RAW — plus more

As part of its revolutionary workflow, DxO PureRAW takes regular RAW files from your camera and pre-processes them to create Linear DNGs. These files can be edited just the same as normal RAWs but have significant advantages.

In fact, the best way to think of Linear DNG is ‘RAW plus’. It’s a format that delivers everything that is great about shooting and editing RAW files, but which allows DxO PureRAW to create an extra level of quality that your camera and regular software can’t supply alone.

What is RAW?

Before the benefits of Linear DNG can be easily understood, it’s important to remember how regular RAW files work.

If you already shoot RAW you’ll know that a file is unprocessed image data from the camera’s sensor. Each RAW file is unique to its camera brand and model, and it cannot be viewed on regular devices like computer screens without first being processed or converted into a common format like JPEG or TIFF.

Even when you preview a RAW file on your camera’s LCD or on a monitor using your file browser, it’s a processed version you’re seeing.

So what’s the advantage? The benefit is in a RAW file’s potential for editing. Processing it outside of the camera leads to higher image quality and means that more expansive creative decisions can be made.

Why RAWs can do more

The way that data is recorded within a RAW file allows great latitude in adjustment compared to a JPEG. For instance, during a RAW conversion you’ll be able to lighten or darken general exposure up to a point, as well as correct specific tonal zones like highlights and shadows, usually without losing detail in those areas.

White Balance is also editable, meaning you can ensure color is neutral and lifelike even if it was set incorrectly at the time of shooting. None of these things are possible to the same degree in a JPEG file.

Why? As part of a RAW’s conversion to a JPEG certain aspects of its data are locked and no longer have the same latitude for adjustment. These processes are called demosaicing and denoising, more on which below. The important bit for now is to understand that as a RAW is demosaiced and denoised, its flexible data become fixed and therefore editing potential is reduced.

So if you want the ultimate in control, it makes sense to shoot and edit RAWs before editing and converting them to JPEGs. So far so good, but why are Linear DNGs different?

How Linear DNG fits into your workflow

As well as making this ISO 2500 RAW file look as if it were shot at ISO 1000, DxO PureRAW also creates a sharper, more detailed image — one that appears automatically in your Adobe Lightroom Classic catalog, complete with any existing edits.