Is the preview image embedded inside a RAW file?

Asked 12/19/2014

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2 answers

When a camera shoots RAW, it still shows a processed preview on the rear screen with white balance and other in-camera settings applied. Is that preview image usually stored inside the RAW file itself, or somewhere else? If it is embedded in the RAW file, does it add much to the file size?

camera-settings file-format jpeg-preview raw

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

2 Answers

In general, it's a safe bet that this information is stored in the RAW file itself.

With Canon, the preview is 1/4 the size of the original and a fairly heavily compressed JPEG, so I wouldn't worry about size.

Originally by user1293. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1293

11y ago

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes—most RAW formats include an embedded preview or thumbnail image inside the RAW file itself. This lets the camera and other software quickly display the photo without fully processing the RAW data.

That embedded preview is typically not full resolution and is usually a heavily compressed JPEG, so its impact on file size is generally small. For example, one community answer notes that Canon commonly uses a preview around one-quarter of the original size.

The exact behavior depends on the camera and RAW format. In many cases the camera can use that embedded preview for playback, though some cameras may also render a display image from the RAW data using the stored shooting settings. Either way, you generally do not need to worry much about the embedded preview significantly increasing RAW file size.

Is the preview image embedded inside a RAW file?

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