What is a .RAW file?
RAW refers to unprocessed camera sensor data; the generic .raw extension covers several manufacturers’ raw photo files. Opened in Adobe Lightroom and similar editors.
- Did you know
- RAW is not one format - each camera maker has its own, which is why Adobe created the open DNG in 2004.
- A raw file is closer to a photographic negative than to a finished photo: it holds the sensor’s unprocessed mosaic data awaiting development in software.
- Most so-called raw files are really TIFF-based containers, wrapping the sensor data alongside EXIF metadata and a small embedded JPEG preview.
- Adobe released the open DNG format precisely because each manufacturer’s incompatible raw flavour risked becoming unreadable as cameras and software aged.
- Raw files typically keep 12 or 14 bits per channel, preserving highlight and shadow detail that an 8-bit JPEG would have thrown away in camera.
- What Analyser shows you
- Open camera RAW files from Sony (ARW), Canon (CR2, CR3, CRW), Nikon (NEF, NRW), Fujifilm X-Trans (RAF), Sigma Foveon (X3F), Olympus (ORF), Panasonic (RW2), Pentax (PEF), Adobe DNG and many more. Reads full EXIF and lens data, the true sensor resolution, GPS and histograms, recovers the Sony and Nikon shutter actuation count, and develops the RAW - decoding the sensor to a full-resolution image, or extracting the embedded preview when a true demosaic is not available.
- Open a .RAW file
- Drag a .RAW file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It opens entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.