What is a CR2 (camera RAW) file?
CR2 is the camera RAW format of Canon - EOS DSLRs released between 2004 and 2018. Instead of a finished photo, a RAW file stores the unprocessed data straight from the camera's sensor.
That gives photographers maximum room to adjust exposure, white balance and color afterwards, but RAW files are large (often 20-60 MB) and need special software to view. Converting to JPG produces a normal photo you can share right away.
How to open a CR2 (camera RAW) file
Canon Digital Photo Professional opens CR2 files, and Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop (Camera Raw), Capture One, darktable and RawTherapee support them too. Mac Photos and Preview open most RAW formats; on Windows, the free Raw Image Extension adds support to the Photos app. Without any of these, convert CR2 to JPG online.
- Extension
- .cr2
- Made by
- Canon cameras
- Contains
- Unprocessed sensor data
- Best for
- Editing straight-from-camera photos