# RevelRaw

> RevelRaw is a native Mac RAW photo editor with 50+ scene-matched presets, free selective masks and batch editing. It supports major camera brands, with the deepest support for Sony Alpha. Photos stay on your Mac: no cloud, account or telemetry.

## Key facts

- Current version: 4.8, available on the Mac App Store.
- Category: PhotographyApplication / RAW photo editor for macOS.
- Requirements: macOS 26 or later, Apple M1 or later. AI click-to-select masks require macOS 27; gradients and brush work on macOS 26 and later.
- Developer: Daniel Tello, independent developer and photographer.
- Website: https://revelraw.com/ · App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/revelraw/id6773942240
- Website languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Italian and Portuguese.
- Free: unlimited opening, editing, masks, comparing and syncing, plus one full-quality single-photo export. Masks do not require Pro.
- Pro: unlimited exports and batch export. US prices: $3.99/month, $24.99/year or $94.99 once for lifetime access. Regional prices: https://revelraw.com/prices.json

## Content as Markdown (for agents)

- Replace `.html` with `.md`, or append `.md` to extensionless page URLs. The English homepage is https://revelraw.com/index.md; translated homepages use `index.es.md`, `index.ja.md`, `index.de.md`, `index.fr.md`, `index.it.md` and `index.pt.md`.
- HTML pages advertise their mirrors with `<link rel="alternate" type="text/markdown">`. Mirrors contain the same page content.
- Full English site: https://revelraw.com/llms-full.txt · Blog feed: https://revelraw.com/blog/feed.xml · Sitemap: https://revelraw.com/sitemap.xml

## What it does

- Opens 24 RAW formats, including Sony ARW/SR2/SRF, Canon CR3/CR2/CRW, Nikon NEF/NRW, Fujifilm RAF, Panasonic RW2, Olympus/OM System ORF, DNG incl. iPhone ProRAW, plus Pentax, Leica, Hasselblad, Phase One, Samsung, Epson, Minolta, Kodak and Leaf. Camera model and compression mode affect compatibility.
- Ranks 50+ presets using on-device AI scene detection, each with a one-line description. They include film looks inspired by classic slide, negative, cine and black-and-white film. The film family (14 new in 4.8, plus two renamed 4.7 looks): Standard Slide, Vivid Slide, Soft Slide, Chrome Documentary, Pastel Negative, Retro Negative, Amber Negative, Studio Negative, Studio Negative Hi, Faithful Negative, Cine Flat, Cine Bypass, Fine Grain Mono, Fine Grain Mono Yellow, Fine Grain Mono Red and Fine Grain Mono Green. These are RevelRaw's own looks, not recreations of any camera maker's film simulations.
- Selective edits: up to three mask layers per photo, each with its own exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, warmth, tint, saturation, clarity and sharpening, plus Feather, Amount, Invert and brush refinement. Linear/radial gradients and brush work on macOS 26+. Click a face, sky or background to select it on macOS 27. Apple's selection model downloads on first use; photo processing stays on the Mac. Feature details: https://revelraw.com/#masks
- Sync, Copy and Paste gradient and brush layers across compatible photos; AI selections are not copied. Open folders or multiple RAW files, reorder the filmstrip and sync chosen settings with one-step batch undo. Pro adds batch export to a folder.
- Imports compatible Lightroom .xmp presets and .cube color LUTs. Supported Lightroom adjustments can also come from DNG or accessible XMP sidecars. A photo's crop and straighten angle come across too; Adobe profiles, Lightroom masks and catalogs do not, and rendering can differ.
- Global controls include Auto/As Shot/Kelvin white balance, RGB tone curves, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, vibrance, saturation, sharpening, clarity, Structure, Dehaze, color grading, 8-band HSL (hue, saturation and luminance; red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, purple, magenta), vignette, grain and faded blacks, plus AI denoise, undo/redo, before/after comparison and six crop overlays. Highlights and shadows follow the photo's local tones, with no halos along edges.
- Since 4.5: lens corrections (auto profiles; Distortion, Chromatic Aberration and Vignetting sliders), Straighten with Auto horizon and a Level line, dust-spot Heal, and pick/reject flags with 0–5 stars (stars written to RAW .xmp sidecars). All free; exporting only the picks needs Pro.
- Since 4.7: a halo-free highlights/shadows process (older edits keep their look; Update moves a photo to it), Structure and Dehaze sliders, faster editing on large RAW files, and one Settings switch that turns off on-device AI features (AI Denoise, tap-to-select masks, Auto straighten). All free.
- Since 4.8: 14 new film looks inspired by classic slide, negative, cine and black-and-white film; 8-band HSL with colored slider tracks, and Lightroom presets' HSL now imports; RevelRaw's own looks re-tuned to protect skin tones and keep highlights soft; a one-line description under each look. Renamed looks: Fuji Velvia is now Vivid Slide and Kodak Portra is now Pastel Negative; old edits keep their look. All free; requirements unchanged.
- Exports JPEG, PNG, 8-/16-bit TIFF and HEIF in sRGB, Display P3 or Adobe RGB, with destination presets and author, copyright, license, caption, keywords, location and GPS metadata. A Location option strips GPS on export (default for Social and Web presets).

