EXR to RAW Converter

Encoding: the EXR uses none, RLE, ZIP, PIZ, PXR24, B44 or DWA, chosen per file; RAW uses uncompressed, lossless JPEG or vendor-specific coding of the sensor data, depending on the maker, and the download is a Linear DNG: demosaiced 8-bit RGB with the colour matrices raw editors need.

Bit depth: 16-bit half or 32-bit floating point per channel in the EXR; RAW allows 12 to 16 bits per channel, and the DNG written here has 8 bits per channel, linearised. Floating-point values are mapped to 8 bits per channel, and anything brighter than white clips.

Colour: scene-linear RGB, often ACEScg or linear Rec.709 in the EXR; RAW supports camera-native RGB from a colour filter mosaic, written here as 8-bit sRGB.

Transparency: the EXR stores it as an A channel stored like any other channel; the DNG has none, so transparent areas are filled with the colour you choose.

Other images: the EXR can hold extra channels (depth, normals, render passes) and multiple parts; only the main image is converted.

Metadata: the EXR can carry named header attributes such as chromaticities, timecode and camera data; RAW can carry EXIF and vendor maker notes, almost always with an embedded JPEG preview, but nothing is copied across.

OpenEXR is the high dynamic range format of film visual effects. It stores half or full floating-point channels in linear light, plus any extra render passes, and is the working format of compositing pipelines.

An EXR starts with the magic number 76 2F 31 01 and a version field, then a header of named, typed attributes (channels, compression, dataWindow, displayWindow) and a table of offsets to scanline or tile blocks.

EXR files usually come from 3D renderers and compositing in Nuke, Blender, Houdini, After Effects and DaVinci Resolve.

Camera RAW files (CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG, ORF, RW2, RAF and others) hold the unprocessed sensor data from a camera along with an embedded full-size JPEG preview rendered by the camera.

.RAW is an extension rather than one format. Panasonic and Leica compacts wrote TIFF-like .RAW files before Panasonic moved to RW2, and scanners and scientific cameras use .raw for headerless dumps with no width, height or layout recorded, which nothing can read without being told those values.

RAW files come from older Panasonic and Leica compacts that saved .RAW, and scanners or scientific cameras that use the extension for pixel dumps.

Forms and workflows that ask for RAW usually feed a raw editor, and each of those opens DNG as well, so the DNG can take the RAW's place. Keep the EXR if you only need to view or share the picture.

What RAW offers when it comes straight from the camera: Maximum editing latitude in RAW editors; Includes a camera-rendered preview. Its drawbacks: Huge files; Every brand uses its own format; Phones, browsers and websites cannot display it.