with little guidance about which ones interact, and the learning curve is measured in weeks rather than hours.
  • Batch export is slow compared with commercial converters and there is no GPU acceleration, so processing a large wedding shoot ties up the machine for a long time.

Pricing, plan by plan

Pressbooks

Free
  • PressbooksFree
    • GPL licensed, self-hostable with no software fee
    • WordPress multisite administration is your responsibility
    • Print PDF export depends on a separately licensed rendering engine

RawTherapee

Free
  • RawTherapeeFree
    • GPL licensed with no seat limit
    • All processing features included
    • Documentation and support through RawPedia and the community forum

Which should you pick?

Choose Pressbooks if

  • You need single source, three outputs.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want cloning and adaptation.
Pressbooks review

Choose RawTherapee if

  • You need selectable demosaicing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want floating point pipeline.
RawTherapee review

Questions people ask

Is Pressbooks or RawTherapee better?
Neither clearly leads. Pressbooks starts at Free and RawTherapee at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Pressbooks or RawTherapee?
Pressbooks starts at Free and RawTherapee at Free.
Does Pressbooks or RawTherapee run on more platforms?
Pressbooks runs on Web, Self-hosted. RawTherapee runs on Linux, Windows, macOS.
Can I use Pressbooks for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Pressbooks best used for?
Pressbooks is most often used for a university library replacing a commercial textbook by adapting an existing open textbook rather than commissioning a new one, a course team that wants readings delivered inside canvas or moodle with embedded exercises rather than as a static pdf, a research institute publishing reports that must exist as a web page, an epub and a printable document without maintaining three files, a consortium standardising open textbook production across several institutions with a shared catalogue of adaptable titles. Of those, a university library replacing a commercial textbook by adapting an existing open textbook rather than commissioning a new one and a course team that wants readings delivered inside canvas or moodle with embedded exercises rather than as a static pdf are not what RawTherapee is typically brought in for.
What can Pressbooks do that RawTherapee cannot?
Pressbooks covers Single source, three outputs, Cloning and adaptation, H5P interactive content, LMS integration. RawTherapee covers Selectable demosaicing, Floating point pipeline, Local adjustments, Wavelet levels.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Pressbooks: Is Pressbooks really free?

The software is GPL licensed and free to self-host. The hosted service is priced, and professional print PDF output requires a commercially licensed renderer, so budget accordingly.

RawTherapee: Does RawTherapee support Fujifilm X-Trans files?

Yes, but support arrived later than in commercial converters and results on fine detail still trail Capture One and Adobe on some bodies.

Pressbooks: Can I sell a book made in Pressbooks?

You can sell the EPUB or the printed book through any distributor, but Pressbooks itself provides no ISBN, no storefront and no distribution.

RawTherapee: Can it replace Lightroom entirely?

It replaces the develop side. It does not replace the catalogue, so you will need digiKam, darktable or something similar alongside it.

Pressbooks: Why do universities use it for open textbooks?

Because an openly licensed book can be cloned into another institution network and adapted for a different course, which turns a finished textbook into a starting point rather than a fixed artefact.

RawTherapee: Are my edits stored in the raw file?

No. Edits are written to sidecar profile files next to the raw, so originals are untouched and profiles can be copied between images.

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