## FAQ

- Does RevelRaw have masks? Yes. Since version 4.4, RevelRaw includes free selective edits with brush, gradients and up to three mask layers. AI click-to-select needs macOS 27. Lightroom masks are not imported.
- Does editing need internet? Processing and export run locally. Downloading the app, purchasing Pro and the initial Apple selection-model download need internet; photos are not uploaded.
- Which camera files work? Check https://revelraw.com/formats and use the free export to test a file from your camera.

## Brand hubs

Every brand hub below is also available in Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Italian and Portuguese — append .es, .ja, .de, .fr, .it or .pt to the URL (e.g. https://revelraw.com/canon.ja):

- [Canon RAW editing on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/canon): the three Canon RAW formats (CR3, CR2, CRW), opening and converting guides, editor comparisons for the R50, R6 Mark II and R8, Lightroom alternatives, plus Picture Style and RF-S lens-correction gotchas.

- [Sony RAW editing on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/sony): the deepest hub: Sony's three RAW formats (ARW, SR2, SRF), how-to and convert guides, editor comparisons (a7 IV / a7 III / a6700), Lightroom alternatives, film look. Creative Looks and ARW compression notes.
- [Nikon RAW editing on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/nikon): NEF (DSLR and Z bodies since 1999) and NRW (Coolpix) guides. Key facts: Picture Controls are metadata only NX Studio renders; High Efficiency RAW needs macOS 26+ or an editor that supports it; Lossless Compressed is the safe default.
- [Fujifilm RAW editing on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/fujifilm): RAF files from X-series and GFX. Key facts: Film Simulations are metadata, rendered faithfully only by the camera engine or X RAW Studio; X-Trans demosaicing differs visibly between editors.
- [Panasonic RAW editing on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/panasonic): RW2 from Lumix mirrorless and advanced compacts. Key facts: Photo Styles are metadata; Lumix lenses rely on embedded corrections, and software skipping them shows distortion that is not a lens fault.
- [Olympus and OM System RAW editing on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/om-system): ORF from OM-D, PEN and OM System bodies. Key facts: the format didn't change with the 2021 rename; Art Filters are metadata only OM Workspace renders; High Res Shot ORFs are 50-80 MP.

## RAW format guides

What each camera RAW format is, which cameras write it, and how to open it on a Mac. Every guide below and each format's landing page (e.g. https://revelraw.com/cr3) also exists in Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Italian and Portuguese: append .es, .ja, .de, .fr, .it or .pt to the URL (before .html on blog guides):

- [All RAW formats RevelRaw opens](https://revelraw.com/formats): overview of every supported format, brand by brand
- [CR3 — Canon RAW, third generation](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-a-cr3-file.html): EOS R mirrorless and recent EOS bodies; modern container, C-RAW compact option
- [CR2 — Canon RAW, second generation](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-a-cr2-file.html): Canon DSLRs from 2004 to the CR3 era
- [CRW — Canon's first RAW](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-a-crw-file.html): early EOS and PowerShot bodies, ~2000–2004
- [NEF — Nikon Electronic Format](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-a-nef-file.html): every Nikon DSLR and Z mirrorless body; Lossless Compressed vs High Efficiency RAW
- [NRW — Nikon Coolpix RAW](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-an-nrw-file.html): advanced Coolpix compacts
- [RAF — Fujifilm RAW](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-a-raf-file.html): X-series (X-Trans) and GFX bodies
- [RW2 — Panasonic Lumix RAW](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-an-rw2-file.html): Lumix mirrorless and advanced compacts
- [ORF — Olympus / OM System RAW](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-an-orf-file.html): OM-D, PEN and OM-1/3/5 bodies
- [SR2 — Sony's pre-Alpha RAW](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-an-sr2-file.html): the DSC-R1 bridge camera, last stop before ARW
- [SRF — Sony's first RAW](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-an-srf-file.html): early Cyber-shot F828 and V3
- [DNG — iPhone ProRAW](https://revelraw.com/proraw): ProRAW from iPhone Pro bodies plus drone, Android and DNG Converter files — moving them to a Mac and editing with real RAW latitude. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.

