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A camera raw image file contains unprocessed or minimally processed data from the
image sensor An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to make an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of c ...
of either a
digital camera A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices ...
, a
motion picture film scanner A motion picture film scanner is a device used in digital filmmaking to scan original film for storage as high-resolution digital intermediate files. A film scanner scans original film stock: negative or positive print or reversal/IP. Units may s ...
, or other
image scanner An image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting or an object and converts it to a digital image. Commonly used in offices are variations of the desktop ''flatbed scanner'' ...
. Raw files are named so because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be
printed Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The e ...
, viewed or edited with a
bitmap graphics editor A raster graphics editor is a computer program that allows users to create and edit images interactively on the computer screen and save them in one of many raster graphics file formats (also known as bitmap images) such as JPEG, PNG, and GIF ...
. Normally, the image is processed by a raw converter in a wide-
gamut In color reproduction, including computer graphics and photography, the gamut, or color gamut , is a certain ''complete subset'' of colors. The most common usage refers to the subset of colors which can be accurately represented in a given circ ...
internal
color space A color space is a specific organization of colors. In combination with color profiling supported by various physical devices, it supports reproducible representations of colorwhether such representation entails an analog or a digital represen ...
where precise adjustments can be made before
conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...
to a viewable file format such as JPEG or PNG for storage, printing, or further manipulation. There are dozens of raw formats in use by different manufacturers of digital image capture equipment.


Rationale

Raw image files are sometimes incorrectly described as "digital negatives", but neither are they negatives nor do the unprocessed files constitute visible images. Rather, the Raw datasets are more like
exposed Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...
but undeveloped film which can be converted (electronically developed) in a non-destructive manner multiple times in observable, reversible steps to reach a visually desired image. (With exposed film, development is a single event that physically transforms the unexposed film irreversibly.) Like undeveloped photographic film, a raw digital image may have a wider
dynamic range Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of Signal (electrical engineering), signals, like sound and light. It is measured ...
or color
gamut In color reproduction, including computer graphics and photography, the gamut, or color gamut , is a certain ''complete subset'' of colors. The most common usage refers to the subset of colors which can be accurately represented in a given circ ...
than the developed film or print. Unlike physical film after development, the Raw file preserves the information captured at the time of exposure. The purpose of raw image formats is to save, with minimum loss of information, data obtained from the sensor. Raw image formats are intended to capture the
radiometric Radiometry is a set of techniques for measuring electromagnetic radiation, including visible light. Radiometric techniques in optics characterize the distribution of the radiation's power in space, as opposed to photometric techniques, which ch ...
characteristics of the scene, that is, physical information about the light intensity and color of the scene, at the best of the camera sensor's performance. Most raw image file formats store information sensed according to the geometry of the sensor's individual photo-receptive elements (sometimes called
pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the ...
s) rather than points in the expected final image: sensors with hexagonal element displacement, for example, record information for each of their hexagonally-displaced cells, which a decoding software will eventually transform into the rectangular geometry during "digital developing".


File contents

Raw files contain the information required to produce a viewable image from the camera's sensor data. The structure of raw files often follows a common pattern: * A short file header which typically contains an indicator of the byte-ordering of the file, a file identifier and an offset into the main file data * Camera sensor metadata which is required to interpret the sensor image data, including the size of the sensor, the attributes of the CFA and its
color profile In color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium (ICC). Profiles describe the color attributes of a ...
* Image metadata which can be useful for inclusion in any
CMS CMS may refer to: Computing * Call management system * CMS-2 (programming language), used by the United States Navy * Code Morphing Software, a technology used by Transmeta * Collection management system for a museum collection * Color manag ...
environment or
database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases s ...
. These include the exposure settings, camera/scanner/lens model, date (and, optionally, place) of shoot/scan, authoring information and other. Some raw files contain a standardized metadata section with data in
Exif Exchangeable image file format (officially Exif, according to JEIDA/JEITA/CIPA specifications) is a standard that specifies formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras (including smartphones), scanners and other syste ...
format. * An image
thumbnail Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of pictures or videos, used to help in recognizing and organizing them, serving the same role for images as a normal text index does for words. In the age of digital images, visual search engines and imag ...
* Most raw files contain a full size JPEG conversion of the image, which is used to preview the file on the camera's LCD panel. * In the case of motion picture film scans, either the
timecode A timecode (alternatively, time code) is a sequence of numeric codes generated at regular intervals by a timing synchronization system. Timecode is used in video production, show control and other applications which require temporal coordinatio ...
, keycode or frame number in the
file sequence In computing, as well as in non-computing contexts, a file sequence is a well-ordered, (finite) collection of files, usually related to each other in some way. In computing, file sequences should ideally obey some kind of locality of reference pr ...
which represents the frame sequence in a scanned reel. This item allows the file to be ordered in a frame sequence (without relying on its filename). * The sensor image data Many raw file formats, including IIQ ( Phase One), 3FR (
Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist ...
), DCR, K25, KDC (
Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
), CRW CR2 CR3 (
Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
), ERF (
Epson Seiko Epson Corporation, or simply known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano ...
), MEF (
Mamiya is a Japanese company that manufactures high-end cameras and other related photographic and optical equipment. With headquarters in Tokyo, it has two manufacturing plants and a workforce of over 200 people. The company was founded in May 1940 b ...
), MOS (
Leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...
), NEF NRW (
Nikon (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
),
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
( Olympus), PEF (
Pentax is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporatio ...
), RW2 (
Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
) and ARW, SRF, SR2 (
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
), are based on TIFF, the Tagged Image File Format. These files may deviate from the TIFF standard in a number of ways, including the use of a non-standard file header, the inclusion of additional image tags and the encryption of some of the tagged data. Panasonic's raw converter corrects geometric distortion and
chromatic aberration In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the w ...
on such cameras as the LX3, with necessary correction information presumably included in the raw. Phase One's raw converter
Capture One Capture One (also known as Capture One Pro) is a photography software suite. Capture One offers Capture One Pro for desktop, a tool to edit, catalog raw image file process, and tether. Capture One works with raw files from many different digita ...
also offers corrections for geometrical distortion,
chromatic aberration In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the w ...
, purple fringing and keystone correction emulating the shift capability of tilt-shift in software and specially designed hardware, on most raw files from over 100 different cameras. The same holds for Canon's DPP application, at least for all more expensive cameras like all EOS DSLRs and the G series of compact cameras. DNG, the Adobe digital negative format, is an extension of the TIFF 6.0 format and is compatible with TIFF/EP, and uses various
open format An open file format is a file format for storing digital data, defined by an openly published specification usually maintained by a standards organization, and which can be used and implemented by anyone. Open file format is licensed with open li ...
s and/or standards, including Exif metadata, XMP metadata, IPTC metadata, CIE XYZ coordinates,
ICC profile In color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium (ICC). Profiles describe the color attributes of a ...
s, and JPEG.Adobe
DNG Specification
/ref>


