Adobe's open Digital Negative format
How to convert DNG to JPG
Export it from Photos on a Mac, darktable, RawTherapee or Lightroom Classic, or upload the DNGs to a shoots.page gallery when the JPGs are for a client. Each DNG becomes a full-size sRGB JPEG at quality 92 that your client downloads one by one or as one ZIP, free up to 2 GB.
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The short answer
DNG is widely supported: Adobe says hundreds of software makers, Apple and Google among them, support it. For JPEGs on your computer, export them from Photos on a Mac, Adobe Lightroom Classic, darktable or RawTherapee.
If the JPEGs are for a client, you don't have to convert anything first. Upload the DNG files to a shoots.page gallery: it makes a full-size JPEG of each one in the background, and your client downloads the photos from an unlisted link with no account.
DNG to JPG at a glance
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | DNG (Digital Negative), Adobe's publicly available archival RAW format |
| Who writes it | Cameras from makers such as Leica, Casio, Ricoh, Samsung and Pentax, and Adobe DNG Converter from other RAW files |
| Free converters | Photos on a Mac, darktable, RawTherapee |
| Paid | Adobe Lightroom Classic and Photoshop |
| Does not open DNG | Sony Imaging Edge Desktop |
| shoots.page | Accepted and covered by automated tests. Each DNG becomes a full-size sRGB JPEG at quality 92. |
| Download name | L1000001.DNG downloads as L1000001.jpg |
| shoots.page cost | Free up to 2 GB, about 80 RAWs at 25 MB each |
What a DNG file is
Adobe describes Digital Negative (DNG) as "a publicly available archival format for raw files which are generated by various digital cameras." Camera makers such as Leica, Casio, Ricoh, Samsung and Pentax have introduced cameras with direct DNG support, and macOS includes basic support for DNG files.
Some DNG files come from Adobe's free DNG Converter, which turns camera-specific RAW files from supported cameras into DNG. It can also embed the original RAW file inside the DNG, which makes the file larger. It converts to DNG, not to JPEG, so it is not a RAW to JPG converter.
Convert DNG to JPG
For other camera formats, see the RAW to JPG overview. For DNG:
- Photos on a Mac: select your photos, choose File > Export > Export [number] Photos, set Photo Kind to JPEG, pick JPEG Quality and Size, and click Export.
- Adobe Lightroom Classic: paid, on an Adobe plan. Select photos in Grid view, choose File > Export, set Export To Hard Drive, pick JPEG and a color space in File Settings, set Image Sizing and click Export.
- Photoshop Image Processor: paid, on an Adobe plan. Choose File > Scripts > Image Processor, pick open images or a folder, tick Save as JPEG, set Quality from 0 to 12 and click Run. The files land in a folder called JPEG.
- darktable: free and open source, for Windows, Linux and macOS 13.5 or later (no Intel Mac builds). darktable says cameras that produce DNG files should be supported even if they are not on its camera list, but it lists CinemaDNG and DNG 1.7 files that use JPEG XL compression as not supported.
- RawTherapee: free and cross-platform under GPLv3, now at version 5.13. Its site lists support for High Dynamic Range DNG.
- Windows: Microsoft's free Raw Image Extension lets the Photos app and File Explorer show DNG files on Windows 10 version 1903 or later. It is for viewing only.
Sony's Imaging Edge Desktop does not support DNG, so ARWs you converted to DNG need one of the tools above. See ARW to JPG for Sony's own files.
DNG to JPG for a client, with shoots.page
When the photos are for a client, skip the conversion on your computer:
- Select your DNG files on the shoots.page homepage.
- Sign in with Google. It's free.
- Upload. Files go up in resumable 8 MiB parts, so an interrupted upload picks up where it left off.
- Review the previews and publish the gallery.
- Share the unlisted link (https://shoots.page/g/...), with an optional password and expiry date.
The Originals switch is on by default, so your client downloads each DNG as a full-size JPEG: L1000001.DNG downloads as L1000001.jpg, one by one or in a ZIP via Download all photos. To get the full-size JPEGs yourself, open the published link and choose Download all photos. Inside the app, your own download gives the RAW or a 2000 px preview.
The Free plan's 2 GB holds about 80 RAWs at an average of 25 MB each. A DNG with the original RAW embedded is larger, and every uploaded byte counts toward storage.
The trade-offs
- No edits: shoots.page reads no adjustments from catalogs or .xmp sidecars, and it refuses .xmp files. LibRaw 0.22.1 renders the RAW unedited. If you edited, export JPEGs from Lightroom or your editor and upload those.
- Camera rendering: the recorded white balance, a standard demosaic, no lens correction and no picture style. If the DNG holds a camera JPEG of at least 90% of full size, that JPEG may be used instead.
- Fixed output: every full-size JPEG is quality 92 in sRGB. No size, quality or format options.
- Trimmed EXIF: camera make, model and capture date and time stay; GPS, lens and exposure data are removed.
- Limits: files over 1 GiB or RAWs over 100 megapixels fail processing and must be removed before you publish.
If your client needs the RAW files rather than JPEGs, turn on the RAW switch to send the DNG files themselves.
Common questions
Can Adobe DNG Converter make JPGs?
Are my Lightroom edits included in the JPG?
Why is my DNG file so large?
Can a client open DNG files?
Can I choose the JPEG quality on shoots.page?
Deliver a DNG set as JPGs
Pick the DNG files on the homepage, sign in with Google and share one gallery link. Free up to 2 GB, or 100 GB for USD 9 a month on Pro.