How to convert RAW files to JPEG?

[rkulkarni]

I have a bunch of raw files and I am not sure how to convert them to JPEG.  I sure would appreciate some help with this.  Thank you

[Skirball]

I think Lightroom is the best all around program for general workflow, but there are many options out there.

If you're looking for a free program I've had good luck with Picasa's standalone editor.  I'm sure there are dozens of other free choices that will work fine.  What camera are they from?

[Harv]

As you are posting on the Canon forum, I will assume you are using a Canon camera.  Your camera came with the software you need.  It's called Digital Photo Professional.  It will also have the user manual for the software.

[hsbn]

If it is just a one time thing, you can use Irfanview. It's fast, free, light but doesn't have a lot of adjustments.

[ebiggs1]

"I think Lightroom is the best ..."  (Boy this is getting scary!)

DPP comes with the camera for free and it certainly works. Even does batch processing. But as was mentioned Lightroom 5.2 is the best. 

[TCampbell]

Unless you're on a Mac... in which case I usually recommend Aperture instead.  Lightroom was developed to compete with Aperture (not the other way around.)  Aperture costs about half the price.

[JoeN]

When you purchased your camera you should have received a disc with Digital Photo Professional, DPP, on it. Install DPP and open the program. Select one of your raw files and click on it to highlight it. At the top of the page click on FILE and you will get a dropdown box. Now click on CONVERT AND SAVE. A new window will open and you should see the file name of the image you selected in the box labeled FILE NAME. In the box below that you should see JPEG in the box labeled SAVE AS TYPE. Click on save and the raw file will be converted to jpeg and saved along side the raw file.

Lightroom is a great program and I use it but DPP is a good program to use especially if you don't have any other processing software. You can do a lot of basic editing in DP and you may find that it is all you need. Before you spend any money on photo editing software spend some time using DPP to get a feel for what editing is all about and then begin to look at other programs.

[JoeN]

When you bought your camera you should have received a disc with Digital Photo Professiona, DPP, on it. Install DPP on your computer and then open the program. You should see a list of all your files on the left side of the window. Select a raw file and click on it. Now, click on FILE and you should get a drop down window. Scroll down and click on CONVERT AND SAVE. A new window should open and in the box labeled FILE NAME you should see the name of the file you selected. Below that you should see SAVE AS TYPE and in that box you should see Exif-JPEG. Click on the save button to the right and DPP will convert the file to JPEG and save it along side the raw file.

I would suggest that you use DPP for a while for basic editing and file conversion before you purchase any photo editing software. It is a good program and will do most of what you need to do at least while you are learning. Like many others I use Lightroom but I used DPP for a long time before I felt I needed something more powerful.

The instructions I gave are for a Windows computer. I am not sure how much difference there will be if you're using a Mac.

[ChristopherAdam]

How about fist exporting your raw files out from the camera, and loading and embedding raw files into a image converting tool that supports to convert and render raw files into jpeg image or any other raster image file?

[Mod note - Removed link per FORUM GUIDELINES]

[alxkohn]

I have also used picasa,, think I'll try it again.  I just got annother canon (50D) and am trying to "stick to" raw format.