Sensor image data

In
digital photography Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image ...
, the raw file plays the role that photographic film plays in film photography. Raw files thus contain the full dynamic range (typically 12- or 14-bit) data as read out from each of the camera's
image sensor An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to make an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of c ...
pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the ...
s. The camera's sensor is almost invariably overlaid with a
color filter array In digital imaging, a color filter array (CFA), or color filter mosaic (CFM), is a mosaic of tiny color filters placed over the pixel sensors of an image sensor to capture color information. The term is also used in reference to e paper devices ...
(CFA), usually a
Bayer filter A Bayer filter mosaic is a color filter array (CFA) for arranging RGB color filters on a square grid of photosensors. Its particular arrangement of color filters is used in most single-chip digital image sensors used in digital cameras, cam ...
, consisting of a mosaic of a 2x2 matrix of red, green, blue and (second) green filters. One variation on the Bayer filter is the
RGBE filter In digital photography, the RGBE filter is an alternative color filter array to the Bayer filter (GRGB). It similarly uses a mosaic of pixel filters, of red, green, blue and "emerald" ("like cyan" according to Sony), and so also requires demosaic ...
of the
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 is a 8.0 megapixel digital bridge camera announced by Sony on August 15, 2003. Overview As successor of the DSC-F717, F828 was widely considered "revolutionary" at launch. Major changes / improvements over its predec ...
, which exchanged the green in the RG rows with " emerald" (a
blue-green Blue-green is the color that is between green and blue. It belongs to the cyan family of colors. Variations Cyan (aqua) Cyan, also called aqua, is the blue-green color that is between blue and green on a modern RGB color wheel. The ...
or cyan color). Other sensors, such as the
Foveon X3 sensor The Foveon X3 sensor is a digital camera image sensor designed by Foveon, Inc., (now part of Sigma Corporation) and manufactured by Dongbu Electronics. It uses an array of photosites that consist of three vertically stacked photodiodes. Each o ...
, capture information directly in RGB form (using three pixel sensors in each location). This RGB raw data still needs to be processed to make an image file, because the raw RGB values correspond to the responses of the sensors, not to a standard color space like sRGB. As there is no color filter array, there is no need for
demosaicing A demosaicing (also de-mosaicing, demosaicking or debayering) algorithm is a digital image process used to reconstruct a full color image from the incomplete color samples output from an image sensor overlaid with a color filter array (CFA). It is ...
. Flatbed and
film scanner A film scanner is a device made for scanning photographic film directly into a computer without the use of any intermediate printmaking. It provides several benefits over using a flatbed scanner to scan in a print of any size: the photographe ...
sensors are typically straight narrow RGB or RGBI (where "I" stands for the additional infrared channel for automatic dust removal) strips that are swept across an image. The HDRi raw data format is able to store the infrared raw data, which can be used for
infrared cleaning Infrared cleaning is a technique used by some film scanners and flatbed scanners to reduce or remove the effect of dust and scratches upon the finished scan. It works by collecting an additional infrared channel from the scan at the same position ...
, as an additional 16-bit channel. The remainder of the discussion about raw files applies to them as well. Some scanners do not allow the host system access to the raw data at all, as a speed compromise. The raw data are processed very rapidly inside the scanner to select out the best part of the available dynamic range so only the result is passed to the computer for permanent storage, reducing the amount of data transferred and therefore the bandwidth requirement for any given speed of image throughput. To obtain an image from a raw file, this mosaic of data must be converted into standard RGB form. This is often referred to as "raw development". When converting from the four-sensor 2x2 Bayer-matrix raw form into RGB pixels, the green pair is used to control the luminance detail of the processed output pixel, while the red and blue, which each have half as many samples, are used mostly for the more slowly-varying chroma component of the image. If raw format data is available, it can be used in
high-dynamic-range imaging In photography and videography, multi-exposure HDR capture is a technique that creates extended or high dynamic range (HDR) images by taking and combining multiple exposures of the same subject matter at different exposure levels. Combining mu ...
conversion, as a simpler alternative to the multi-exposure HDI approach of capturing three separate images, one underexposed, one correct and one overexposed, and "overlaying" one on top of the other.


