RAF to JPG

Fujifilm photographers often shoot RAF plus JPEG because of the film simulations: Provia, Velvia, Classic Chrome, Acros and the rest are a big part of why people buy the cameras. The RAF files hold the sensor data for later editing. This page converts RAF to JPG either by developing the sensor data or by extracting the JPEG with your film simulation, right in the browser.

Film simulation lives in the JPEG

A film simulation is a color and tone recipe applied by the camera’s processor when it makes a JPEG. The RAF contains the raw sensor values and, separately, a preview JPEG made with your chosen simulation. If you shot RAF only and want the film look, “Embedded camera JPEG” is the way to get it without Fujifilm’s X RAW Studio. Developing the sensor data instead gives a neutral image without any simulation, a good base for your own editing.

Why X-Trans develops slowly

Most cameras use a Bayer filter pattern that repeats every two pixels. Fujifilm’s X-Trans sensors use a pseudo-random 6 × 6 pattern, which reduces moiré without an anti-aliasing filter but makes demosaicing much harder. In our tests a 26-megapixel X-T4-class file took around 14 seconds to develop in the browser. Switching on “Half size” cuts that to a few seconds and still gives a 3000-pixel-wide image, enough for most sharing.

GFX and Bayer models

The GFX medium-format cameras use Bayer sensors with 50 or 100 megapixels. They develop faster per pixel than X-Trans files but are very large, so give the browser time and memory: convert them one or two at a time, especially on a laptop with 8 GB of RAM. Older Fujifilm compacts with Bayer sensors also write RAF and are supported.

A typical workflow

After a trip, copy the RAF files, drop the keepers onto the page and choose the embedded JPEG to get your film simulations at full size within seconds. For the handful of pictures you want to edit more seriously, develop them to TIFF and finish them in your editor. The TIFF holds the developed image without compression artifacts, losslessly compressed.

White balance

Fujifilm’s auto white balance is used when “As shot” is selected. If a picture looks too warm under indoor light, try “Auto”, which estimates the balance from the image. Small corrections afterwards are easy with White Balance Fixer, and Split Toning can recreate some of the color character of a film simulation on developed files.

Related pages

The general RAW to JPG guide covers RAW development in more depth. Other brands: CR2 to JPG, NEF to JPG, ARW to JPG, DNG to JPG. For vintage looks on any JPG, the Sepia Photo Filter adds historic print tones.

Checking colors after converting

Film simulations and neutral development differ most in skin tones, greens and blues. Put a developed file and an embedded JPEG of the same photo side by side to see the difference, then decide which suits each picture. Neither is more correct: the simulation is a creative choice, the development a technical starting point. Keep the RAF files either way, since you can always return to them with different settings or a full editor.