How to open .RAF files (Fujifilm raw photos) on Android, Windows and Linux

Fujifilm, Olympus (now OM System) and Panasonic Lumix cameras are popular with travellers and enthusiasts, and many of their owners shoot raw. The trouble starts when the files leave the camera: a .RAF, .ORF or .RW2 file won’t open in a phone’s gallery, and Windows may not even show a thumbnail.

Each brand has its own raw format, but all three store a JPEG preview inside. Folders reads that preview, so you can open RAF, ORF and RW2 files for free on Android, Windows and Linux and see the photo and its settings.

What is a .RAF file?

RAF is Fujifilm’s raw format, saved by X-series cameras (X-T, X-S, X-E, X100) and the medium-format GFX range. Unlike most raw formats it isn’t built on TIFF: it starts with its own header, which names the camera, and keeps a JPEG preview near the start of the file. Most X-series cameras use Fujifilm’s X-Trans sensor, whose colour filters sit in a 6×6 pattern instead of the usual 2×2 Bayer grid, so raw editors need special handling for it. Files are usually named DSCF0001.RAF.

The other two formats in this guide come from the Micro Four Thirds world and beyond:

Extension	What it is
.raf	Fujifilm raw photo (X-series and GFX cameras)
.orf	Olympus Raw Format, from Olympus OM-D and PEN cameras and OM System bodies
.rw2	Panasonic Lumix raw photo, from G, GH and S cameras and compacts like the LX and TZ series

Olympus names files after the date, such as P5150012.ORF for something shot on 15 May. Panasonic uses names like P1000001.RW2. Very old Lumix models used a plain .RAW extension instead.

How to open a .RAF file with Folders

On Android

1. Install Folders from the download page.
2. Open it and allow file access, so it can reach your photos.
3. Copy the raw files onto the phone if they’re still on the card, using a card reader or a computer.
4. Open the folder in Folders and tap the RAF, ORF or RW2. The image viewer opens it.
5. Somewhere else, such as a file sent in a chat? Tap the file there and choose Open with → Folders.

On Windows and Linux

1. Install Folders for your system.
2. In Folders, open the folder that holds the photos and double-click one.
3. On Windows, File Explorer’s right-click menu also works: Open with → Folders, which the installer sets up for all three formats.

What you can do with it in Folders

• See the shot from the preview inside the file. The viewer marks it RAW · embedded preview, and you can zoom right in.
• Swipe (or press the arrow keys on a computer) to go through every photo in the folder, raw and JPEG alike.
• Open Details for the camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal length, exposure mode, flash, date and location. Fujifilm and Panasonic keep many of these in the preview’s own data, and Folders reads them from there. Details also shows the raw’s size in megapixels and the size of the preview you’re looking at.
• Share a photo, or rename, move and zip a batch from the file browser.

Keep in mind that the preview is the camera’s JPEG rendering. On a Fujifilm, that means your Film Simulation (Classic Chrome, Acros and so on) is already applied. Folders doesn’t develop raw data, change white balance or convert raw files to other formats.

Other ways to open .RAF files

• Fujifilm X RAW STUDIO: free; it develops RAF files using the camera’s own processor, so the camera must be connected by USB. Fujifilm also offers a free SILKYPIX-based raw converter.
• OM Workspace: free software for Olympus and OM System owners on Windows.
• SILKYPIX Developer Studio SE: offered free to Lumix owners by Panasonic.
• darktable and RawTherapee: free and open source on Windows and Linux, and they read all three formats.

Problems opening a .RAF file?

• Your editor doesn’t know the camera. Raw software must be updated for each new model. Update it or use the maker’s own free tool. Fujifilm’s compressed RAF option in particular needs a fairly recent version of some editors.
• A RAF looks flat or dull in an editor. That’s not damage. Editors start from the sensor data and don’t apply your Film Simulation by default. Many offer camera-matching profiles to get close.
• Odd textures in fine detail. Some editors handle X-Trans less well than others. Try a different one; RawTherapee, for example, offers several ways of decoding it.
• An old Lumix file ends in .RAW, not .RW2. It’s still a raw photo. Folders opens .RAW files too; see the guide below.

Questions people ask

Why does my RAF look different from the camera’s JPEG? The JPEG and the preview carry your Film Simulation and other in-camera settings. A raw editor starts from the sensor data and shows its own interpretation until you adjust it. That’s also why many people shoot RAF + JPEG: one ready to share, one for editing.

Can I open ORF files on Android? Yes. Folders shows them with their camera details. It’s a viewer, not a raw editor, so editing needs another app.

How do I convert RW2 to JPG? Use SILKYPIX Developer Studio SE, darktable, RawTherapee or Lightroom and export a JPEG. Folders can’t convert raw files.

Got a Pentax, Leica or older .RAW file? See how to open PEF and other raw files, or browse all 382 file types Folders opens.