Converter

RAW to DNG converter

Convert CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, ORF, RW2 and PEF to Adobe DNG in your browser, sensor data unchanged, for Lightroom and Photoshop. Free; nothing is uploaded.

Converter

RAW to DNG, on this computer

Files are read and converted in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no limit but your computer's memory.

      Make the picture by

      Developing reads every photosite. The camera's JPEG is the picture it made when you pressed the shutter.

      Save as

      TIFF keeps 16 bits per channel for further editing; it is about six times the size of the RAW. DNG keeps the sensor data exactly as it is, for software that does not know your camera.

      Look

      What goes into the DNG

      The converter copies the sensor data out of the RAW file exactly as the camera recorded it, compressed losslessly: every photosite, with the colour filter pattern (Bayer, or Fujifilm's 6 × 6 X-Trans), the black and white levels, the camera's colour matrix, the white balance you shot with, the orientation, the camera's own JPEG preview and the camera data (camera, lens, exposure, date). Nothing is developed, so nothing is decided for you: Lightroom or Camera Raw develops the DNG as it would the original.

      We checked it on twelve RAW files from twelve cameras, from a Canon 6D to an X-Trans Fujifilm and an iPhone: read back, every DNG holds the same sensor values, bit for bit, the same levels, matrix, white balance and orientation as the file it came from.

      Converting RAW to DNG here

      1. Drop one or many RAW files on the converter, or choose them.
      2. Keep DNG under “Save as”.
      3. Press Convert. Each DNG can be downloaded as soon as it is ready, or all of them as one ZIP.

      What it does not do

      • Fujifilm X-Trans DNGs are about 40 % larger than the RAF they came from; from Bayer cameras the DNG is about the size of the RAW.
      • No lens-correction data: corrections that a camera stores for its own JPEG are not carried into the DNG; Lightroom's lens profiles apply as usual.
      • Apple ProRAW and other already-demosaiced (linear) DNGs, Foveon and four-colour sensors are refused by name.
      • The camera's maker notes and the GPS location are not copied.

      Want a picture rather than a RAW? Choose JPG or TIFF on the same converter, or go to RAW to JPG.

      RAW to DNG: questions

      Why convert RAW to DNG?

      Mostly because a camera is newer than the software: an older Lightroom, Photoshop or Camera Raw that does not know the camera will still open its pictures as DNG. DNG is Adobe's open RAW format, and every major RAW editor reads it.

      Is anything lost or changed in the DNG?

      No sensor value changes: the DNG holds the same numbers the camera recorded, with the camera's black and white levels, its colour matrix, the white balance you shot with, the orientation and the camera's own preview. Maker notes and GPS location are not copied.

      Is this the Adobe DNG Converter?

      No, it is a separate converter that runs in your browser, with nothing to install and nothing uploaded. Adobe's converter is a free desktop download for Windows and macOS. Both compress the sensor data losslessly, the way the DNG specification describes.

      How big are the DNG files?

      About the size of the original RAW: the sensor data is compressed losslessly (lossless JPEG, as in Adobe's own DNGs), and nothing is lost. A Canon 6D CR2 of 23 MB became a 22 MB DNG, a Sony A7 II ARW 23 MB. Fujifilm X-Trans files come out about 40 % larger than their RAF.

      Which files can be converted?

      CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF (X-Trans included), ORF, RW2, PEF and DNG from cameras and phones. Apple ProRAW and other DNGs that already hold a demosaiced picture are refused by name, and so are sensors that are not three-colour Bayer or X-Trans.