Convert DNG and ProRAW to JPG on Mac

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

This is the same for iPhone ProRAW, which is stored as a DNG.

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.

ProRAW photos are DNG files. AirDrop or import them to your Mac, then export from Preview or Photos. In Photos, choose File > Export > Export Photos…, set Photo Kind to JPEG, and pick Full Size. If you only want a smaller file for sharing, see HEIC to JPG on Mac. Apple explains ProRAW in its support article listed below.

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 *.DNG *.dng; 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 DNG 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.

No, not to make a JPG. Adobe’s free DNG Converter changes other RAW formats into DNG, which is the reverse job. You only need it to make older files readable by software that wants DNG.

No. Renaming does not change the contents, and the file will not open as an image. DNG is Adobe’s open raw format, used by some cameras, by Leica and Pentax bodies, by drones, and by the iPhone for ProRAW. It stores sensor data, not a finished picture. Exporting through Preview, Photos or sips actually renders it into JPEG pixels.

Our test file is a good example of the gap. It reports itself as a 1,681 x 1,200 linear raw image, and the exported JPG opened normally everywhere. If the JPG will be shared widely, strip the location first. The guide to removing EXIF data on a Mac covers it.

For turning DNG 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.