NRW File Format (.nrw)

An NRW file holds the raw sensor readout from one of the Nikon Coolpix compact and bridge cameras that shoot raw, using the same TIFF-based structure as Nikon's NEF but with its own white balance block and a JPEG-compressed image sitting in the file's first directory.

.nrwImage Files

NRW at a glance#

Full name	Nikon Digital SLR Camera Raw Image File
File extension	.nrw
Category	Image Files
Developer	Nikon Corporation
First released	2008
MIME types	image/x-nikon-nrw
Compression	Varies from file to file
FileFlip support	FileFlip reads this format but does not write it

What a .nrw file can hold#

These are the things a NRW file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.

Embedded metadata	Yes
Colour profiles	Yes

Strengths and limitations of NRW#

What NRW does well

Keeps the full sensor readout from a Coolpix, where the camera's JPEG has already committed to one white balance and tone curve
Nikon's free NX Studio opens NRW alongside NEF, so Coolpix raw files fit the same workflow as files from a Nikon DSLR
Mainstream raw processors read NRW, from Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom Classic to RawTherapee and darktable, so the files do not depend on Nikon's software

Where NRW falls short

Only a short list of Coolpix models ever wrote NRW, among them the P6000, P7000, P7100, B700, P1000 and A1000, so the format is rare enough that many viewers never implemented it
The white balance block is laid out differently from one Coolpix generation to the next, so decoders such as LibRaw carry per-model offsets rather than one reader for the format
Nikon has published no specification for NRW, and Adobe's full support for the first NRW camera only arrived in Camera Raw 5.2, after the preliminary version in 4.6
No ordinary image viewer displays an NRW, and the file runs much larger than the JPEG the same Coolpix would have written

NRW is what a raw-capable Coolpix writes when it is taken out of JPEG-only mode, so there is no choice of raw container to make in the camera menu.

Convert NRW to JPEG once the edit is done, because web uploads, print services and most image viewers do not read Nikon's Coolpix raw format at all.

How to open a .nrw file#

A .nrw file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on. If you would rather not install anything, FileFlip converts NRW into a format your machine already opens, and it does it in the browser tab rather than on a server.

Platform	Programs that open it
Windows	Nikon NX Studio, Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop, RawTherapee, darktable
macOS	Nikon NX Studio, Photos, Preview, Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop
Linux	RawTherapee, darktable, digiKam
Web	FileFlip

NRW questions people ask#

Which Nikon cameras produce NRW files?

NRW comes from the Coolpix compact and bridge cameras that shoot raw, starting with the Coolpix P6000 in 2008 and continuing through models including the P7000, P7100, B700, P1000 and A1000. Nikon's DSLRs and Z-series mirrorless cameras write NEF instead.

What is the difference between NRW and NEF?

NRW and NEF are both Nikon raw formats built on the same TIFF-based structure, and the split is by camera line: NRW for raw-capable Coolpix models, NEF for the DSLRs and Z-series bodies. Inside the file, an NRW marks its white balance data with its own signature and per-camera layout, leaves out the linearization table that NEF carries, and stores a JPEG-compressed image in the first directory, which is exactly how ExifTool decides which of the two it is looking at.

What software opens NRW files?

NRW files open in Nikon's own free NX Studio, in Adobe Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop from Camera Raw 5.2 onward, and in the open-source processors RawTherapee and darktable. Apple's raw support covers NRW too, so Photos and Preview show these files on macOS.

Does converting NRW to DNG lose anything?

Converting an NRW to DNG keeps the sensor data as it was, since the conversion changes the container rather than re-rendering the picture. The cost is that Nikon's NX Studio reads NEF and NRW but not DNG, so the converted file can no longer be processed with Nikon's own rendering, and Adobe's DNG Converter has to list your Coolpix model before it will convert the file at all.

Converting NRW files#

FileFlip does not write .nrw files, so nothing on the site converts into this format. It works as a source only.

Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.