RAW Formats RevelRaw Opens

Updated October 15, 2026 · Daniel Tello · RevelRaw

RevelRaw is a native macOS RAW photo editor with Lightroom-style editing and no forced subscription: edit as many photos as you like for free and export your first one free, then choose Pro monthly, yearly or as a one-time purchase for unlimited exports. It opens 24 camera RAW formats across the major brands, with the deepest support for Sony Alpha (.ARW is the format it's designed for). Drag any of the files below in, and AI scene detection ranks 50+ presets against the photo, with the full set of fine-tune controls on top. Photos stay on your Mac: editing happens on-device, with no RevelRaw account. It's built for fast edits and exports, not for managing a studio catalog.

Browse by brand: Canon · Nikon · Sony · Fujifilm · Panasonic · Olympus / OM System — each hub collects that brand's formats and guides in one place. Each format below has its own guide — what the file actually contains, which cameras write it, how to open it on a Mac, and how to convert it to JPEG. If you just want to look at a file, start with how to open RAW files on a Mac: the built-in routes that open most of the formats below with nothing installed.

The formats

Beyond these, RevelRaw also accepts RAW files from Pentax, Leica, Hasselblad, Phase One, Samsung, Epson, Minolta, Kodak and Leaf — guides for those are on the way. Shooting on your phone? .DNG covers that too: see the iPhone ProRAW guide, and how to open DNG files on a Mac for what macOS itself does with DNGs from cameras, drones and phones.

Curious what's inside one of your own files right now? Drop it into the free in-browser RAW EXIF viewer — it reads the camera, lens, exposure and GPS metadata locally, with no upload. And if you just need a shareable JPEG out of a RAW this second, the free RAW to JPEG converter pulls the camera's own JPEG out of the file the same way: in your browser, nothing uploaded. Don't have a RAW file handy? Grab free sample RAW files for every format to try any of these tools with. Wondering how much card space a shoot will take? We measured how big a RAW file is across 930 cameras, with photos per card from 32 to 512 GB, and the free card space calculator works it out for your exact camera and RAW mode.

How it works, whatever the badge on your camera

Every format above stores the same thing at heart: one brightness reading per photosite on the sensor, before white balance, sharpening or any in-camera look has been baked in. That's why one editor can develop them all. Open a file in RevelRaw and it decodes the sensor data on your Mac, classifies the scene, and ranks its 50+ presets so the most relevant looks surface first — then you fine-tune exposure, color, curves and grain, and export as JPEG, PNG, TIFF or HEIF with platform presets for Instagram, print and web.

FAQ

Does RevelRaw only work with Sony cameras?

Sony Alpha is what it's built around — ARW is the headline format. But RAW files from Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Olympus and other brands open all the same: drag one in and everything works on it.

Does RevelRaw open Canon CR3 or Nikon NEF files?

Yes — along with CR2, CRW, NRW, RAF, RW2 and ORF. Drag and drop or File > Open, then export as JPEG, PNG, TIFF or HEIF.

What if my RAW file won't open?

Files from a just-released camera can fail until Apple ships a RAW update for that body — the file isn't broken; the software just hasn't met that camera yet. For very old formats, a one-time conversion with Adobe's free DNG Converter usually solves it; keep both files afterwards. If a file from a supported camera still shows a blank icon, start with RAW files won't open on a Mac, a six-step check.

Does RevelRaw open video files?

No. RevelRaw is a stills editor. Video from your camera needs a video editor.

Related reading: What is an ARW file? · How to open ARW files on a Mac · RAW vs JPEG on a Sony Alpha · Shooting in RAW vs JPEG: how to choose · Free RAW EXIF viewer · How to edit RAW images on a Mac