Software is the collective term for the programs, applications, and operating instructions that run on a computer or other digital device, defining what the hardware is capable of doing and providing the tools and interfaces through which users interact with and direct the capabilities of the machine. In contrast to hardware - the physical electronic and mechanical components of a computer system - software exists as coded instructions and data that have no physical form beyond the storage medium on which they reside, and can be copied, transmitted, updated, and replaced without any physical manufacturing process.
In digital photography, software occupies a central and indispensable role in virtually every stage of the photographic workflow, from image capture and transfer through to processing, editing, organisation, output, and archiving. The breadth and sophistication of photographic software available to photographers at all levels has expanded enormously since the early days of digital photography, and the capabilities of modern photographic software now encompass every conceivable aspect of image making and management with a depth and precision that would have been unimaginable in the era of purely film-based photography.
Image editing software represents the most fundamental and widely used category of photographic software, providing the tools for adjusting, correcting, retouching, and creatively transforming digital photographs after capture. Adobe Photoshop - first released in 1990 and continuously developed ever since - has been the dominant professional image editing application throughout the digital photography era, offering an extraordinarily comprehensive set of tools for pixel level image manipulation, colour correction, compositing, retouching, and creative effects that has made it the industry standard for professional photographers, retouchers, and graphic designers worldwide. Adobe Lightroom, introduced in 2007, addressed the specific workflow needs of photographers working with large volumes of RAW image files, combining a non-destructive RAW processing engine with comprehensive cataloguing, organisation, and output tools in a single integrated workflow application that has become the primary image management and processing tool for the majority of professional and enthusiast photographers.
RAW conversion software interprets and processes the raw sensor data captured by digital cameras - which stores the unprocessed light measurements recorded by each photosite of the image sensor - and converts it to viewable image files by applying demosaicing, noise reduction, sharpening, colour correction, and numerous other processing operations. While camera manufacturers provide their own proprietary RAW conversion software - such as Canon's Digital Photo Professional and Nikon's Capture NX - third party applications including Adobe Camera Raw, Capture One, DxO PhotoLab, and others offer alternative RAW processing engines with their own distinctive rendering characteristics, colour science, and processing tools that many photographers prefer for the quality of results they produce from specific cameras and film simulations.
Image management and digital asset management software provides the tools for organising, cataloguing, searching, and archiving large collections of digital photographs, allowing photographers to efficiently locate specific images within libraries containing thousands or millions of files using keywords, metadata, ratings, colour labels, and visual search tools. Dedicated photo management applications including Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, Photo Mechanic, and Apple Photos offer different combinations of organisational capability, processing tools, and workflow integration suited to different working methods and scales of image library management.
Beyond these core categories, photographic software encompasses a broad range of specialist applications including panoramic stitching software for assembling multi-frame panoramas, HDR processing software for combining multiple exposures into high dynamic range images, focus stacking software for combining multiple frames of different focus distances into images of extended depth of field, noise reduction software for improving the quality of high ISO images, printing software for managing colour managed output to inkjet and other printers, and a vast range of creative and artistic processing applications, plug-ins, and filters that extend the capabilities of core image editing platforms with specialist tools for specific creative and technical applications.
The development of cloud based software delivery and subscription licensing models - pioneered in the photographic software market by Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription service launched in 2013 - has significantly changed the way photographers access and pay for software, replacing the traditional model of purchasing perpetual licences for specific software versions with ongoing subscription access to continuously updated software delivered via the internet. This model ensures that subscribers always have access to the latest features and improvements, but has been a source of ongoing debate within the photographic community regarding the long term cost implications and the dependency on continued subscription payments for access to essential workflow tools.