5 file types use the .raw file extension.

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What is a RAW file?

A RAW file is a photo created by a digital camera, such as a Panasonic, Leica, or Casio camera. It contains raw image data captured by a digital camera's CCD . Professional photographers often work with RAW files, since they can more accurately edit images stored in the RAW format.

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How to open a RAW file

How to convert a RAW file

Category: Camera Raw Files

Dolphin Virtual SD Card

A RAW file may also be a virtual SD card created for use with the Dolphin video game console emulator . It contains data that would typically be stored on a Nintendo Wii's SD card, such as saved games. RAW files are typically named sd.raw .

Dolphin is a multiplatform program that allows gamers to play Nintendo GameCube and Wii video games on their PCs. It allows players to load game- and console-related data from, and save data to, many different types of files, including RAW files.

Each RAW file acts as a virtual Nintendo Wii SD card. Dolphin can load data from and save data to this file, just as a real Wii would load data from and save data to an SD card. For example, players can load saved games from an sd.raw file. They also can load data required by certain homebrew applications, which need an SD card (and data stored on that SD card) to function.

How to create an SD.RAW file

Gamers can use Dolphin itself or the Virtual SD Card Maker utility (multiplatform) to create an sd.raw file. For complete instructions, refer to Dolphin's documentation .

sd.raw - The typical name assigned to Dolphin virtual SD cards.

To mount an sd.raw file in Dolphin (multiplatform):

You can also use Dolphin to edit an sd.raw file's contents as though the file were an actual SD card. For more information, refer to Dolphin's documentation .

Programs that open or reference RAW files

Updated: November 16, 2022

Raw Audio Data

A RAW file contains uncompressed digital audio created using Pulse-Code Modulation ( PCM ). This raw data is saved in a binary format. RAW files do not contain a file header or use an audio codec .

Because RAW files do not contain a file header, you may have trouble playing them in some media players. These media players require metadata that would typically be stored in an audio file's header to play audio correctly. Thus, they cannot play RAW files.

Many more-common types of audio files, including .WAV and .AIFF files, contain audio data created using Pulse-Code Modulation. However, these files contain a file header and use a recognized audio container format, allowing most popular media players to play them correctly.

You can open a RAW file with Audacity (multiplatform), MPlayer (multiplatform), or Adobe Audition (Windows, Mac).

Audacity , Adobe Audition , and FMJ-Software Awave Studio can convert RAW files to other audio formats. For example, Audacity can convert RAW files to the following formats:

Programs that open RAW files

Updated: November 16, 2022

Fedora Linux Disk Image

A RAW file may also be a disk image used to install a Fedora Linux operating system . It contains a raw, binary copy of the operating system's data. RAW files are typically named for the operating system they are used to install and the architecture of the machine on which they are meant to be installed.

Fedora Linux is a popular Linux distribution. Users can install various versions of the operating system on PCs, servers, and other devices.

Users install Fedora Linux using disk images that contain a raw copy of the operating system. These images are saved in many formats, including .ISO , .QCOW2 , and RAW.

RAW files' filenames include the operating system they are used to install and the architecture on which they are meant to be installed. For example, a RAW file named Fedora-Server-25-1.2.aarch64.raw contains a copy of the Fedora Server operating system that is meant to be installed on an AArch64 machine.

You can use a RAW disk image to install the Fedora Linux operating system it contains on an appropriate device. To do so, boot your device from a USB or other drive containing the RAW disk image.

Programs that open or reference RAW files

Updated: April 29, 2022

X-ray Diffractometer Results

A RAW file may also be a data file created by an X-ray diffractometer. It contains the results of an X-ray diffraction analysis, used to determine a material's composition and structure. Several companies' X-ray diffractometers save results as RAW files.

An X-ray diffractometer shoots X-rays at a material and measures the resulting scattering pattern to determine the material's structure. Various scientists, including material scientists and structural biologists, use diffractometers to analyze materials' composition.

After performing a diffractometer analysis, scientists can often save the results of that analysis as a file. Several models of X-ray diffractometers, including devices produced by Siemens, Bruker, DiffracPlus, STOE, and MAC Science, save analysis results as RAW files. Scientists can use various programs and utilities to open these files, analyze the results they contain (usually shown as a spectrum and graph), and convert them to other formats.

You can open RAW files with ICDD JADE Pattern Converter (Web), PowDLL (Windows), MacDiff (Mac), and other X-ray diffractometer results analysis and conversion utilities. Note that, because different diffractometers save results differently, these programs may be able to open some types of RAW files but not others.

You can use ICDD JADE Pattern Converter (Web), PowDLL (Windows), and MacDiff (Mac) to convert RAW files to other X-ray diffractometer results formats and, often, the .TXT format.

Programs that open RAW files

Updated: April 13, 2023