If you’re an aspiring photographer, you surely possess a DSLR camera that you frequently use to improve your photography skills. While using your camera, you might have most certainly stumbled across Raw image formats. There are tons of such image formats out there, and today we will be taking a look at how do you scan duplicate Raw images for .RAF, .RW2, .RWL and .DNG types and delete them to recover storage space.
Product Spotlight (Duplicate Photos): Find 1000s of exact and same-looking pictures in a very short span of time. Use PictureEcho TODAY!
PictureEcho software is made by our company, Sorcim Technologies.
Privacy Promise: No email required to download software.
We have decided to never store, share, or use your email
for advertising purposes.
Before we switch to the actual process, let’s take a very brief look at Raw images. These image formats come with their very own advantages. As unoptimized images, they are processed with the default camera settings and do not contain any additional effects. These images are quite big in size because of the details they comprise of.
.RAF (Fuji)
.RAF is an unprocessed image file produced by any Fuji digital camera. These image files sometimes also include a JPG version of the same image also. To open an RAF file, you will be requiring a third-party image viewer. Some of the third-party apps that support viewing RAF images are RAF Viewer, Adobe Photoshop, ACD Systems Canvas X 2019 and XnView.
.RW2 (Panasonic)
This is an image created by a Panasonic digital camera, like the LX3 and LX5. Many freeware third-party image viewers like IrfanView, XnView, RawTherapee and FastStone Image Viewer can open RW2 files. Premium software like Corel PaintShop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, FastRawViewer and ACD Systems Canvas X also support opening this file type.
You cannot directly open RW2 files and will be needing to install a special codec named LUMIX RAW Codecs before you can open an RW2 image. However, this codec works with only Windows Vista and Windows 7.
.RWL
.RWL images are produced by Leica digital cameras. This is basically a proprietary file format that contains extensive metadata such as the camera lens, sensor information, ISO, aperture and so on. You can edit these files, change lighting, contrast, brightness or saturation using specialized image processing programs that support the RWL format. Examples of programs that support opening these image types are Microsoft Photos, Adobe Photoshop 2020 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 2019.
.DNG (Leica)
The .DNG file format is designed to open with any image viewer, unlike other proprietary formats. You can even open a DNG file on an obsolete, several years old Photoshop CS2. There is no need to download or buy special codecs or additional software to view .dng files.
How to Change Default Image Viewer for Raw Images
If you’re unable to open a Raw image on your computer, make sure that you have the correct software installed. Change the default image viewer using the steps given below:
- Right-click the concerning image.
- Select Open with | Choose another app.
- In the How do you want to open this file dialog, click on More apps.
- Check if the supportive app is on the list or not.
- If not, click the Look for another app on this PC.
- Browse the Program Files (x86) or Program Files directory to look for an app that can open the image file.
Finding Duplicate Raw Images
If you have thousands of images, it is nearly impossible to go across different partitions, folders and sub-folders in search of duplicate images. This is where PictureEcho’s predefined Exact Match and Similar Match features will rescue you. They will not only search across thousands of duplicate/ similar photos but will also clean up the clutter accurately.
- Exact Match: The exact match duplicate selection criteria finds all images that are 100% identical. These images are totally identical in nature with no differences of any kind.
- Similar Match: This duplicate selection criteria finds images that vary to a degree. It uses smart algorithms to look for images that are similar to each other, but can’t be categorized as duplicates. You can get rid of unnecessary junk that may be occupying a large amount of disk space and disorganizing your picture library.