Standardization

Providing a detailed and concise description of the content of raw files is highly problematic. There is no single raw format; formats can be similar or radically different. Different manufacturers use their own proprietary and typically undocumented formats, which are collectively known as raw format. Often they also change the format from one camera model to the next. Several major camera manufacturers, including Nikon, Canon and Sony,
encrypt In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can deci ...
portions of the file in an attempt to prevent third-party tools from accessing them. Dave Coffin, creator of the
dcraw dcraw is an open-source computer program which is able to read numerous raw image format files, typically produced by mid-range and high-end digital cameras. dcraw converts these images into the standard TIFF and PPM image formats. This conve ...
program, discusses some of his successful reverse-engineering in this interview, and mentions his enthusiasm for the DNG format.
This industry-wide situation of inconsistent formatting has concerned many photographers who worry that their valuable raw photos may someday become inaccessible, as computer operating systems and software programs become obsolete and abandoned raw formats are dropped from new software. The availability of high-quality open source software which decodes raw image formats, particularly
dcraw dcraw is an open-source computer program which is able to read numerous raw image format files, typically produced by mid-range and high-end digital cameras. dcraw converts these images into the standard TIFF and PPM image formats. This conve ...
, has helped to alleviate these concerns. An essay by Michael Reichmann and Juergen Specht stated "here are two solutions – the adoption by the camera industry of A: Public documentation of RAW '' ic' formats; past, present and future, or, more likely B: Adoption of a universal RAW '' ic' format". "Planning for SLibrary of Congress Collections" identifies raw-file formats as "less desirable file formats", and identifies DNG as a suggested alternative.Planning for US Library of Congress Collections
Preferences in Summary
/ref> DNG is the only raw image format for which industry-wide buy-in is being sought. It is based upon, and compatible with, the ISO standard raw image format ISO 12234-2, TIFF/EP, and is being used by ISO in their revision of that standard. The ISO standard raw image format is ISO 12234-2, better known as TIFF/EP. (TIFF/EP also supports "non-raw", or "processed", images). TIFF/EP provided a basis for the raw image formats of a number of cameras. For example,
Nikon (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
's NEF raw files are based on TIFF/EP, and include a tag which identifies the version of TIFF/EP they are based on. Adobe's DNG raw file format was based on TIFF/EP, and the DNG specification states "DNG ... is compatible with the TIFF-EP standard". Several cameras use DNG as their raw image format, so in that limited sense they use TIFF/EP too.Barry Pearson
Products from Camera Manufacturers that use DNG in some way
/ref> Adobe Systems launched this DNG raw image format in September 2004. By September 2006, several camera manufacturers had started to announce support for DNG in newer camera models, including Leica,
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
,
Ricoh is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational imaging and electronics company (law), company. It was founded by the now-defunct commercial division of the Riken, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) known as the ''Riken ...
,
Pentax is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporatio ...
,
Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist ...
(native camera support); and, Better Light (export).Barry Pearson
DNG support, to end-September 2006
/ref> The Leica Digital-Modul-R (DMR) was first to use DNG as its native format.Barry Pearson

/ref> In September 2009 Adobe stated that there were no known intellectual property encumbrances or license requirements for DNG. There is a "Digital Negative (DNG) Specification Patent License", but it does not actually state that there ''are'' any patents held on DNG, and the September 2009 statement was made at least 4 years after this license was published. TIFF/EP began its 5-year revision cycle in 2006. Adobe offered the DNG specification to
ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...
to be part of ISO's revised TIFF/EP standard. A progress report in October 2008 from ISO about the revision of TIFF/EP stated that the revision "... currently includes two "interoperability-profiles," "IP 1" for processed image data, using ".TIF" extension, and "IP 2" for "raw" image data, ".DNG" extension". It is "IP 2" that is relevant here. A progress report in September 2009 states that "This format will be similar to DNG 1.3, which serves as the starting point for development." DNG has been used by open-source developers. Use by camera makers varies: the largest companies such as Canon, Nikon, Sony, and some others, do not use DNG. Smaller companies and makers of "niche" cameras who might otherwise have difficulty getting support from software companies frequently use DNG as their native raw image format. Pentax uses DNG as an optional alternative to their own raw image format. There are 15 or more such companies, even including a few that specialize in movie cameras. In addition, most Canon point & shoot cameras can support DNG by using CHDK. Canon Raw v2 (CR2) is mostly based on TIFF and lossless Jpeg ITU-T81. Canon Raw v3 (CR3) is based on ISO Base Media File Format (ISO/IEC 14496-12), with custom tags, and unknown "crx" codec. Sony Alpha RAW (ARW) is based on TIFF file format, proprietary Makernote fields and compressions methods.


