CRW to PNG Converter

CRW to PNG Converter

CRW is Canon's first digital-camera RAW format — unprocessed sensor data written by the company's earliest EOS DSLRs and PowerShot compacts. PNG is a lossless raster format every browser, operating system, and image editor can open. Converting CRW to PNG renders that RAW capture into a finished, universally viewable image without throwing away quality the way a JPG would: PNG can hold 16 bits per channel and never applies lossy compression, so it is the best-quality non-RAW export when you want to keep an old Canon shot looking exactly as developed.

CRW Format at a Glance

PNG Format at a Glance

How to Convert CRW to PNG

1. Upload Your CRW File: Drag and drop one or many .crw files, or click "+ Add Files." Companion .thm thumbnails are harmless if you include them, and batch conversion is supported.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: "Very High" is the recommended default for the RAW develop. Choose "Highest" when you want the finest tonal rendering before further editing.
3. Set Resolution and Compression (Optional): Under Image resolution, keep the original size, scale by percentage, pick a preset, or enter a custom Width × Height. The Compression level slider trades file size against encoding time — PNG stays lossless at every level, so a lower level only makes a larger file, never a worse-looking one.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert CRW to PNG instead of JPG?

PNG is lossless and can store 16 bits per channel, so it preserves every tone the RAW develop produced without the DCT blocking that JPG introduces. That makes PNG the better choice when the file is an editing master, a print source, or a long-term archive copy. The trade-off is size: a PNG from a 6-megapixel CRW is usually several times larger than the equivalent JPG. If you mainly need something small to email or post, convert to JPG instead; if you need a finished image you can edit again without quality loss, PNG is the right export.

Does converting CRW to PNG keep the 16-bit depth?

PNG can carry 16 bits per channel, but whether the output is 8- or 16-bit depends on the develop settings, not the container. Early Canon bodies captured roughly 12 bits of sensor data, so a 16-bit PNG holds that headroom with room to spare, while an 8-bit PNG quantizes it down to 256 levels per channel. For viewing and most prints, 8-bit is indistinguishable; for files you plan to grade or push hard later, the wider depth is worth the extra size. In our testing, a 16-bit PNG from a 6-megapixel CRW lands roughly two to four times the size of an 8-bit PNG of the same image.

Is a PNG export lossless the way the original CRW is?

The PNG compression itself is lossless — the W3C specification defines its filters as strictly lossless, so re-saving never degrades the pixels. But rendering a RAW to any standard image is a one-way step: white balance, exposure, and tone curve get baked in, and the editing latitude that made CRW a RAW file is gone. The PNG faithfully stores the developed result; it just cannot be re-developed like the original sensor data. Keep the .crw files if you might want to re-process them.

Why won't my computer open a CRW file in the first place?

CRW uses Canon's CIFF container, which almost no current software ships with. Windows Photos, macOS Photos, iOS and Android galleries, and most cloud photo services have no CIFF decoder. Desktop tools like Adobe Camera Raw, Canon Digital Photo Professional, RawTherapee, and darktable still read CRW, but casual viewers cannot — which is exactly why exporting to a PNG (or JPG) makes the image openable everywhere again.

Should I use PNG or TIFF for archiving an old Canon RAW?

Both are lossless and both support 16-bit, so either preserves the develop without quality loss. PNG produces a single compressed file that opens in any browser and most apps with no plug-in, which makes it convenient for sharing and web use. TIFF is the more traditional print-and-archive container, supports layers and several compression schemes, and is what many photo labs expect. If you want one file that opens anywhere, choose PNG; if you are feeding a professional print or editing pipeline, convert to TIFF instead.

Is CRW the same as Canon's CR2 or "Canon RAW"?

No. "Canon RAW" covers three distinct formats: CRW (the CIFF container, ~2000–2004), CR2 (TIFF-based, ~2004–2018), and CR3 (ISO base-media, 2018 onward). CRW is the oldest and the only one in the CIFF container; it has no relation to the lossy "C-RAW" option Canon later added inside CR3. If your files are actually CR2, use the CR2 to PNG converter.

Why is my converted PNG so much larger than the CRW?

PNG stores fully rendered, uncompressed-then-DEFLATE-packed pixels, while CRW stores a single channel of mosaiced sensor values that compress tightly. Demosaicing turns one sensor sample per pixel into three (or four with alpha) full color channels, so the PNG often ends up larger than the RAW it came from — especially at 16-bit. That is expected. If the size is a problem, compress the PNG afterward, or export to JPG when lossless quality is not required.