## Free tools

All run in-browser; nothing is uploaded:

- [RAW EXIF viewer](https://revelraw.com/exif-viewer): drop a RAW, JPEG, HEIC, PNG, WebP or TIFF and read the full EXIF tag table plus the embedded JPEG preview. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt. Parser: MIT ES module at https://revelraw.com/exif-viewer.js, works in Node.
- [RAW to JPEG converter](https://revelraw.com/raw-to-jpeg): drop any camera RAW (ARW, CR3, CR2, NEF, RAF, ORF, RW2, DNG incl. iPhone ProRAW) and download the camera's embedded JPEG instantly, no size limit, no account. Reports preview resolution and EXIF/GPS presence.
- [Free sample RAW files (CC0)](https://revelraw.com/sample-raw-files): 14 public-domain RAW files, one per format (ARW, CR3, CR2, NEF, RAF, RW2, ORF, DNG incl. iPhone ProRAW, CRW, NRW, SR2, SRF), each tested on macOS 27. Direct downloads, no account.
- [RAW storage calculator](https://revelraw.com/raw-storage-calculator): RAW photos per card (32 GB–2 TB), 922 cameras, per RAW mode

## Blog

Practical guides for photographers who edit RAW on a Mac — Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm and more. This section is curated; the full list is one link away.

- [Every blog post, newest first](https://revelraw.com/blog/index.md): the complete list with dates and one-line summaries, rebuilt on every publish. Each post also has a Markdown mirror (replace .html with .md). RSS: https://revelraw.com/blog/feed.xml

Guide families (one page per item; translations insert the language code before .html):

- Open a RAW format on a Mac: https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-<format>-files-on-mac.html for arw, cr2, cr3, crw, dng, nef, nrw, orf, raf, rw2. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
- Convert RAW to JPEG on a Mac: https://revelraw.com/blog/convert-<format>-to-jpeg-mac.html for arw, cr2, cr3, nef, orf, raf, rw2. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt. DNG and iPhone ProRAW: https://revelraw.com/blog/dng-to-jpg.html.
- Best photo editing software per camera: https://revelraw.com/blog/best-photo-editing-software-<camera>.html for sony-a7-iii, sony-a7-iv, sony-a7r-v, sony-a6700, canon-r5-ii, canon-r6-ii, canon-r8, canon-r50, nikon-z8, nikon-z6-iii, nikon-zf, fuji-x-t5, fuji-x100vi. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
- Lightroom alternatives per brand: https://revelraw.com/blog/lightroom-alternative-<brand>-mac.html for sony, canon, nikon, fujifilm. Sony and Fujifilm also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
- Film look from RAW per brand: https://revelraw.com/blog/film-look-<brand>-raw.html for sony, canon, fujifilm. Sony also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.

### Open and convert RAW files

- [Open RAW on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-raw-files-on-mac.html): 27 files, 24 formats, macOS 27; 25 open natively.
- [How to Open ARW Files on a Mac (2026 Guide)](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-arw-files-on-mac.html): Three ways to open Sony ARW on a Mac. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
- [How to Open CR3 Files on a Mac (Free and Paid Ways, 2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-cr3-files-on-mac.html): Three ways to open CR3; brand-new bodies and the RAW+JPEG workaround. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
- [Mac RAW Won't Open](https://revelraw.com/blog/raw-files-wont-open-on-mac.html): Why new RAW files fail on Mac and the workarounds that fix them.
- [What Is an ARW File? Sony's RAW Format, Explained](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-an-arw-file.html): Alpha RAW = sensor data + metadata + preview JPEG; why it looks flat; three compressions. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
- [Convert RAW to JPEG on a Mac (Any Camera, 2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/convert-raw-to-jpeg-mac.html): Preview, Photos, sips (ARW/CR3/NEF/RAF) or edit first; JPEG 85–90, sRGB, keep the RAW. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.

