Convert CR2 and CR3 to JPG on Mac (Canon RAW)

Open the CR2 or CR3 file in Preview, choose File > Export…, set Format to JPEG, drag the Quality slider, and click Save. Preview leaves the original untouched.

Both formats open in Preview when macOS supports your camera. If a brand-new body fails to open, update macOS first, because Apple adds cameras with system updates.

For many files, select them all in Finder and press Command-O. In the Preview sidebar press Command-A, then use File > Export Selected Images…, pick a folder and choose JPEG.

CR2 is Canon’s older raw format, built on TIFF. CR3 replaced it on newer bodies and uses a different container. They are not interchangeable, and software that reads one may not read the other. Apple’s format list on this Mac includes both, so Preview and sips handle either.

Open Terminal, go to the folder, and run one command per file. This is the sips command that ships with macOS:

mkdir -p jpg
for f in *.CR2 *.cr3; do
  [ -e "$f" ] && sips -s format jpeg -s formatOptions 85 "$f" --out "jpg/${f%.*}.jpg"
done

We ran the single-file form of this on a DNG and it finished in 0.35 seconds for a 1,681 x 1,200 image. Full-size Canon files are much larger, so expect longer per file.

One trap: sips -Z 2000 sets the long edge to 2000 pixels even when the image is smaller. On our 1,681 pixel test file it enlarged the picture to 2,000 pixels and the JPG grew from 37,318 to 50,608 bytes. Only resize when you know the source is bigger.

If you shoot Canon and want the camera’s own picture style, use Canon’s free Digital Photo Professional. Preview applies Apple’s rendering, so skin tones and contrast may look a little different. For quick sharing, Preview is enough. For client work, develop in dedicated software, then see how photographers compress images.

For sharing and the web, quality 80 to 90 is a sound range and keeps files far smaller than the RAW. For printing or further editing, choose the highest quality and full size. In Preview that is the slider at the right end. In Photos it is Maximum quality and Full Size. In sips it is formatOptions 100.

Resolution matters more than the slider for upload limits. A full-size camera JPG can still be large, so resize or compress it afterward with the best image compressor for Mac, or follow the TIFF to JPG guide if you export TIFFs from an editor first.

Usually the camera is newer than your macOS. Apple adds RAW support for new bodies in system updates, so a file from a camera released after your last update may show a blank icon or an error. Update macOS, then try again. Check Apple’s list of supported RAW cameras for your exact model.

A file copied from a card while the camera was still writing can also be damaged. Re-copy it from the card. If the camera offers RAW+JPEG, the JPG already exists next to the RAW file.

For turning CR2 and CR3 files into JPGs, Smol is the wrong tool. Preview, Photos and sips are free, already on your Mac, and read RAW through Apple’s own decoder. Smol lists camera RAW as accepted input but does not develop it.

Our advice is to let Apple’s RAW engine do the development, in Preview, Photos or sips, and keep Smol for the JPGs that come out of it. Smol reads RAW but does not develop it, so you get no exposure, white balance or noise controls, and a RAW developer will always make the better first JPG.

Smol earns its $29 one-time price after the conversion: it shrinks folders of finished JPGs, handles mixed batches, adds a Finder right-click action, and uploads nothing. See the best image converter for Mac for how the tools compare.