Even if you have never used a professional camera, you would have encountered the term RAW. It is not a big surprise, either. Nowadays, even mid-range smartphones let you capture photographs in RAW format.

But even though RAW image formats are powerful and packed with information, they don't work well on all devices and across various software. As a result, you'll often need to convert RAW files to something more popular, like JPEG.

Fortunately, you don't have to worry about this as a Mac user, as you can convert these files without any third-party software. So, let's take a look.

What Are RAW Files and Why Convert Them?

RAW is an image file format that contains uncompressed image data that a camera sensor has captured. As opposed to JPEG, a processed format, RAW files will contain high levels of capture detail. As a result, RAW files provide advanced options for processing and manipulation.

Because of the RAW image format's customizability, many photographers capture photos in RAW instead of JPEG. As we said earlier, most smartphones come with a Pro mode, which lets you take pictures in RAW. But RAW files are not as compatible as they are customizable.

It means you cannot open or view RAW files as easily as JPEG photos. RAW files take up a lot of system storage as well. So, many photographers use tools like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom to convert RAW to JPEG files.

But you do not need a third-party app to convert RAW to JPEG on a Mac. Instead, you can do it using the built-in Preview app in macOS.

How to Convert RAW Files to JPEG With Preview in macOS

You can use this method to convert different types of RAW files to JPEG without installing third-party apps on your Mac.

In the first step, you can use Finder to locate the RAW files you want to convert.

Select files and open using Preview

Right-click on the RAW files and choose Open With > Preview.

Once it opens on Preview, you can make any edits to the image if you like.

Export Selected Images from File

After that, press Command + A to select all the files you have opened. Then, you can go to File > Export Selected Images.

Now, you can choose where you want to save the JPEG file.

You can see a pop-up window if you try to convert a single RAW file. Here, you can select JPEG as the format and the desired quality. Once you have selected these options, you can click the Save button.

Customization Options while Exporting

For instance, you can convert RAW files to formats other than JPEG. You may want to see which among JPEG, PNG, and GIF is best for you.

But if you are converting RAW files to JPEG in bulk, you may not see these customization options. In a second or two, Preview will convert the RAW files to JPEG and save them.

Easy RAW to JPEG Conversion on Your Mac

As you have seen, every Mac has what it takes to convert RAW files to JPEG easily. You can use the Preview app to convert files in bulk as well.

However, you may need third-party tools like Photoshop or Lightroom if you want advanced editing options. So, it's always worth having one of them installed on your Mac.