RAW to AVIF Converter
FileFlip converts RAW to AVIF entirely inside your browser, using ImageMagick compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert a RAW file to AVIF?#
- Drop your RAW file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to AVIF and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 14.1 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs ImageMagick on your own machine.
- Save the AVIF file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting RAW to AVIF lose quality?#
Yes, once. RAW keeps everything and AVIF does not, so this is the first time the file meets a lossy encoder. At high quality the difference is hard to see, and it is worth keeping the RAW original, because every later re-save of the AVIF loses a little more.
Is it safe to convert RAW files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts RAW files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What RAW to AVIF actually does to the file#
Converting RAW to AVIF runs on ImageMagick, downloads 14.1 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, encodes a lossless source with a lossy encoder for the first time.
| Engine | ImageMagick |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: RAW → AVIF |
| Downloaded to your browser | 14.1 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Lossy, first generation |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
Worth knowing before you start:
- camera raw is demosaiced with ImageMagick's defaults, which will not match the camera's own rendering
- some cameras write lossily compressed raw, so the source is not always a complete sensor record
What is a RAW file?#
A .raw file is a generic label for unprocessed camera sensor data or a headerless array of pixel values, and the extension alone does not identify which of several unrelated internal formats a given file actually uses, including early Panasonic digital cameras' TIFF-based sensor dumps and the Kyocera Contax N Digital's own raw format.
A .raw extension shows up because a specific camera or tool produced it, such as an early Panasonic digital camera or the Kyocera Contax N Digital, not because someone chose it over a named raw format.
Convert a .raw file to a mainstream format such as TIFF or DNG once its source is known and it has been processed, since the ambiguous extension keeps it unreadable by most software without extra information.
What is an AVIF file?#
An AVIF file holds a still image or short animation encoded with the AV1 video codec, packaged inside a HEIF-style container that also carries HDR and wide-colour-gamut data alongside the pixels.
Use AVIF for web images where file size matters most, since it now decodes natively in every major browser and beats JPEG and WebP on compression at the same quality.
Convert AVIF to JPEG or PNG when a file is headed somewhere that still rejects it, such as an older content management system, a print workflow, or an app without AV1 decoding.
RAW to AVIF questions people ask#
Is a RAW file the same as CR2, NEF, or ARW?
No. CR2, NEF and ARW are each one manufacturer's own raw format tied to that manufacturer's cameras, while a bare .raw extension has been reused by several unrelated sources, including early Panasonic cameras and the Kyocera Contax N Digital, so it does not identify a single format the way those extensions do.
What software opens a RAW file?
It depends entirely on what produced it. A .raw file from a camera with a known raw format opens in that camera's raw-capable software, while a headerless raw pixel dump needs a tool such as Photoshop's raw importer or GIMP's raw image data loader, which asks for the exact dimensions and bit depth before it can display anything.
Why won't a normal photo viewer open my RAW file?
A .raw file usually holds unprocessed sensor or pixel data rather than a standard encoded image, and without embedded metadata identifying its dimensions, bit depth and color layout, a generic image viewer has nothing to go on and fails to render it.
What is an AVIF file?
An AVIF file is an image compressed with the AV1 video codec instead of the older JPEG or WebP algorithms, which is why it produces noticeably smaller files at the same visual quality. It was created by the Alliance for Open Media, the same group behind the AV1 video format, and first shipped in 2019.