Convert RAW to JPG online, free and without uploading

What converting RAW to JPG in Lightframes means

Lightframes turns camera RAW files into ordinary JPG images that any phone, computer, website or print shop can open. The RAW is fully developed from its sensor data (not just its built-in preview) on your own device, and you can export one photo or a whole shoot in one go. It is a free, open-source (MIT) photo editor that runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install and nothing to upload.

Because the converter is a full RAW editor, you can also fix exposure, recover a bright sky or correct white balance before the JPG is written. If you only want a quick conversion, open the files and export them without touching anything.

How the conversion works

Every step happens in the browser tab:

1. Reading. The file is read from your disk. Its embedded preview gives a fast thumbnail in the filmstrip.
2. Developing. On export, LibRaw (compiled to WebAssembly) decodes the sensor data at full resolution with the camera’s recorded white balance. Lightframes then applies its base tone curve and any edits you made.
3. Encoding. The developed image is encoded as JPEG at the quality you chose and downloaded. Several files are packed into one ZIP named like lightframes-2026-10-20-24-photos.zip.

If LibRaw cannot develop a particular file, Lightframes uses the full-size JPEG the camera embedded in the RAW instead of failing. After the first visit the app is cached, so converting also works offline, and you can install it as an app (PWA).

RAW to JPG by camera format

All the formats below are converted the same way. The differences are in the cameras that write them.

CR3 and CR2 to JPG (Canon)

CR3 is the RAW format of Canon cameras released since 2018, including the EOS R mirrorless range; CR2 is the older format used by earlier EOS DSLRs. Both open in Lightframes. CR3 has its own page with more detail: convert CR3 to JPG.

ARW to JPG (Sony)

Sony Alpha cameras save RAW as .arw. Open the files, select them and export as JPEG; the conversion uses the full sensor data. Very high-resolution files are scaled to 8192 px on the long edge. More detail: convert ARW to JPG.

NEF and NRW to JPG (Nikon)

Nikon writes .nef on its interchangeable-lens cameras and .nrw on some Coolpix compacts. Both are converted from the sensor data like any other RAW. More detail: convert NEF to JPG.

DNG to JPG

DNG is an openly documented RAW format used by several camera makers and by many phones and drones. Most DNG files develop normally; if a file uses a compression the bundled decoder can’t read, Lightframes falls back to its embedded preview. Phone and drone DNGs have their own page: convert DNG to JPG.

RAF, ORF, RW2, PEF and SRW to JPG

Fujifilm .raf, Olympus / OM System .orf, Panasonic .rw2, Pentax .pef and Samsung .srw files are converted the same way.

Export settings for the JPG

Setting	Options	Tip
Size	Original (full resolution, up to 8192 px), Web (2048 px), IG 4:5 (1080 × 1350), IG 1:1 (1080 × 1080), Story (1080 × 1920), or any long edge from 800 px	Original for archiving and prints, Web for email and websites
Format	JPEG, PNG or WebP	JPEG for compatibility, PNG for lossless copies, WebP for smaller web files
Quality	50–100% for JPEG and WebP (92% by default)	90–95% keeps compression invisible in most photos
File name	Pattern such as {name}-edited	Use {name} to keep the original names
Watermark	Optional text in a corner or the centre	Off by default

The settings are applied to every selected photo, so a whole card is converted with one click.

Convert straight away, or edit first?

A plain conversion gives you a faithful, neutral JPG. Editing first is worth it when the camera got something wrong, since the RAW still holds detail a JPG has thrown away:

• Blown-out sky: lower Highlights and Whites with the clipping overlay (J) on.
• Wrong colour cast: use the white balance picker on something neutral.
• A consistent look for a set: apply a preset or paste one edit across the whole selection with the batch editor.

For the full list of controls, see the RAW photo editor.

Limitations

• Maximum size. Exports are capped at 8192 px on the long edge.
• Rendering. One neutral base rendering for every camera: no manufacturer picture styles, camera-specific colour profiles or lens corrections, so colours can differ from the camera’s own JPEG.
• Metadata. EXIF data (date, camera, GPS) is not copied into the JPG.
• New cameras. Very recent models may not be readable by the bundled LibRaw version; those files fall back to the embedded preview.
• Memory and speed. Each RAW is developed at full resolution, which takes a few seconds per file. Big batches run faster on a computer than on a phone.
• Folders. Opening a whole folder needs a Chromium-based browser such as Chrome, Edge or Brave; in other browsers select the files with Open.

More answers are in the FAQ.