Processing

To be viewed or printed, the output from a camera's
image sensor An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to make an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of c ...
has to be processed, that is, converted to a photographic rendering of the scene, and then stored in a standard raster graphics format such as JPEG. This processing, whether done in-camera or later in a raw-file converter, involves a number of operations, typically including: * decoding – image data of raw files are typically encoded for compression purpose, but also often for obfuscation purpose (e.g. raw files from Canon or Nikon cameras). *
demosaicing A demosaicing (also de-mosaicing, demosaicking or debayering) algorithm is a digital image process used to reconstruct a full color image from the incomplete color samples output from an image sensor overlaid with a color filter array (CFA). It is ...
– interpolating the partial raw data received from the color-filtered image sensor into a matrix of colored pixels. *
defective pixel A defective pixel is a pixel on a liquid crystal display (LCD) that is not functioning properly. The ISO standard ISO 13406-2 distinguishes between three different types of defective pixels, while hardware companies tend to have further distingu ...
removal – replacing data in known bad locations with interpolations from nearby locations * white balancing – accounting for
color temperature Color temperature is the color of light emitted by an idealized opaque, non-reflective body at a particular temperature measured in kelvins. The color temperature scale is used to categorize the color of light emitted by other light sources ...
of the light that was used to take the photograph * noise reduction – trading off detail for smoothness by removing small fluctuations *
color translation In digital imaging systems, color management (or colour management) is the controlled Data conversion, conversion between the color representations of various devices, such as image scanners, digital cameras, monitors, TV screens, film printers, ...
– converting from the camera native
color space A color space is a specific organization of colors. In combination with color profiling supported by various physical devices, it supports reproducible representations of colorwhether such representation entails an analog or a digital represen ...
defined by the spectral sensitivities of the image sensor to an output color space (typically sRGB for JPEG) *
tone reproduction In the theory of photography, tone reproduction is the mapping of scene luminance and color to print reflectance or display luminance, with the aim of subjectively "properly" reproducing brightness and "brightness differences". The reproduction ...
 – the scene luminance captured by the camera sensors and stored in the raw file (with a
dynamic range Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of Signal (electrical engineering), signals, like sound and light. It is measured ...
of typically 10 or more bits) needs to be rendered for pleasing effect and correct viewing on low-dynamic-range monitors or prints; the tone-reproduction rendering often includes separate
tone mapping Tone mapping is a technique used in image processing and computer graphics to map one set of colors to another to approximate the appearance of high-dynamic-range images in a medium that has a more limited dynamic range. Print-outs, CRT or L ...
and
gamma compression Gamma correction or gamma is a nonlinear operation used to encode and decode luminance or tristimulus values in video or still image systems. Gamma correction is, in the simplest cases, defined by the following power-law expression: : V_\text = ...
steps. *
compression Compression may refer to: Physical science *Compression (physics), size reduction due to forces *Compression member, a structural element such as a column *Compressibility, susceptibility to compression * Gas compression *Compression ratio, of a ...
– for example JPEG compression
Demosaicing A demosaicing (also de-mosaicing, demosaicking or debayering) algorithm is a digital image process used to reconstruct a full color image from the incomplete color samples output from an image sensor overlaid with a color filter array (CFA). It is ...
is only performed for CFA sensors; it is not required for 3CCD or
Foveon X3 The Foveon X3 sensor is a digital camera image sensor designed by Foveon, Inc., (now part of Sigma Corporation) and manufactured by Dongbu Electronics. It uses an array of photosites that consist of three vertically stacked photodiodes. Each o ...
sensors. Cameras and image processing software may also perform additional processing to improve image quality, for example: * removal of systematic noise – bias frame subtraction and
flat-field correction Flat-field correction (FFC) is a technique used to improve quality in digital imaging. It cancels the effects of image artifacts caused by variations in the pixel-to-pixel sensitivity of the detector and by distortions in the optical path. It is ...
* dark frame subtraction * optical correction – lens distortion,
vignetting In photography and optics, vignetting is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation toward the periphery compared to the image center. The word '' vignette'', from the same root as ''vine'', originally referred to a decorative bord ...
,
chromatic aberration In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the w ...
and color fringing correction * contrast manipulation * increasing
visual acuity Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...
by
unsharp masking Unsharp masking (USM) is an image sharpening technique, first implemented in darkroom photography, but now commonly used in digital image processing software. Its name derives from the fact that the technique uses a blurred, or "unsharp", negat ...
*
dynamic range compression Dynamic range compression (DRC) or simply compression is an audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds, thus reducing or ''compressing'' an audio signal's dynamic range. Compression is ...
– lighten shadow regions without blowing out highlight regions When a camera saves a raw file it defers most of this processing; typically the only processing performed is the removal of defective pixels (the DNG specification requires that defective pixels be removed before creating the file). Some camera manufacturers do additional processing before saving raw files; for example, Nikon has been criticized by astrophotographers for applying noise reduction before saving the raw file. Some raw formats also allow nonlinear quantization. This nonlinearity allows the compression of the raw data without visible degradation of the image by removing invisible and irrelevant information from the image. Although noise is discarded this has nothing to do with (visible) noise reduction.


Benefits

Nearly all digital cameras can process the image from the sensor into a JPEG file using settings for
white balance In photography and image processing, color balance is the global adjustment of the intensities of the colors (typically red, green, and blue primary colors). An important goal of this adjustment is to render specific colors – particularly neu ...
,
color saturation Colorfulness, chroma and saturation are attributes of perceived color relating to chromatic intensity. As defined formally by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) they respectively describe three different aspects of chromatic ...
, contrast, and sharpness that are either selected automatically or entered by the photographer before taking the picture. Cameras that produce raw files save these settings in the file, but defer the processing. This results in an extra step for the photographer, so raw is normally only used when additional computer processing is intended. However, raw has numerous advantages over JPEG such as: * Many more shades of colors compared to JPEG files - raw files have 12 or 14 bits of intensity information per channel (4096-16384 shades), compared to JPEG's gamma-compressed 8 bits (256 shades). * Higher image quality. Because all the calculations (such as applying
gamma correction Gamma correction or gamma is a nonlinear operation used to encode and decode luminance or tristimulus values in video or still image systems. Gamma correction is, in the simplest cases, defined by the following power-law expression: : V_\tex ...
,
demosaicing A demosaicing (also de-mosaicing, demosaicking or debayering) algorithm is a digital image process used to reconstruct a full color image from the incomplete color samples output from an image sensor overlaid with a color filter array (CFA). It is ...
, white balance,
brightness Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to be radiating or reflecting light. In other words, brightness is the perception elicited by the luminance of a visual target. The perception is not linear to luminan ...
, contrast, etc...) used to generate pixel values (in RGB format for most images) are performed in one step on the base data, the resultant pixel values will be more accurate and exhibit less
posterization Posterization or posterisation of an image is the conversion of a continuous gradation of tone to several regions of fewer tones, causing abrupt changes from one tone to another. This was originally done with photographic processes to create p ...
. * Bypassing of undesired steps in the camera's processing, including
sharpening Sharpening is the process of creating or refining the edge joining two non-coplanar faces into a converging apex, thereby creating an edge of appropriate shape on a tool or implement designed for cutting. Sharpening is done by removing material ...
and noise reduction * JPEG images are typically saved using a
lossy compression In information technology, lossy compression or irreversible compression is the class of data compression methods that uses inexact approximations and partial data discarding to represent the content. These techniques are used to reduce data size ...
format (though a
lossless JPEG Lossless JPEG is a 1993 addition to JPEG standard by the Joint Photographic Experts Group to enable lossless compression. However, the term may also be used to refer to all lossless compression schemes developed by the group, including JPEG 2000 ...
compression is now available). Raw formats typically use lossless compression or high-quality lossy compression. * Finer control. Raw conversion software allows users to manipulate more parameters (such as lightness, white balance,
hue In color theory, hue is one of the main properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined technically in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that ...
, saturation, etc...) and do so with greater variability. For example, the white point can be set to any value, not just discrete preset values like "daylight" or "incandescent". Furthermore, the user can typically see a preview while adjusting these parameters. * The
color space A color space is a specific organization of colors. In combination with color profiling supported by various physical devices, it supports reproducible representations of colorwhether such representation entails an analog or a digital represen ...
can be set to whatever is desired. * Different
demosaicing A demosaicing (also de-mosaicing, demosaicking or debayering) algorithm is a digital image process used to reconstruct a full color image from the incomplete color samples output from an image sensor overlaid with a color filter array (CFA). It is ...
algorithms can be used, not just the one coded into the camera. * The contents of raw files include more information, and potentially higher quality, than the converted results, in which the rendering parameters are fixed, the color gamut is clipped, and there may be quantization and
compression Compression may refer to: Physical science *Compression (physics), size reduction due to forces *Compression member, a structural element such as a column *Compressibility, susceptibility to compression * Gas compression *Compression ratio, of a ...
artifacts. * Large transformations of the data, such as increasing the exposure of a dramatically under-exposed photo, result in fewer visible artifacts when done from raw data than when done from already rendered image files. Raw data leave more scope for both corrections and artistic manipulations, without resulting in images with visible flaws such as
posterization Posterization or posterisation of an image is the conversion of a continuous gradation of tone to several regions of fewer tones, causing abrupt changes from one tone to another. This was originally done with photographic processes to create p ...
. * All the changes made on a raw image file are non-destructive; that is, only the metadata that controls the rendering is changed to make different output versions, leaving the original data unchanged. * To some extent, raw-format photography eliminates the need to use the HDRI technique, allowing a much better control over the mapping of the scene intensity range into the output tonal range, compared to the process of automatically mapping to JPEG or other 8-bit representation.