### Choose an editor

- [7 Lightroom Alternatives With No Subscription (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/lightroom-alternative-no-subscription.html): Seven editors without a monthly bill, plus what happens when Lightroom lapses. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
- [10 Best Lightroom Alternatives for Mac in 2026](https://revelraw.com/blog/best-lightroom-alternative.html): Ten Lightroom alternatives compared on RAW support, speed, privacy and price.
- [10 Offline Photo Editor Picks for Private Editing (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/offline-photo-editor.html): Ten offline editors for private on-device editing, with network-off tests.
- [Best Free RAW Image Editor in 2026: 7 Tools Reviewed](https://revelraw.com/blog/raw-image-editor-free.html): Seven free RAW tools compared on control, platforms, color and export.
- [Raw Photo Editor for Mac: 7 Picks Compared (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/raw-photo-editor-for-mac.html): Seven Mac RAW editors sorted by the decision that actually picks one.

### Edit and export

- [How to Edit RAW Images on Mac Without Losing Quality (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/edit-raw-images.html): Mac RAW order: import, WB, tone, crop, denoise, sharpening and export.
- [How to Edit RAW Pictures on a Mac (2026 Guide)](https://revelraw.com/blog/edit-raw-pictures.html): Mac card-to-export order: format checks, presets, WB, masks, denoise, sync, export.
- [How to Fix Grainy Photos: RAW Denoise Guide (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-fix-grainy-photos.html): Exposure and WB first, chroma before luminance, sharpen last — without waxing skin.
- [How to Fix an Overexposed Photo Without Losing Detail (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-fix-an-overexposed-photo.html): RAW vs JPEG recoverability; Highlights → Whites → Exposure → curve → masks.
- [Instagram photo export settings (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/best-instagram-export-settings.html): Instagram export sizes, sRGB and quality settings that survive upload.
- [How to Get the Film Look from a Sony RAW File](https://revelraw.com/blog/film-look-sony-raw.html): Build a film look from Sony ARW: Creative Styles as head start, then grade and grain.

### Data studies

- [Sony Compressed vs Uncompressed vs Lossless RAW (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/sony-compressed-vs-uncompressed-raw.html): 60 ARWs, 14 bodies: Compressed ~2,000 tonal steps; Lossless L keeps 14 bits at 0.56–0.72× size.
- [How Big Is a RAW File? Sizes for 930 Cameras (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-big-is-a-raw-file.html): 1,840 files, 930 cameras: ~27 MB/shot today, ~1 MB per MP compressed; photos per 32–512 GB card.

## Links

- [Product demo (24-second video)](https://revelraw.com/demo): open a RAW file from any major camera, choose from six looks picked for the photo by AI scene detection, then fine-tune with the tone curve. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt (e.g. https://revelraw.com/demo.ja).

- [Home](https://revelraw.com/): product overview, screenshots and FAQ
- [About](https://revelraw.com/about): who builds RevelRaw, how it is funded, and the app at a glance
- [Contact](https://revelraw.com/contact): support, privacy, legal and security contacts, with response expectations
- [Blog](https://revelraw.com/blog/): Practical RAW and ProRAW photo workflows for creators and photographers on Mac.
- [RAW formats](https://revelraw.com/formats): every RAW format RevelRaw opens, with a guide per format
- [Blog RSS feed](https://revelraw.com/blog/feed.xml): subscribe to new guides
- [Mac App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/revelraw/id6773942240): download RevelRaw for macOS
- [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/revelraw.app/): RevelRaw on Instagram
- [Privacy Policy](https://revelraw.com/legal/privacy.html): on-device, no-tracking privacy terms
- [Terms of Use](https://revelraw.com/legal/terms.html): usage terms
- [Sitemap](https://revelraw.com/sitemap.xml): all indexable URLs

<!-- creators:start -->
## Photo workflows for creators

- [Photo editing for creators](https://revelraw.com/creators): RAW and ProRAW on Mac, selected sync, individual review, free editing and Pro export limits. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
- [Batch edit photos for Instagram (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/batch-edit-photos-for-instagram.html): Pick a reference, sync chosen adjustments, watch changing light; batch editing vs Pro batch export. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
- [Consistent Instagram photos (2026)](https://revelraw.com/blog/consistent-instagram-photos.html): A reference image, a shared palette, per-photo corrections, and when a preset needs adapting. Also in es/ja/de/fr/it/pt.
<!-- creators:end -->