The CR2 file stores raw image data obtained from a digital camera sensor developed by Ca non. This is version 2 of the format. CR2 is a RAW, uncompressed image and therefore can be quite large. CR2 is a native format that stores data in binary format. The CR2 should be "developed" just like a photo negative. Users can change image parameters such as white balance or exposure. The Canon cameras that first used the CR2 format are:
- 1D Mark II,
- 350D,
The CR2 file has a header that contains data EXIF, information about the image, camera and image parameters. It also contains a compressed preview image at one-fourth size basic photography and a small icon measuring 160x120 pixels. A CR2 file stores an image in 12-bit or 14-bit color, and the detailed structure of the file depends on which camera it was shot with.
CR2 is based on TIFF And T eplaced CRW format in 2004. In 2018, Canon developed new version designated CR3, which is based on CIFF and is intended to replace the CR2 format. This year, Canon's line of DSLR cameras offers the ability to save photos to RAW format– CR2. Applications that support CR2 files must also support the Canon camera from which it was shot. The designed and processed photograph can be saved in a more popular image format, e.g.
If you have a good semi-professional or professional camera then most likely you have already seen that open photo in *.CR2 format- problem! But not for long. To view photos in CR2 format, you need to download and install a program that can open pictures in good quality. But what program? We will also look at how to change CR2 format in a convenient photo format, which will open on most computers and which can be sent to friends on the Internet. More about all this in more detail.
A little about the photo format *. CR2
If the photos that you copied from the camera do not open, and the format of the photos is *. CR2 - means you have a good semi-professional or professional camera or camera “ Canon" In such RAW format (CR 2) is uncompressed ( raw - no loss of quality) an image saved directly from the sensor of a camera or Canon camera. This allows you, with powerful editors such as Adobe Photoshop CS, to professionally edit the image and overlay various settings working with original quality.
How to open a photo in *. CR2?
How to convert CR2 format to JPG, PNG, BMP, etc.
How to make photos in format *. CR2 Could you share it with friends, send it to your phone, watch it on your tablet, etc.? You need to convert it to a photo format that can be opened on almost all devices. And these are formats such as: *.JPG, *.PNG, *.BMP.
How to convert CR2 format to JPG? For this purpose you can use for example XnView program, which, in addition to convenient viewing, can immediately convert all photos in CR2 format to JPG. You don't have to change format one photo at a time, program supports batch conversion
a whole folder at once. With this program you will also you can edit your photos and what is very important - change the size of such photos. Photos in good quality take up quite a lot of space on disk, and after converting the CR2 format to JPG you can reduce the weight of your photos by more than 10 times!
Many users are faced with the problem of opening a file with the cr2 extension. This is the format of photographs taken by Canon digital cameras. In our article we will tell you how to open files with the cr2 extension.
The CR2 file can be imported into other imaging programs. To view photos in CR2 format, you need to download and install a program that can open pictures in good quality. This format contains a raw image saved directly from the sensor of a camera or Canon camera. This has its advantages, since the pictures will not lose quality due to image formatting.
Canon Digital Photo Professional is designed to work with the cr2 format. It is distributed completely free of charge, and you can download it from the official CANON website by selecting your device.
Download Canon Digital Photo Professional for free
Google Picasa is another program for viewing and processing images. You can download it on the official website Google.
Download Google Picasa for free
. 
Google Picasa can open images in the cr2 extension. Picasa can play video formats. There are possibilities for photo processing.
Another one good program with rich photo processing capabilities Zoner Photo Studio. The program is free and can be downloaded from the official website.
Download Zoner Photo Studio for free
Download the program from the official website. Zoner Photo Studio includes a complete set of tools for photo management, processing, applying effects and publishing photos.
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 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.
I’ll say right away that today we will talk about a very narrowly focused topic that only owners of semi-professional and professional CANON devices encounter. The essence of the problem is that the graphic file created by a CANON device with the .cr2 extension contains raw data received from the matrix, which in turn avoids loss of image quality (which is why there is no conversion to the usual jpg and jpeg modes ). Meanwhile, this is an almost ideal way to store complete information about the photo. True, such a file has a lot of disadvantages: firstly, it weighs a lot, taking up space, and secondly, not every program can open it.
Canon Digital Photo Professional
Of course, it’s worth starting with Canon programs Digital Photo Professional, which was created to work with the “native” cr2 format (and not only). It is distributed completely free of charge, and you can download it from the official CANON website by selecting your device.
Pros of the program:
- Excellent manufacturer support.
- No fee.
- Compatible with most Windows versions XP.
- A huge number of supported CANON cameras.
- Supported formats: CR2, CRW, TIFF/TIF, JPEG, JPEG/JFIF.
- Lens support.
- A huge number of various functions that allow you to work with the image (brightness adjustment, balance adjustment, retouching, tone curve contrast, noise reduction).
- Convert images to various formats.
In short, the program is very well-known, popular and very powerful, thanks to which it allows you to perfectly process photographs.
Google Picasa
Continuing to talk about free programs, we cannot help but talk about Google Picasa, another program for viewing and processing images. You can download it on the official Google website, and it’s completely free.
Features of Google Picasa:
- The program supports many RAW formats various manufacturers, including such giants as Canon, Kodak, Leica, Nikon, etc.
- Picasa can play video formats.
- There is a so-called folder manager that automatically scans folders and displays them in a tree view.
- Good opportunities for photo processing. Of course, a professional photographer may say that the program is unremarkable in this regard, but most beginning photographers will have plenty of options.
- It is possible to export files, burn them to disk or also send them by e-mail.
- I repeat, the program is free.
ACDSee
If for some reason you are not suitable free programs, well, in that case you will have to pay. The first program on the list is ACDSee - it was created for working with photographs and has an expanded set of functions that will be quite enough even for professionals.
Pros of ACDSee:
- Quickly view RAW images.
- Support for AW images for digital cameras.
- Many functions and filters that allow you to correct color balance or defects, suppress noise, change sharpness, etc.
- Integrated support for DNG RAW format.
- Possibility of adding watermarks.
- Present HTML templates for users.
Alas, as mentioned above, ACDSee is a paid program, with a license costing $50-$200. Whether this license is worth purchasing is up to you to decide.
Adobe Photoshop
Actually, there’s nothing to even talk about here - this is one of the few programs that supports the vast majority of well-known graphic files. It’s not even worth talking about the advantages of Photoshop - there are so many of them that a whole day wouldn’t be enough to describe them. Another thing is that the cost of licensing this software is very, very high, so not everyone can afford it. Nevertheless, it is difficult for a professional photographer to do without Photoshop.
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