Drawbacks

* Camera raw file size is typically 2–6 times larger than JPEG file size. While use of raw formats avoids the compression artifacts inherent in JPEG, fewer images can fit on a given
memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...
. However, the large sizes and low prices of modern memory cards mitigate this. Burst mode shooting tends to be slower and shorter due to the larger file size. * Most raw formats implement
lossless data compression Lossless compression is a class of data compression that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data with no loss of information. Lossless compression is possible because most real-world data exhibits statistic ...
to reduce the size of the files without affecting image quality. But some others use
lossy data compression In information technology, lossy compression or irreversible compression is the class of data compression methods that uses inexact approximations and partial data discarding to represent the content. These techniques are used to reduce data siz ...
where quantization and filtering is performed on the image data. Sony's lossy 11+7 bit delta compression of raw data causes
posterization Posterization or posterisation of an image is the conversion of a continuous gradation of tone to several regions of fewer tones, causing abrupt changes from one tone to another. This was originally done with photographic processes to create p ...
under certain conditions. Several Nikon cameras let photographers choose between no compression, lossless compression or lossy compression for their raw images. Red Digital Cinema Camera Company introduced .r3d Redcode Raw with compression ratio from 3:1 to 18:1 which depends on resolution and frame rates. * The standard raw image format (ISO 12234-2, TIFF/EP) is not widely accepted. DNG, the potential candidate for a new standard format, has not been adopted by many major camera companies. (See " Standardization" section.) Numerous different raw formats are currently in use and new raw formats keep appearing, while others are abandoned. * Because of the lack of widespread adoption of a standard raw format, more specialized software may be required to open raw files than for standardized formats like JPEG or TIFF. Software developers have to frequently update their products to support the raw formats of the latest cameras but open source implementations like
dcraw dcraw is an open-source computer program which is able to read numerous raw image format files, typically produced by mid-range and high-end digital cameras. dcraw converts these images into the standard TIFF and PPM image formats. This conve ...
make it easier * The time taken in the image workflow is an important factor when choosing between raw and ready-to-use image formats. With modern photo editing software the additional time needed to process raw images has been greatly reduced but it still requires an extra step in workflow in comparison with using out-of-camera JPEGs.


Software support

Cameras that support raw files typically come with
proprietary software Proprietary software is software that is deemed within the free and open-source software to be non-free because its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner exercises a legal monopoly afforded by modern copyright and i ...
for conversion of their raw image data into standard RGB images. Other processing and conversion programs and plugins are available from vendors that have either licensed the technology from the camera manufacturer or
reverse-engineered Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
the particular raw format and provided their own processing algorithms.


Operating system support


Apple macOS and iOS

In January 2005,
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
released
iPhoto iPhoto is a discontinued digital photograph manipulation software application developed by Apple Inc. It was included with every Macintosh personal computer from 2002 to 2015, when it was replaced with Apple's Photos application. Originally so ...
5, which offered basic support for viewing and editing many raw file formats. In April 2005, Apple's OS X 10.4 brought raw support to the operating system's ImageIO framework, enabling raw support automatically in the majority of macOS applications both from Apple (such as Preview, macOS's PDF and image viewing application, and
Aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...
, a photo post-production software package for professionals) as well as all third party applications which make use of the ImageIO frameworks. Semi-regular updates to macOS generally include updated support for new raw formats introduced in the intervening months by camera manufacturers. In 2016, Apple announced that
iOS 10 iOS 10 is the tenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 9. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 13, 2016, and was released on September ...
would allow capturing raw images on selected hardware, and third party applications will be able to edit raw images through the operating system's
Core Image Core Image is a pixel-accurate, near-realtime, non-destructive image processing technology in Mac OS X. Implemented as part of the QuartzCore framework of Mac OS X 10.4 and later, Core Image provides a plugin-based architecture for applying fil ...
framework. In 2020, Apple released the
iPhone 12 Pro The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the flagship smartphones in the fourteenth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, respe ...
and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Both of these devices support Apple ProRAW (as of iOS 16.0.3). ProRAW photos are 12 bit DNG files.


