RAW to JPG
Extract the camera's own JPEG from a RAW file without re-encoding; CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG, ORF, PEF
Your files stay with you. Conversion happens inside the browser; no file is ever uploaded to a server.
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How it works
Tap or click the box and choose your RAW file; Canon CR2, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, DNG, Olympus ORF, Panasonic RW2, Pentax PEF and Samsung SRW are accepted. Know this first: the tool does not process raw sensor data. Cameras embed a JPEG preview inside every RAW file — the image you see on the camera's screen — and this tool finds that JPEG and extracts it byte for byte, without re-encoding. Colors and sharpness are exactly what the camera showed and there is no quality loss, but white balance and exposure cannot be changed afterwards. The preview size depends on the camera: Canon CR2 files carry it at full resolution, some Sony models only at a small size such as 1616×1080 pixels. For every file the result line shows the pixel size, megapixels and file size of the extracted JPEG, and warns when the preview is small. The orientation setting makes portrait shots open upright. Example: a 25 MB CR2 file gives a JPG of a few megabytes at the photo's full size.
This tool is also known as cr2 to jpg, raw to jpg, nef to jpg, arw to jpg, dng to jpg, extract jpeg from raw, convert raw to jpg online.
What is RAW file (CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG)?
A RAW file stores the data the camera read from its sensor without turning it into a JPEG. Each maker has its own extension: Canon CR2 and CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, Olympus ORF, Panasonic RW2, Pentax PEF, and Adobe's shared format DNG. Raw data is not a picture yet; a RAW program has to process it into colors, which is why phones and most websites cannot open RAW. Apart from CR3, all these formats are built on the TIFF structure and carry a JPEG preview made by the camera; this page extracts that preview.
What is Embedded JPEG preview?
The embedded JPEG preview is a finished JPEG the camera makes at the moment of shooting and stores inside the RAW file; it is what you see when you look at the photo on the camera's screen. The camera's own settings (picture style, white balance, sharpening) are already applied. In most Canon and Nikon files it is full resolution; on some Sony and older models it is downsized for the screen. Because this page extracts it without re-encoding there is no extra loss, but it is not a JPG rendered from the raw data and it has no editing headroom.
What is the difference between RAW and JPG?
A JPG is a finished image: the camera has applied colors, white balance and sharpening and compressed it. It opens everywhere and is small, but has little room for exposure or color correction. RAW is the sensor's raw reading: much larger, it needs special software, but white balance, shadows and highlights can be corrected widely later. This page does not process the RAW into a new JPG; it pulls out the JPEG the camera already made. That is enough for sharing; for corrections you need a RAW program.
What this tool does and does not do (honest limits)
It does: find the JPEG previews inside the RAW file, pick the largest one a browser can open, and hand it over unchanged. A file can contain several previews (a tiny thumbnail and a larger preview); the tool takes the one with the most pixels. For portrait shots it adds the orientation the camera recorded to the JPEG as a tag; the pixels are not re-encoded, the viewer rotates the photo.
It does not: process raw sensor data (no demosaicing, white balance or exposure correction). If the preview was downsized for the screen, it cannot produce a larger one; the result line shows the size and warns when it is below 2 megapixels. Canon's CR3 format, used by many models since 2018, is not TIFF-based and does not open; some DNG files, especially those converted by other programs, have no preview or only a small one. In those cases the tool shows a clear message; for full quality you need the camera maker's software or a RAW editor.
Preview size by camera
This list shows the general pattern; the exact size appears in the result line for every file. For sharing, emailing or showing on a phone, a full-resolution preview is usually enough. For printing or editing, process the RAW in a RAW program.
- Canon CR2: full resolution on most models — best result, can be shared directly
- Nikon NEF: full or near-full size on most models; can be small on some older ones
- Sony ARW: depends on the model; 1616×1080 pixels on some
- DNG: depends on the camera and the program that made the file; a DNG without a preview is rejected with a clear message
- Olympus ORF, Panasonic RW2, Pentax PEF, Samsung SRW: depends on the model; the size is in the result line
- Canon CR3: not supported (different file structure, ISO-BMFF)
Frequently asked questions
Does converting CR2 to JPG lose quality?
Not with this tool: the extracted JPEG is byte for byte the one the camera made when you took the shot. But that JPEG does not carry the full editing headroom of the raw data; to change white balance or exposure you have to process the RAW in a RAW program.
Why is the extracted JPG low resolution?
Some cameras (for example some Sony models) only embed a preview downsized for the screen. The tool picks the largest preview in the file; if there is no bigger one it cannot create it, because it does not process the raw data. The result line shows the size and warns when the preview is small.
Why doesn't my CR3 file open?
CR3 is the newer format Canon has used on many models since 2018, and it is not built on TIFF; for now this tool only opens TIFF-based RAW files (CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG, ORF, RW2, PEF, SRW). For CR3 you need Canon's own software or a RAW editor.
Are my photos uploaded anywhere?
No. RAW files never leave your device; finding and extracting the preview happens inside your browser. Reading very large RAW files (50 MB and more) can take a few seconds on a phone.