Convert Canon CR2 raw photos to JPG on Mac

A photographer sent you 200 .cr2 files and you need them as JPGs to share with the team. CR2 is Canon’s raw format — it carries the full sensor data and is huge (25–40 MB per file), but most apps outside professional photo editors don’t open it. macOS Preview does, which gives you a way out.

What CR2 is

CR2 (Canon Raw 2) is the uncompressed-ish sensor data from a Canon DSLR or mirrorless camera. It’s not really an image — it’s the raw values the sensor recorded, plus camera settings, that you then “develop” into a JPEG or TIFF in software. Each CR2 carries enough latitude to recover highlights, fix white balance, and re-process exposure without quality loss.

The native way: Preview

Preview can open CR2 directly on macOS and export to JPEG:

1. Open the CR2 in Preview.
2. File → Export.
3. Pick JPEG.
4. Set quality.
5. Save.

That uses Apple’s default raw processing, which is fine but not as flexible as Lightroom or Capture One.

The native way: sips

sips reads CR2 on most macOS versions:

sips -s format jpeg photo.cr2 --out photo.jpg

Folder:

mkdir jpg
for f in *.cr2 *.CR2; do
  sips -s format jpeg -s formatOptions 85 "$f" --out "jpg/${f%.*}.jpg"
done

The Photos app approach

Import the CR2 files into Photos. macOS treats them as raw photos with embedded previews. Select all, File → Export → Export Unmodified Originals exports the CR2s untouched; File → Export → Export N Photos lets you pick JPEG and quality.

The faster way

Drag the folder of CR2s into Melt, pick JPEG as the output, set quality, click Compress. Melt uses macOS’s built-in raw decoders, so it handles CR2, CR3 (newer Canon), and most other raw formats Apple supports. Download Melt.

Bulk convert in Melt

1. Open Melt.
2. Drag the CR2 folder in.
3. Set output to JPEG.
4. Quality 85–90 is appropriate for raw-derived JPEGs.
5. Optionally resize if the photos are huge (24 MP+) and you only need web-sized.
6. Click Compress.

When you want a proper raw developer instead

If the photos matter — portfolio work, paid jobs, anything where exposure and white balance need fine control — process them in Lightroom, Capture One, or Darktable instead. Those give you real control over the raw data. sips, Preview, and Melt use Apple’s default settings, which are decent but not pro-grade.

What you lose, what you keep

CR2 → JPEG throws away all the editing latitude. You can’t recover blown highlights from the JPEG; you can from the CR2. You drop from 12–14-bit to 8-bit colour. For client review, social, or web, that’s all fine. For your own archive, keep the CR2s — disk space is cheap, recaptures aren’t possible.