Microsoft Windows


=Windows Camera Codec Pack

=
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
supplies the free Windows Camera Codec Pack for
Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
and later versions of Microsoft Windows, to integrate raw file viewing and printing into some Microsoft Windows tools. The codecs allow native viewing of raw files from a variety of specific cameras in Windows Explorer / File Explorer and Windows Live Photo Gallery / Windows Photo Gallery, in
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
and
Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
. As of October 2016, Microsoft had not released an updated version since April 2014, which supported some specific cameras by the following manufacturers: Canon, Casio, Epson, Fujifilm, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax,Samsung, and Sony. For windows 10 this was essentially replaced in 2019 by Microsoft Raw Image Extension.


=Raw Image Extension

=
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
as of 2019 supplies the free Raw Image Extension for
Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...
and later versions of Microsoft Windows, to integrate raw file viewing and printing into some Microsoft Windows tools. The Extension allows native viewing of raw files from many mid- to high-end digital cameras in Windows Explorer / File Explorer and Microsoft Photos.


=Windows Imaging Component (WIC)

= Microsoft Windows supports the Windows Imaging Component (WIC) codec standard. WIC was available as a stand-alone downloadable program for Windows XP Service Pack 2, and built into Windows XP Service Pack 3,
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
, and later versions. Windows Explorer / File Explorer, and Windows Live Photo Gallery / Windows Photo Gallery can view raw formats for which the necessary WIC codecs are installed. Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and Pentax have released WIC codecs for their cameras, although some manufactures only provide codec support for the 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows. Commercial DNG WIC codecs are also available from Ardfry Imaging, and others; and FastPictureViewer Professional installs a set of WIC-enabled image decoders.


Android

Android Lollipop 5.0, introduced in late 2014, can allow
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s to take raw images, useful in low-light situations.


Free and open source software

*
darktable Darktable (stylized as darktable) is a free and open-source photography application program and raw developer. Rather than being a raster graphics editor like Adobe Photoshop or GIMP, it comprises a subset of image editing operations specifical ...
is a raw-workflow tool for macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux and other open Unix-like operating systems. The software features native 32-bit floating-point processing and a plugin architecture. *
dcraw dcraw is an open-source computer program which is able to read numerous raw image format files, typically produced by mid-range and high-end digital cameras. dcraw converts these images into the standard TIFF and PPM image formats. This conve ...
is a program which reads most raw formats and can be made to run on operating systems not supported by most commercial software (such as
Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...
).
LibRaw LibRaw is a free and open-source software library for reading raw files from digital cameras. It supports virtually all raw formats. It is based on the source code of dcraw, with modifications, and "is intended for embedding in raw converters, ...
is an
API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
library based on dcraw, offering a more convenient interface for reading and converting raw files. HDR PhotoStudio and AZImage are some of the commercial applications that use Libraw. Jrawio is another
API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
library, written in pure
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
code and compliant to the standard Java Image I/O API. * digiKam is an advanced digital photo management application for Linux, Microsoft Windows, and Mac OS X that supports raw processing. *
ExifTool ExifTool is a free and open-source software program for reading, writing, and manipulating image, audio, video, and PDF metadata. It is platform independent, available as both a Perl library (Image::ExifTool) and command-line application. Exi ...
supports the reading, writing and editing of metadata in raw image files. ExifTool supports many different types of metadata including
Exif Exchangeable image file format (officially Exif, according to JEIDA/JEITA/CIPA specifications) is a standard that specifies formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras (including smartphones), scanners and other syste ...
, GPS,
IPTC The International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC), based in London, United Kingdom, is a consortium of the world's major news agencies, other news providers and news industry vendors and acts as the global standards body of the news media. ...
, XMP,
JFIF The JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF) is an image file format standard published as ITU-T Recommendation T.871 and ISO/IEC 10918-5. It defines supplementary specifications for the container format that contains the image data encoded with the JP ...
, GeoTIFF,
ICC Profile In color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium (ICC). Profiles describe the color attributes of a ...
, Photoshop IRB,
FlashPix FlashPix is a bitmapped computer graphics file format where the image is saved in more than one resolution. Its design anticipated that when an HTTP request is sent for the file by a browser plugin implementing the format, only the image compatib ...
, AFCP and ID3, as well as the maker notes of many digital cameras. *
ImageMagick ImageMagick, invoked from the command line as magick, is a free and open-source cross-platform software suite for displaying, creating, converting, modifying, and editing raster images. Created in 1987 by John Cristy, it can read and write ov ...
, a software suite for image manipulation and conversion, reads many different raw file formats.
ImageMagick ImageMagick, invoked from the command line as magick, is a free and open-source cross-platform software suite for displaying, creating, converting, modifying, and editing raster images. Created in 1987 by John Cristy, it can read and write ov ...
is available for Linux/Unix, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, and other platforms. *
LightZone LightZone is a free, open-source digital photo editor software application. It was originally developed as commercial software by the now-defunct Light Crafts. Its main purpose is to handle the workflow, including non-destructive editing when ...
is a photo editing program providing the ability to edit many raw formats natively. Most tools are raw converters, but LightZone allows a user to edit a raw file as if it were TIFF or JPEG. The project was discontinued in September 2011 and reinstated as an open source project in December 2012. *
Rawstudio Rawstudio is stand-alone application software to read and manipulate images in raw image formats from digital cameras. It is designed for working rapidly with a large volume of images, whereas similar tools are designed to work with one image at ...
is a raw format developer. *
RawTherapee RawTherapee is application software for processing photographs in raw image formats, as created by many digital cameras. It comprises a subset of image editing operations specifically aimed at non-destructive post-production of raw photos and is ...
is a raw developer supporting Linux, OS X and Microsoft Windows operating systems. It features a native 32-bit floating point pipeline. * Shotwell is an image organizer available for all major operating systems with the ability to view and edit raw images and has built-in social networking upload capability. *
UFRaw UFRaw (originally named after its founder Udi Fuchs's Raw, the backronym Unidentified Flying Raw replaced it as the full name) is an application which can read and manipulate photographs in raw image formats, as created by many digital cameras. ...
is a frontend which uses
dcraw dcraw is an open-source computer program which is able to read numerous raw image format files, typically produced by mid-range and high-end digital cameras. dcraw converts these images into the standard TIFF and PPM image formats. This conve ...
as a back end. It can be used as a GIMP plugin and is available for most operating systems.


