What is a DNG (camera RAW) file?
DNG is the camera RAW format of Adobe - an open RAW standard used by Leica, Pentax, Ricoh, some phones (including iPhone ProRAW) and Lightroom. 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 DNG (camera RAW) file
Adobe Lightroom opens DNG 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 DNG to JPG online.
- Extension
- .dng
- Made by
- Adobe cameras
- Contains
- Unprocessed sensor data
- Best for
- Editing straight-from-camera photos