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Extract a JPG from a RAW file

Extract the JPEG preview from a RAW file: the picture your camera already saved inside it, copied out unchanged. This is not a RAW develop, and the file never leaves this tab.

Pulls the full-size JPEG preview out of Canon CR2 and CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW and DNG RAW files, byte for byte, and tells you its size before you download it. It is free, needs no account and adds no watermark, and your files are not uploaded: everything runs in your browser on your device. The size limit is your device’s memory, and phones hold less; give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, and then it works offline.

Drop RAW files (CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG)or click to choose files. Batches welcome.
    Details

    This pulls out the JPEG preview the camera wrote into the RAW file, and saves its bytes unchanged. It does not develop the RAW: no exposure, white balance or noise changes are made. Turning a picture upright is the one exception, and it re-encodes the JPEG at quality 95.

    Working…

    Done

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    Your files are processed on this device and never sent to a server. Reload the page to clear everything from memory.

    How it works

    1. Drop one or more RAW files (CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW or DNG), or tap to pick them.
    2. The page lists the size of the largest preview each file holds, for example 6000 x 4000, or says that only a thumbnail is stored.
    3. Press Extract. Each preview is saved as a JPG, and several files come as one ZIP.

    In your browser, not on a server

    Most RAW files carry a finished JPEG that the camera made for its own screen. Your browser reads the file’s header and its table of picture locations, a few kilobytes at a time, finds the largest JPEG inside and copies exactly those bytes out. Nothing is decoded or re-encoded, and the rest of the RAW, which can be 60 MB, is never loaded.

    Compared with upload-based tools: RAW converters on the web upload the whole RAW file, often 25 to 60 MB, just so a server can hand back a JPEG the camera already put inside it. Here the preview is copied out in your tab, so the photo never leaves your device.

    Verify it yourself. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, then turn off Wi-Fi or switch to airplane mode and run the tool again. Or open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Cmd-Option-I on a Mac), pick the Network tab, and watch it while you convert. The panel above does the same count for you.

    Questions

    What is an embedded preview?

    Cameras that shoot RAW also save a finished JPEG inside the file, so the camera’s screen and file browsers have something to show. This tool copies that JPEG out. It is the camera’s own rendering, so it is not a conversion of the RAW data.

    Why can the JPG be smaller or softer than a developed RAW?

    The preview is made by the camera at its own size and compression, and many cameras store one smaller than the sensor’s full resolution. A RAW editor builds a new picture from the sensor data, at full size, with the settings you choose. The page tells you the preview’s size before you download it.

    Does it change exposure or white balance?

    No. The bytes are copied exactly as the camera wrote them, with no editing and no re-compression. To change exposure, white balance or noise, develop the RAW in a RAW editor such as Lightroom, RawTherapee or darktable.

    Which cameras and formats were tested?

    Canon CR2 (EOS 5D Mark III) and CR3 (EOS R6), Nikon NEF (D3200), Sony ARW (A7 III) and Adobe DNG (Pentax K-5). A DNG from a Leica M8 holds no JPEG preview at all, and the page says so instead of extracting anything. Other cameras of the same formats usually work the same way, but they were not tested.

    What if the file holds only a thumbnail?

    Then nothing is extracted. A thumbnail is about 160 x 120 pixels, too small to be a photo, and the page tells you that rather than giving you a JPG named like one.

    Is the JPG re-encoded?

    No. The preview’s bytes are saved as they are. The one option that re-encodes is turning the picture upright for a RAW that the camera marked as rotated, which saves it again at quality 95. Many previews carry no EXIF of their own, and the page says which yours does.

    Is my RAW file uploaded?

    No. Your browser reads only the parts of the file it needs, in this tab, and there is no server in the process. After one visit and a short wait the page works offline.

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