How to View RAW Files on a Mac

After the shoot there are 800 RAW files on the card. You just want to see quickly which ones are sharp and which ones can go. Lightroom first wants to import everything and render previews. Preview opens each file on its own and makes you wait on every image.

For this first pass you do not need a RAW developer, you need a fast RAW viewer: open the folder, go through with the arrow keys, throw out the bad shots.

How it works in Phiewer

1. Open the folder. Pick the folder, or the memory card directly, in Phiewer. Nothing is imported and nothing is copied.
2. Click through. Use the arrow keys to go from image to image. Large RAW files first appear as a quick preview, and the full resolution follows right after.
3. Check sharpness. Zoom in with ⌘+ and check whether the focus is spot on.
4. Sort out. Press ⌫ to move an image to the Trash. In PRO you can compare similar shots side by side.

RAW formats Phiewer opens

Phiewer opens around 40 RAW formats. What macOS can read itself, Phiewer shows directly. For formats macOS does not display properly, Phiewer has its own built-in RAW decoder.

Canon (CR3, CR2, CRW), Nikon (NEF, NRW), Sony (ARW, SR2, SRF), Fujifilm (RAF), Olympus and OM System (ORF), Panasonic (RW2), Pentax (PEF), Leica (RWL), Hasselblad (3FR, FFF), Phase One (IIQ), Sigma (X3F), Samsung (SRW) and Adobe DNG.

What Phiewer is not

Phiewer is not a RAW developer. Getting exposure, white balance and colors out of the RAW file is better done in Lightroom, Capture One or darktable. Phiewer is for the step before that: viewing, comparing and sorting out fast. If you then want to pick with stars and color labels, use Phiewer Select.

Which other image viewers there are for the Mac is covered in the comparison of the best image viewers.