How to use it
- Drop in DNG files.
- Each is developed with the recorded white balance.
- Download the JPGs.
About DNG
Adobe published the Digital Negative format in 2004 as an openly documented raw format anyone could use, built on TIFF. Some camera makers adopted it directly, including Leica, Pentax, Ricoh and Hasselblad in certain models. Adobe's free DNG Converter translates other makers' raws into DNG, and phones use it too: Apple ProRAW, Google Pixel raw and Samsung Expert RAW all save DNG files.
Phone DNGs are big
A ProRAW file from a 48 MP iPhone can be 75 MB or more, because it stores far more data than a HEIC. Converting a batch of them to JPG is a practical way to share shots without sending enormous files. On the phone itself, large results may be scaled to fit memory; a computer converts them at full size.
Computational processing
Phone DNGs such as ProRAW already contain some of the phone's multi-frame processing, which is why they look better than traditional raw files from small sensors. Some of Apple's and Google's final tone mapping lives in extra metadata that general raw libraries apply only partly, so results can look a little flatter than the photo did on the phone.
RAW and JPG compared
| RAW | JPG | |
|---|---|---|
| First released | Late 1990s, varies by maker | 1992 |
| Compression | Sensor data, uncompressed or lightly compressed | Lossy |
| Transparency | No | No |
| Animation or pages | No (holds a JPEG preview) | No |
| Best for | Editing photos with the most latitude | Photos for sharing, email and print |
| Support | Raw editors and camera software; not browsers | Universal |
Questions people ask
Can I convert iPhone ProRAW files?
Yes. ProRAW photos are DNG files, and they convert here.
Why is my DNG so large?
DNG keeps sensor-level data. Phone ProRAW files in particular are often 25 to 75 MB.
What is the difference between DNG and other raws?
DNG is an openly documented format used by several makers; CR3, NEF and ARW are specific to one brand.