CR2 to PNG Converter

What happens when you convert CR2 to PNG

• The CR2 is developed by LibRaw, the open-source camera RAW decoder, on our conversion server: the sensor data is turned into a full-colour picture with the white balance the camera recorded, AHD demosaicing and standard sRGB colour.
• ImageMagick then saves it as a lossless PNG, at the camera's full resolution, 8 bits per channel. The photo is turned the way the camera was held.
• This is a neutral, straight development, much like the camera's own JPG settings switched off: no lens corrections, noise reduction or creative styles are applied, so it can look flatter than an edited version.
• This conversion runs on our server: the file is uploaded, converted, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result has been sent back to you. Nothing is kept. Files up to 25 MB are accepted.

How to convert CR2 to PNG online

1. Press "Choose CR2 files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. Files up to 25 MB each can be converted.
2. There are no settings to choose: the converter keeps everything the target format can hold.
3. Press "Convert to PNG". The file is uploaded to our conversion server, converted in a few seconds, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result is sent back.
4. Save each PNG with its download button. Our server has already deleted both your CR2 and the PNG by then.

Why convert CR2 to PNG?

CR2 files usually come from Canon EOS cameras made from 2004 to about 2018. People convert them to PNG because PNG keeps sharp edges, text and transparency without any loss.

In short, CR2 is good at what it was made for, and PNG is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. CR2 does not open in browsers; Windows Photos (with the Raw Image Extension), macOS Photos and Preview, Lightroom and darktable open it, while PNG opens in every browser and image viewer.

How to convert CR2 to PNG on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android

On Windows

Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your CR2 files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each PNG is saved to your Downloads folder.

On a Mac

Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the CR2 files from Finder onto the drop zone and the PNG files land in Downloads. Preview can do single images too: open the file, choose File, then Export, and pick PNG.

On iPhone and iPad

Open the page in Safari and tap Choose CR2 files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted PNG appears in Files, in the Downloads folder; to put it in your photo library, open it there, tap Share and choose Save Image.

On Android

Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose CR2 files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The PNG is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.

Best settings for CR2 to PNG

There are no settings: camera white balance, sRGB colour and the full sensor resolution, up to 16,384 pixels a side.

For exposure, colour and lens corrections, develop the CR2 in Lightroom, darktable or RawTherapee instead; this converter gives a quick, faithful result without edits.

CR2 vs PNG: the differences

About CR2 and PNG files

What is a CR2 file?

CR2 is the raw format of Canon's EOS cameras, from the EOS-1D Mark II in 2004 until Canon moved to CR3 around 2018. It is built on TIFF and holds the unprocessed sensor data together with a full-size JPEG preview.

What is a PNG file?

PNG compresses without losing a single pixel, so screenshots and text stay razor sharp, but a photograph saved as PNG is often three to five times the size of the same photo as JPG.

CR2 to PNG not working? Common problems

• "Files up to 25 MB can be converted." Server conversions have a size limit, and raw files from high-resolution cameras can pass it. Switch the camera to its compressed raw setting, or develop very large files in a desktop raw editor.
• "This file is not really in CR2 format." The converter checks every file before it runs anything, so a file of another format renamed to .cr2 is refused. Choose the page for its real format.
• "The photo could not be read." The decoder on our server, LibRaw 0.20, knows cameras released up to about 2020. Raw files from newer models, and Canon CR3 and Sigma X3F files, may not open.
• The colours look flat. The photo is developed neutrally, without the contrast and styles a camera adds to its own JPGs. Adjust it in a photo editor.

Convert CR2 to PNG from the command line

LibRaw and ImageMagick do the same on your own computer:

dcraw_emu -w -o 1 -q 3 -T input.cr2
magick input.cr2.tiff output.png

Converting on your own computer keeps the file entirely local, which is worth it for very large or very sensitive documents. For everything else, the converter on this page does it without installing anything.