Proprietary software

In addition to those listed under operating system support, above, the commercial software described below support raw formats.


Dedicated raw converters

The following products were launched as raw processing software to process a wide range of raw files, and have this as their main purpose: *
Adobe Camera Raw Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in rast ...
- used internally by various Adobe Products for raw processing, and as the raw engine in Lightroom. *
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Adobe Lightroom (officially Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is a piece of image organization and image manipulation software developed by Adobe Inc. as part of the Creative Cloud subscription family. It is supported on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android ...
* Corel AfterShot Pro (formerly Bibble Pro) *
Capture One Capture One (also known as Capture One Pro) is a photography software suite. Capture One offers Capture One Pro for desktop, a tool to edit, catalog raw image file process, and tether. Capture One works with raw files from many different digita ...
*
DxO PhotoLab DxO is a French company dedicated to photography. Founded in 2006, it is located in Boulogne-Billancourt. It markets DxO PhotoLab, ViewPoint, and FilmPack image processing software and a connected camera, the DxO ONE. History DxO created DxOMar ...
(formerly DxO Optics Pro) *
Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist ...
's Phocus relies on operating system support to process non-Hasselblad files * Photo Ninja *
Silkypix Developer Studio Silkypix Developer Studio is commercial and proprietary raw image processing software. It is often bundled with cameras from manufacturers such as Fujifilm, Panasonic and Pentax is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imag ...
*
Raw Power ''Raw Power'' is the third studio album by American rock band the Stooges (credited as Iggy and the Stooges), released on February 7, 1973 by Columbia Records. The album departed from the "groove-ridden, feel-based songs" of the band's first two ...
. A macOS raw processing application and
Apple Photos Photos is a photo management and editing application developed by Apple. It was released as a bundled app in iOS 8 on September 17, 2014—replacing the Camera Roll—and released as a bundled app to OS X Yosemite users in the 10.10.3 update on ...
extension.


Others

*
ACDSee Pro ACDSee is an image organizer, viewer, and image editor program for Windows, macOS and iOS, developed by ACD Systems International Inc. ACDSee was originally distributed as a 16-bit application for Windows 3.0 and later supplanted by a 32-bit ...
is photo management and editing software that supports the raw formats of 21 camera manufacturers. * Adobe Bridge is photo management software that supports the raw formats and converting. * Adobe Photoshop supports raw formats (as of version CS2). *
Affinity Photo Affinity Photo is a raster graphics editor developed by Serif Ltd. for iOS, macOS, and Windows, alongside Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher. Development of Affinity Photo started in 2009 as a raster graphics editor for macOS. Its first ve ...
supports raw formats. *
Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design Pty Ltd. is an Australian digital cinema company and hardware manufacturer based in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It designs and manufactures broadcast and cinema hardware, most notably high-end digital-movie camer ...
DaVinci Resolve DaVinci Resolve (originally known as da Vinci Resolve) is a color grading, color correction, visual effects, and audio post-production video editing application for macOS, Windows, and Linux, originally developed by da Vinci Systems, and now ...
*''DNG Viewer'' is a free (32bit) viewer for Microsoft Windows based on
dcraw dcraw is an open-source computer program which is able to read numerous raw image format files, typically produced by mid-range and high-end digital cameras. dcraw converts these images into the standard TIFF and PPM image formats. This conve ...
. The very simple viewer is installed as ''RAW Image Viewer'', supports some lossless operations, and can save raw images as BMP, JPEG, PNG, or
TIFF Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word process ...
. *FastRawViewer is a dedicated raw viewer that runs on Mac and Microsoft Windows, and currently claims to support all raw formats except Foveon. *
Helicon Filter Helicon Filter, also referred to as Helicon, Filter, or as HF, was a proprietary commercial and shareware photo editing software program for Microsoft Windows, similar to such programs as Adobe Photoshop and GIMP, developed and published ...
supports raw formats. *
IrfanView IrfanView () is an image viewer, editor, organiser and converter program for Microsoft Windows. It can also play video and audio files, and has some image creation and painting capabilities. IrfanView is free for non-commercial use; commercial u ...
is a freeware/shareware basic editor with support for raw files. * Konvertor support for raw formats is based on dcraw. *
Paint Shop Pro PaintShop Pro (PSP) is a raster graphics editor, raster and vector graphics editor for Microsoft Windows. It was originally published by Jasc Software. In October 2004, Corel purchased Jasc Software and the distribution rights to Paint Shop Pro. P ...
contains raw support, although as in the case of most editors updates to the program may be necessary to attain compatibility with newer raw formats as they are released. * PhotoLine supports raw formats. *
Picasa Picasa was a cross-platform image organizer and image viewer for organizing and editing digital photos, integrated with a now defunct photo-sharing website, originally created by a company named Lifescape (which at that time was incubated by ...
(development discontinued) is a free editor and organizer from
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
. It can read and display many raw formats, but like
iPhoto iPhoto is a discontinued digital photograph manipulation software application developed by Apple Inc. It was included with every Macintosh personal computer from 2002 to 2015, when it was replaced with Apple's Photos application. Originally so ...
, Picasa provides only limited tools for processing the data in a raw file. * Silver B&W Photo Converter offers basic support for editing raw file formats supported by macOS. *
SilverFast SilverFast is the name of a family of software for image scanning and processing, including photos, documents and slides, developed by LaserSoft Imaging. There are also other applications for image processing using digital cameras or printers a ...
supports raw formats. *Utiful Photo Organizer is a photo organizing app for iPhone and iPad that supports raw formats, i.e. it can store and display raw formats but also export them in the original raw format as well. *Wild Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP) support for raw formats is based on libraw. * Transloadit is a
Software as a service Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software. SaaS is con ...
that supports converting raw files into other formats *
XnView XnView is an image organizer and general-purpose file manager used for viewing, converting, organizing and editing raster images, as well as general purpose file management. It comes with built-in hex inspection, batch renaming and screen ...
support for raw formats is mostly based on dcraw.


