CRW is Canon's in-camera RAW
CRW is the raw sensor data a Canon camera writes at the moment of capture. It's produced by the camera's own hardware and firmware — software can read it, but nothing can manufacture a genuine CRW from a finished CR2.
Looking to convert CR2 to CRW? Here's the honest answer — and what works instead.
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CR2 is Canon’s older raw photo format, holding unprocessed sensor data from EOS cameras for maximum editing flexibility.
CR2 opens in Canon DPP, Lightroom, Photoshop and most raw editors.
CRW is Canon's original raw format from early EOS and PowerShot cameras, storing unprocessed sensor data in a proprietary CIFF container before Canon switched to CR2.
CRW opens in Canon Digital Photo Professional, older Lightroom and Camera Raw; convert to DNG for long-term archiving.
No. CRW stores the raw signal a Canon sensor recorded at capture. A CR2 is a finished image with that data already baked in and discarded — there's nothing for a converter to reconstruct.
RAW formats like CRW give maximum editing latitude — but only when they come straight from the camera. Converting a CR2 to CRW would just wrap a finished image in a RAW container, with none of the benefits.
DNG is an open RAW container. You can convert a camera's own RAW (including CRW) into DNG, but you still can't turn a regular CR2 into CRW or any real RAW.
CR2 converts cleanly to PNG, JPG, TIFF and WEBP — free, no sign-up, no watermark.