Reference

ARW (Sony RAW)

ARW (Sony Alpha Raw) is Sony’s RAW image format, holding the unprocessed sensor data from Sony Alpha and Cyber-shot cameras. Files are large (often 20–60 MB) and need Sony’s software, Lightroom/Adobe Camera Raw, or conversion to DNG or JPEG to edit and share.

Files & formatsGeneral

ARW (Sony RAW)

Also known as: Sony RAW, ARW file, how to open ARW, .arw

Sony’s RAW format (Sony Alpha Raw)
Large unprocessed sensor files, often 20–60 MB
Opens in Imaging Edge, Lightroom, or Camera Raw

What an ARW file is

ARW is the proprietary RAW format Sony Alpha mirrorless and Cyber-shot cameras produce when shooting RAW. It captures the sensor’s raw readings plus an embedded preview and EXIF metadata, leaving white balance, exposure, and color fully adjustable in editing.

Sony’s high-resolution sensors make ARW files especially large, so a session of RAW frames can take up many gigabytes far faster than the same shots saved as JPEG.

How to open and convert ARW

ARW opens in Sony’s Imaging Edge software, Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw, Apple Photos/Preview on recent macOS, and most professional editors. Older or lightweight apps may not recognize newer ARW versions.

Export to JPEG for everyday use and sharing, or convert ARW to DNG to keep RAW data in Adobe’s portable container. Keep the original RAW only if you still intend to re-edit it.

Related terms

Keep reading the reference.

Files & formatsCamera RAW (CR2, NEF, ARW)Camera RAW is the umbrella for manufacturer-specific files that store unprocessed data straight off the camera sensor — Canon CR2/CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, and others. They keep maximum editing flexibility, which makes them far larger than the JPEG or HEIC the same shot would produce.General Files & formatsDNG (digital negative)DNG (Digital Negative) is an open raw image format created by Adobe. Like other raw files, it stores the unprocessed sensor data from a camera for maximum editing flexibility — and like all raw files, it takes far more storage than a JPEG or HEIC.GeneraliOS Files & formatsRAW imageA RAW image is the unprocessed data straight from a camera sensor, before any in-camera compression or color processing. It preserves maximum editing flexibility but produces very large files — many times bigger than a JPEG or HEIC of the same shot.GeneraliOS Files & formatsJPEGJPEG (.jpg) is the most widely supported photo format. It uses lossy compression to shrink photographs dramatically, trading a small amount of detail for much smaller files. It has no transparency and is larger than newer formats like HEIC or WebP at the same quality.General

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