GIF to ARW Converter

Encoding: the GIF uses lossless LZW over a palette of at most 256 colours; ARW uses Sony's lossy compressed raw, uncompressed (since the A7R II) or lossless compressed (since the A1), and the download is a Linear DNG: demosaiced 8-bit RGB with the colour matrices raw editors need.

Bit depth: 8 bits per pixel, as indexes into a palette in the GIF; ARW allows 12 or 14 bits per channel, and the DNG written here has 8 bits per channel, linearised.

Colour: an indexed palette of up to 256 colours per frame in the GIF; ARW supports camera RGB from a Bayer mosaic, written here as 8-bit sRGB.

Transparency: the GIF stores it as one palette entry marked transparent, so each pixel is either fully shown or fully hidden; the DNG has none, so transparent areas are filled with the colour you choose.

Animation: image blocks with their own delay and disposal method, looped by the NETSCAPE2.0 extension; the DNG holds one image, so only the first frame is converted.

Metadata: the GIF can carry comment and application extension blocks, but no EXIF; ARW can carry EXIF, Sony maker notes, a thumbnail and a full-size JPEG, but nothing is copied across.

GIF is the classic animated image format. It is limited to 256 colours per frame and 1-bit transparency, so photos look grainy and files are large, but it plays everywhere.

A GIF starts with 'GIF89a' (or the older 87a), a logical screen descriptor and an optional global colour table, then image blocks, each preceded by a graphic control extension that sets its delay and transparent colour.

GIF files usually come from reaction clips, memes, old websites and screen recordings.

ARW is the raw format of Sony Alpha, RX and Cyber-shot cameras. It stores the sensor data (compressed, uncompressed or lossless compressed, depending on the model) with a full-size JPEG preview.

ARW is TIFF-based: the first directory carries EXIF and Sony's JPEG preview and the sensor data sits in a sub-directory. In Sony's classic compressed raw each block of 16 same-colour pixels keeps an 11-bit maximum and minimum plus 7-bit steps for the rest, which can leave artefacts beside high-contrast edges.

ARW files come from Sony Alpha mirrorless and SLT cameras, RX compacts and some Cyber-shot models.

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

What ARW offers when it comes straight from the camera: A full-size JPEG preview from the camera; Lossless compressed raw on recent bodies; Wide support across Sony's long Alpha line. Its drawbacks: Sony's classic compressed mode is lossy; Uncompressed files of 60 MB and more on high-resolution bodies; Creative Looks are ignored by most third-party raw editors.