DNG (Adobe Digital Negative)

.dng · image/x-adobe-dng · 2004 · Adobe

The standardized RAW format used by Adobe, Leica, and phone “Pro” camera modes. Below is what DNG is best at, where it falls short, and how it compares — plus free, in-browser tools to convert DNG to and from other formats, with nothing uploaded.

DNG is Adobe's attempt to standardize RAW: one documented container instead of every camera maker's proprietary format. Leica, Ricoh, drones and the RAW modes of many phones (including iPhone ProRAW) shoot DNG directly. It still is not a sharing format — convert to JPEG or PNG for that, which EditItAll does entirely in your browser.

Compression

Lossless

Transparency

No

Animation

No

Browser display

None

Strengths & limitations

Strengths

  • Openly documented RAW standard
  • Shot natively by phones, drones and Leica

Limitations

  • Still RAW — everyday apps cannot open it
  • Large files

Best used for

Tools for DNG

DNG → JPEGDNG → PNG

Frequently asked questions

Is DNG lossy or lossless?+

DNG is lossless: it preserves every pixel exactly, with no quality loss.

Does DNG support transparency?+

No — DNG has no alpha channel, so transparent areas are flattened onto a solid background. It is a still-image format (no animation).

Can browsers open DNG files directly?+

No — browsers can't display DNG in a page. Convert it to JPG or PNG first, which you can do here with nothing uploaded.

How do I open or convert a DNG file for free?+

Drop your DNG file into the EditItAll converter and choose an output format — it decodes and re-encodes entirely in your browser, with nothing uploaded, no account and no watermark. (There is no in-browser DNG encoder, so you can convert DNG to other formats but not save back to DNG.)