What even are RAW photos?<\/p>\n
Mobile RAW photos are more capable than you think<\/p>\n
When you take a JPEG photo, your phone decides what the photo should look like. The phone’s image processor looks at all the raw sensor data and makes a bunch of decisions about how to expose the image, how the colors should look, what parts need sharpening, and so on. Then it compresses everything into a finished image file that you can use wherever you want.<\/p>\n
![\"Raw](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/raw-and-jpeg-camera-settings-on-pixel-9a.JPG\"){kind=tracking}
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RAW is different. It’s the unprocessed, uncompressed image data straight from your camera sensor. The file format might vary from phone to phone, but what you’re getting is an image that preserves all the information your camera’s sensor captured without applying any processing.<\/p>\n
The result is an image with 12 to 14 bits of color information or more, depending on your camera. It has billions of color variations compared to JPEG’s measly 8 bits, and hence, a lot more room for editing in post-production. When compared to a JPEG, a RAW image will look a lot worse initially, but that’s because the camera just hands over everything it captured for you to figure out.<\/p>\n
![\"RAW](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/raw-images-taken-from-canon-dslr.JPG\")
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The file extension can also vary between devices. My Pixel 9a captures RAW images in DNG (Digital Negative) while my Canon 200D Mk1 captures them in CR2 (Canon Raw 2). Another major difference is file size. Since RAW images have a lot more data than JPEGs, they also have much bigger file sizes.<\/p>\n
Bringing back a botched photo<\/p>\n
Recovering details, fixing exposure, and saving photos you thought were gone<\/p>\n
When it comes to fixing a botched photo, the changes you need really depend on what the photo requires. A major problem with smartphone cameras is photo exposure. Auto-exposure metering can be unpredictable, but thanks to the data your RAW photos save, they become recoverable.<\/p>\n
I could recover a lot more details in the shadows of my RAW photos compared to JPEGs. I could brighten it up, recover detail I didn’t know was there, and actually make the photo look properly exposed.<\/p>\n
Here’s an example of an underexposed RAW image fixed with basic edits in Lightroom.<\/p>\n
The final image looks a lot better with the edits because it had the information my editor could use to bring back lost details. Most of the recovery process involves adjusting the exposure, highlights, and shadows sliders until you achieve the correct image exposure. Then you can add contrast, saturation, blacks, whites, and color grading to the mix to achieve the desired look.<\/p>\n
As for RAW editors on phone, Lightroom is one of the best photo editing apps around, regardless of whether you’re on a desktop or phone. However, it also requires a paid license. You can work with RAW files on Lightroom mobile for free, but if you’re looking for a completely free RAW editor, Snapseed does the job well.<\/p>\n
You can’t shoot everything in RAW<\/p>\n
RAW isn’t always king<\/p>\n
Before you start shooting everything in RAW, keep in mind that they take up a lot more space than JPEGs\u2014roughly 10 to 12 times more, depending on the camera. You’re going to burn through your local storage space fast, and if you’re backing these images to the cloud, that’s another storage management problem you need to deal with. There are situations where shooting and editing in JPEG is better<\/a>. <\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/person-taking-smartphone-photo-next-to-ocean-and-rocks-1.jpg\"\/)
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