Add your ARW file
Drop one or more .arw files onto the converter above, or browse for them. They load into browser memory only — nothing is uploaded, so there is no size-based pricing and no server queue.
ARW to AVIF
Developing a .arw camera file into .avif turns unprocessed sensor data into a finished image any app can open. Free, private, and validated — the file never leaves your browser.
100% private for supported formats
Runs on your deviceConvert supported files
Drop ARW files here
Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.
Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.About converting Sony RAW to AVIF image
Developing a .arw camera file into .avif turns unprocessed sensor data into a finished image any app can open. An .arw file is a Sony Alpha RAW photograph holding unprocessed sensor data from Sony's mirrorless and DSLR cameras. Since Sony sensors also power much of the industry, .arw files from bodies like the a7 series are among the most common RAW files in circulation today.
An .avif file stores a still image (or sequence) coded with the AV1 video codec inside a HEIF-derived container. It is currently among the most efficient image formats deployed on the web, routinely beating JPEG by half at similar quality while adding HDR, wide gamut, and alpha. For this route the practical draw is best-in-class compression among widely supported web formats and 10/12-bit HDR and wide-gamut color, which JPEG cannot represent — balanced against encoding is much slower than JPEG or WebP, especially at high effort settings, which is worth knowing before you commit a large batch.
Why convert ARW to AVIF?
The practical trigger for this conversion is usually a mismatch: with .arw, legacy lossy-only compression on older bodies occasionally shows artifacts under heavy editing. Switching to .avif buys you best-in-class compression among widely supported web formats, which is why it is the better fit for serving hero images and photo galleries where bandwidth savings are significant. Because the conversion runs locally, trying it costs nothing but a few seconds of compute on your own machine.
ARW vs AVIF at a glance
| Aspect | Sony RAW (.arw) | AVIF image (.avif) |
|---|---|---|
| Format type | Lossless — every pixel or sample is preserved exactly | Lossy — discards detail it judges invisible to shrink files |
| How it stores data | tIFF-based layout carrying Bayer mosaic data at 12 or 14 bits per photosite | encodes AV1 intra frames; both lossy and a mathematically lossless mode are defined |
| Strongest at | raw development from Sony a1/a7/a9/a6000-series and RX cameras | serving hero images and photo galleries where bandwidth savings are significant |
| Weak spot | legacy lossy-only compression on older bodies occasionally shows artifacts under heavy editing | encoding is much slower than JPEG or WebP, especially at high effort settings |
| Metadata | standard EXIF plus Sony MakerNotes covering lens corrections, focus data, and camera settings; XMP edits are typically stored in sidecar files by raw editors | eXIF and XMP are stored as metadata items in the HEIF container alongside ICC profiles or CICP color signaling, and mainstream encoders preserve them on conversion |
Pick AVIF as the output
Select .avif in the output menu next to each file. The menu only offers targets this engine can genuinely produce, so if AVIF is selectable, the route is real and validated.
Convert on your device
Press Convert. A LibRaw WebAssembly decoder demosaics the sensor data in your browser and renders a developed image ready for export.
Verify and download
Each result is signature-checked before the download unlocks, so a failed encode can never masquerade as a valid AVIF file. Outputs keep the original filename with the .avif extension.
ARW to AVIF questions, answered
Will converting ARW to AVIF lose quality?
Some. Since arw is lossless-oriented and avif is lossy-oriented, the encoder will discard detail it judges least visible; the quality slider controls how aggressive that is. Keep the original .arw if you may need a pristine master later.
Is it private to convert ARW files here?
Yes — the .arw file is processed inside your browser tab and never uploaded. A LibRaw WebAssembly decoder demosaics the sensor data in your browser and renders a developed image ready for export. Close the tab and the file is gone from memory.
Where will the AVIF file work?
Chrome 85+ (2020), Firefox 93+ (2021), and Safari 16+ (2022) render AVIF natively, covering the overwhelming majority of current browsers. On the desktop, macOS 13+ and Windows (via the AV1 Video Extension) preview it, but plenty of older editing and printing software cannot open it yet.
Will the AVIF file be bigger or smaller than my ARW?
Smaller, usually dramatically so — that is the main reason this route exists. The quality slider trades size against fidelity; the default sits at the point where most people cannot spot the difference.
What happens to the metadata in my ARW file?
In .arw, standard EXIF plus Sony MakerNotes covering lens corrections, focus data, and camera settings; XMP edits are typically stored in sidecar files by raw editors. Re-encoding through the browser pipeline does not carry embedded metadata into the output, which doubles as a privacy scrub — check the exported file if you specifically need tags preserved.