RAW to BMP Converter
Convert RAW to BMP in your browser. The camera's embedded JPEG preview is what gets converted, not the sensor data; it matches what the camera showed on its screen. No raw development happens here. You get an uncompressed 24-bit BMP, or 32-bit with alpha when the image has transparency. Nothing is uploaded.
- Processed locally
- No upload, no wait
- No sign-up
- No watermark
Drop images here
or choose files · paste with Ctrl/⌘ V
RAW expected · other image formats also work
How to use RAW to BMP
- 1
Add your RAW files: drop them here, choose them, or paste from the clipboard.
- 2
There is nothing to tune: the BMP is written uncompressed. Resizing and rotating are under More options if you need them.
- 3
Click Convert. Each file is decoded and encoded in a background thread on this device.
- 4
Download the .bmp files one at a time or together as a ZIP.
Why use Aback Images for raw to bmp
Where the BMP goes next
BMP opens in every operating system and browser.
BMP next to RAW
The BMP stores the camera preview's pixels uncompressed, so it can be as large as the 20 to 80 MB raw file, or larger, depending on the preview's resolution.
No new artefacts
The preview inside the RAW is a camera JPEG; the BMP stores its decoded pixels uncompressed, so this step adds no compression damage of its own.
Processed on your device
Your images are decoded, edited and encoded inside this browser tab by Web Workers. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
RAW vs BMP
What changes from RAW to BMP
Encoding: the RAW uses uncompressed, lossless JPEG or vendor-specific coding of the sensor data, depending on the maker; BMP uses usually none; RLE for some 4 and 8-bit files, and the download is an uncompressed 24-bit BMP, or 32-bit with alpha when the image has transparency.
Bit depth: 12 to 16 bits per channel in the RAW; BMP allows 1, 4, 8, 16, 24 or 32 bits per pixel, and the BMP written here has 24 or 32 bits per pixel. The sensor's 12 to 16 bits are not used: the camera's 8-bit preview is converted.
Colour: camera-native RGB from a colour filter mosaic in the RAW; BMP supports RGB or an indexed palette, written here as 8-bit sRGB.
Metadata: the RAW can carry EXIF and vendor maker notes, almost always with an embedded JPEG preview; BMP can carry nothing beyond the header's resolution fields (and a colour profile in rare V5 headers), but nothing is copied across.
About RAW
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 usually come from older Panasonic and Leica compacts that saved .RAW, and scanners or scientific cameras that use the extension for pixel dumps.
About BMP
BMP stores raw, uncompressed pixels. Files are huge but trivially simple, which is why some legacy Windows software, embedded displays and printers still ask for it.
A BMP is a 14-byte file header ('BM' and the offset to the pixels), a DIB header (40 bytes, or 108 and 124 bytes in the V4 and V5 versions that add colour masks and alpha), an optional palette, then pixel rows padded to 4 bytes and normally stored bottom-up.
When converting RAW to BMP makes sense
BMP is the better choice for legacy software and embedded systems that require it, while RAW suits editing in Lightroom, Capture One or darktable.
BMP strengths: No compression artifacts; Read by very old and very simple software. Drawbacks to weigh: Enormous files; Poor support for transparency; No metadata.
Limitations
- A headerless .raw pixel dump has no preview and no size information, so it cannot be converted here.
- A BMP is uncompressed, about 3 bytes per pixel, or 4 with transparency, so expect a large file.
- Some older programs ignore the alpha channel of a 32-bit BMP and show transparent areas as black or white.
More conversions
Related tools
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Frequently asked questions
Does converting RAW to BMP lose quality?
BMP is written uncompressed, so the pixels are stored exactly as decoded. Those pixels come from the camera's JPEG preview, so its compression stays, but nothing new is lost. The sensor's 12 to 16 bits are not used: the camera's 8-bit preview is converted.
Does this process the RAW sensor data?
No. Camera RAW files carry a JPEG rendered by the camera when the picture was taken, and that is what gets converted, so the result matches what you saw on the camera screen. For full development (white balance, highlight recovery, lens corrections) use a RAW editor.
Which apps open BMP files?
Every operating system and browser.
Are my images uploaded anywhere?
No. Processing happens inside your browser with WebAssembly and Web Workers. The site only downloads the app code and codecs; your files never leave your device. You can confirm this with the live upload counter on the tool, or in your browser's network panel.
Can I process many files at once?
Yes. Drop a whole selection or folder. Files are processed in parallel on several worker threads, each result can be downloaded on its own, and everything can be saved as one ZIP.
Is it free? Is there a file limit or watermark?
It is free with no account, no watermark and no daily limit. The only limit is your device's memory: very large images (over roughly 100 megapixels) may be refused to keep the tab from crashing.