You may have a situation where your friends sent you photos in “.cr2” format, but for some reason your image viewer does not want to open them.
Or perhaps you reinstalled Windows and these files stopped opening. Now we will tell you how to open cr2 and what kind of format it is.
About the cr2 format
Its full name is Canon Raw Image File (abbreviated RAW). This format created by Canon to prevent loss of photo quality. Therefore, photographs are large in size.
But at the same time, the cr2 format also contains text information about the photo and the conditions in which it was taken and when editing you can very clearly, without loss of quality, change the brightness, contrast, white balance and other image properties
Essentially, this is raw data that is obtained directly from the sensor of a Canon camera - in most cases this is not a professional camera (a regular DSLR).
Naturally, cr2 can be converted to jpg, or any other graphic format you need. We'll talk about this a little later in the article.
Programs for opening cr2
Canon usually provides tools for working with their format, but their programs are not very user-friendly. But this is not a problem, there are many programs that can easily open the cr2 format.
Among them:
We will use the demon paid program FastStone Image Viewer, which is the first on our list. Since no one is forcing us to use a paid program for these purposes.
Once installed and launched, you will see this convenient interface, where everything is clear and understandable:
To convert cr2 to jpg Just select the photo you want, and then press the key combination Ctrl+S, or click “Save As” in the menu and select JPEG from the drop-down list:
Well, that's all. This question should not arise again.
Used in Canon cameras. It is also known as “digital negatives”, a format chosen by photographers for its extensive editing capabilities during digital processing. Their ability to preserve is also attractive. large number image details. The disadvantage of this format is its huge size, which causes certain difficulties in storing and distributing this type of format. Additionally, CR2 files are not compatible with a number of image viewing applications and are not accepted by image sharing sites.
JPG is one of the most popular image formats in use today. Its main advantage is the ability to store images good quality in small files. This is possible due to the type of compression used. The mechanism of this type of compression prioritizes some parts of the image over others, preserving high-quality areas of the image that are most visible to the human eye.
How to convert CR2 to JPG?
The easiest way is to download good program conversions, for example Photo Converter. It works quickly and efficiently, allowing you to convert any number of CR2 files at once. You will be able to quickly appreciate that Photo Converter can save a lot of time that you will spend when working manually.
Download and install Photo Converter
The photo converter is easy to download, install and use - you don't need to be a computer expert to understand how it works.
Add CR2 files to Photo Converter
Launch Photo Converter and load the .cr2 files you want to convert to .jpg
You can select CR2 files through the menu Files → Add files or simply transfer them to the Photo Converter window.
Select a location to save the received JPG files
Select JPG as the save format
To select JPG as the saving format, click on the icon JPG at the bottom of the screen, or the button + to add the ability to write to this format.
Now just press the button Start and the conversion will begin instantly, and JPG file You will be saved to the specified location with the necessary parameters and effects.
Try the free demoVideo instructions
If you yourself or have been photographed with a Canon camera, then as a result you will receive images in CR2 format that cannot be viewed without special programs, upload to social networks or other photo sharing applications. In this case, these images should be converted into some convenient and common format, for example, JPEG. Let's figure out how to do this.
After conversion, pictures can be viewed using normal means and posted on networks.
Canon's proprietary format is good for its properties, which provide wide possibilities for digital processing and also preserve many details of the image. Its main disadvantages are, as we have already said, low compatibility with most applications and the large size of photos, which makes it difficult to store them both on the computer’s hard drive and on the camera’s memory card. For convenient use, these photos should be modified.
IMPORTANT. JPG is one of the main image types used today in both computer applications and almost all digital cameras.
Its advantages:
- high compression ratio, hence low file weight;
- The photos are of good quality when they are small in size;
- color depth 24 bits;
- It is easy to convert any images into it.
Flaws:
- the stronger the compression, the worse the quality;
- does not support transparency option.
Convert to JPEG
There are two main ways to convert a photo to JPG:
- software suitable for operating system your computer or smartphone;
- using online converters.
Method 1
To do this, you need to select and download the appropriate program. The most famous is Adobe Photoshop. It has versions running on Windows, Mac OS, Android and IOS. The main drawback is that it is paid. Free ones include XnView, FastStone Image Viewer, GIMP and IrfanView. Most similar to Photoshop program GIMP.
The least important are FastStone Image Viewer (very simple and understandable for any beginner) and IrfanView (requires a separate plugin). XnView is a multifunctional utility. With its help, you can convert your pictures not only to JPG, but also to 50 different options!
It is very convenient when you can convert several images at once. Photoshop and GIMP allow you to process the largest amount at a time. And of course, with their help, any picture can be edited by changing saturation, white balance and other parameters, as well as applying various effects. More detailed review Conversion programs can be found in our other article.
Method 2
If you do not want or cannot for any reason download and install conversion utilities, online converters are suitable for you. To work with them, just type the phrase “convert online CR2 to JPEG” into the search bar in your browser, and choose the one most convenient for you from the proposed options.
Now you know how to take CR2 format photos JPG images using applications on your computer and smartphone, and how to change them using online converters. We will be very glad if you share your experience in converting photos in the comments!
Announcement
CR2 Raster image file format
CR2 files (Canon Raw Version 2) are RAW image files used by Canon cameras. They contain information directly from the sensor. Just like JPG or PNG files, they cannot be viewed. When saved in RAW format, such images can be edited in very high resolution and with less loss of quality (the fact is that editing files in JPG or other image formats significantly reduces the quality of the photo). Images in CR2 format cannot be printed. In addition, they cannot be edited by programs for raster images. Basically, RAW files are an electronic version of film negatives.
Technical Information About CR2 Files
RAW images - such as CR2 files - are processed by the RAW file converter in an internal wide-gamut color space before being converted into a format that is easy to print, share, upload and download. RAW image colors (CR2 type) are recorded in 12 or 14 bits. It uses lossless compression technology. The name of the format - CR2 - comes from the name of the CRW format, which Canon used on the 350D, 1D, G9 and 20D. CR2 files are based on TIFF format. They can be processed in the same way as TIFF files. They could be opened using Microsoft’s Digital Image 2006, which was no longer supported in 2007.
Additional information about the CR2 format
File extension | .cr2 |
File category | |
Example file | (22.2 MiB) |
Related programs | Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Paint Shop Pro Picasa digiKam |