HTML5 browser-based apps

A new class of raw file processing tools appeared with the development of
HTML5 HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...
-
rich Internet application A rich web application (originally called a rich Internet application, or RIA or installable Internet application) is a web application that has many of the characteristics of desktop application software. The concept is closely related to a sing ...
s.
Raw.pics.io
is able to render and apply basic adjustments to raw and DNG files.


Raw filename extensions and respective camera manufacturers or standard

* .3fr (
Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist ...
) * .ari (
Arri Alexa The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arrif ...
) * .arw .srf .sr2 (
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
) * .bay (
Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. I ...
) * .braw (
Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design Pty Ltd. is an Australian digital cinema company and hardware manufacturer based in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It designs and manufactures broadcast and cinema hardware, most notably high-end digital-movie camer ...
) * .cri (
Cintel Cintel was a British digital cinema company founded in 1927 by John Logie Baird and based in Ware, Hertfordshire. The early company was called ''Cinema Television Ltd''. Cinema Television was sold to J Arthur Rank Organization renamed Rank Cin ...
) * .crw .cr2 .cr3 (
Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
) * .cap .iiq .eip ( Phase_One) * .dcs .dcr .drf .k25 .kdc (
Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
) * .dng ( Adobe) * .erf (
Epson Seiko Epson Corporation, or simply known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano ...
) * .fff (Imacon/
Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist ...
raw) * .gpr ( GoPro) * .jxs (
JPEG XS JPEG XS (ISO/IEC 21122) is an interoperable, visually lossless, low-latency and lightweight image and video coding system used in professional applications. Applications of the standard include streaming high quality content for virtual reality ...
Bayer profile) * .mef (
Mamiya is a Japanese company that manufactures high-end cameras and other related photographic and optical equipment. With headquarters in Tokyo, it has two manufacturing plants and a workforce of over 200 people. The company was founded in May 1940 b ...
) *
.mdc MDC may refer to: Arts *Macau Design Centre, an art center in Macau *MDC (band) (Millions of Dead Cops), an American rock band *''M.D.C. - Maschera di cera'', a 1997 Italian horror film *Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the protagonist of Miraculous: Tales ...
(
Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated aut ...
, Agfa) * .mos (
Leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...
) * .mrw (
Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated aut ...
,
Konica Minolta is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, in ...
) * .nef .nrw (
Nikon (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
) * .orf ( Olympus) * .pef .ptx (
Pentax is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporatio ...
) * .pxn (
Logitech Logitech International S.A. ( ; often shortened to Logi) is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of computer peripherals and software, with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Newark, California. The company has offices throughout Europe, ...
) * .R3D (
RED Digital Cinema Red Digital Cinema (''Red Digital Cinema Camera Company'') is an American company that manufactures professional digital cinematography cameras and accessories. The company's headquarters is in Foothill Ranch, California, with studios in Hollyw ...
) * .raf (
Fuji Fuji may refer to: Places China * Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan Japan * Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan * Fuji River * Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture * Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefec ...
) * .raw .rw2 (
Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
) * .raw .rwl .dng ( Leica) * .rwz ( Rawzor) * .srw (
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
) * .tco (intoPIX) * .x3f ( Sigma)


Raw bitmap files

Less commonly, raw may also refer to a generic image file format containing only pixel color values. For example, "Photoshop Raw" files (.raw) contain 8-bits-per-channel RGB data in top-to-bottom, left-to-right pixel order. Dimensions must be input manually when such files are re-opened, or a square image is assumed. Due to its simplicity, this format is very open and compatible, though limited by its lack of metadata and run-length encoding. Especially in photography and graphic design, where color management and extended gamuts are important, and large images are common.


See also

* List of cameras supporting a raw format * Raw audio format


References


External links

* Adobe
Understanding Raw Files
; background on how camera sensors treat raw files
Open RAW
a
working group A working group, or working party, is a group of experts working together to achieve specified goals. The groups are domain-specific and focus on discussion or activity around a specific subject area. The term can sometimes refer to an interdis ...
of photographers, software engineers and other people interested in advocating the open documentation of digital camera raw files * Atkins, Bob:
Raw, JPEG, and TIFF
; common file formats compared. * Coupe, Adam:

; Article with diagrams explaining raw data and its advantages. * Goldstein, Jim M.:

"; an editorial.
Basic Photography lesson in Camera Raw
A pros and cons approach to the discussion of shooting in Camera Raw * Clevy, Laurent:
Inside the Canon RAW format v2: understanding the .CR2 file format
* Foi, Alessandro:

; with Matlab software and raw-data samples of Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm cameras. * Clevy, Laurent:
Describing the Canon Raw v3 (CR3) file format
{{Authority control Graphics file formats Digital photography