Windows Photos says I need an extension to open a HEIC. Do I have to pay?

For HEIC, usually yes. Microsoft's support page says to install both the HEIF Image Extensions (free) and the HEVC Video Extensions ($0.99), because a HEIC photo is compressed with HEVC. If you'd rather not, open it in a browser tool, which brings its own decoder.

Can I open a PSD without Photoshop?

Yes, as a flat picture. Preview on a Mac, ImageMagick, GIMP and our Image Viewer all show it. What you lose is the layers as Photoshop draws them: text stays as pixels, and a file saved without Maximize Compatibility has to be rebuilt from its layers, which only Photoshop does exactly.

My RAW file opens, but it looks different from the camera's JPEG. Why?

The camera's JPEG is the camera's own processing: its colour, contrast and sharpening. A RAW converter starts again from the sensor data with its own settings, so the colours and contrast differ. Both are honest. If you want the camera's look, use the preview embedded in the file or ask for the JPEG.

Is it safe to open someone's photos in a website?

This viewer and converter decode the file in your browser with WebAssembly and upload nothing. An upload-based converter puts the file on someone else's server.

Why is my RAW file not accepted by the Image Viewer?

The viewer doesn't take camera RAW yet, although the converter on this site does. Drop the RAW on the Image Converter, convert it to JPEG, and open the JPEG anywhere.

How to open a RAW, PSD or HEIC file you were sent

These are three different kinds of file. A HEIC is a finished photo, usually from an iPhone, compressed with a codec that not every system has. A PSD is a Photoshop document: layers, plus (usually) a flattened copy for other programs to show. A RAW (.dng, .arw, .cr2, .nef and a dozen more) is not a picture yet: it is the camera's sensor data, and something has to develop it.

The Image Viewer gallery with four images open as square tiles, a HEIC and a PSD among ordinary JPEG and PNG files, and the toolbar reading 4 images — A HEIC and a PSD next to ordinary images, opened in the browser.

The direct wayPreview / sipsmacOS

A Mac opens all three with nothing installed: double-click the file and it opens in Preview, or press Space in Finder for Quick Look. To get a JPEG anyone can open:

sips -s format jpeg IMG_0001.heic --out IMG_0001.jpg
sips -s format jpeg design.psd --out design.jpg
sips -s format jpeg DSC01542.ARW --out DSC01542.jpg

Each prints the input and output paths. On macOS 26.5 this read a HEIC, PSDs in RGB, CMYK, 16-bit and 32-bit, a PSD with no flattened copy, a Sony .ARW and an iPhone .DNG.

What each one needs

File	What it is	Mac	Windows	Linux
HEIC	A photo, HEVC-compressed	Built in	Two Store extensions, one paid	`libheif` (comes with ImageMagick on Debian 13)
PSD	Layers plus a flattened copy	Built in	Nothing from Microsoft; GIMP or a browser	ImageMagick
RAW	Sensor data, to be developed	Built in, for supported cameras	Raw Image Extension	ImageMagick (LibRaw) or `dcraw`

On a Mac

Preview, Quick Look and sips all use the same image support in macOS, so if Preview opens the file, the sips lines above convert it. Two things they get wrong, both seen on our test files:

A CMYK PSD stays CMYK. sips -s format jpeg wrote a CMYK JPEG, which some programs and websites show in the wrong colours. Convert to sRGB on the way:
```
sips -s format jpeg --matchTo '/System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/sRGB Profile.icc' design.psd --out design.jpg
```
sips -g space design.jpg then says RGB.
A 32-bit PSD came out dark. Photoshop's 32-bit mode is linear light, and on our test file a red of 220 came out as 183. If a PSD from a 3D or HDR workflow looks murky, convert it in Photoshop or in the browser tool below, which corrects for this.

RAW support depends on the camera model. Apple publishes a list of supported cameras for each macOS version (linked from If a media file doesn't open), and a camera newer than your macOS may not be on it. For a file it can't read, sips stops with Error: Cannot extract image from file.

On Windows

Windows Photos opens neither HEIC nor RAW until you add codecs from the Microsoft Store:

HEIC: Microsoft's support page says to install the HEIF Image Extensions (free) and the HEVC Video Extensions ($0.99), "even if you only plan on using photos and not videos".
RAW: the Raw Image Extension. It is built on LibRaw, so a camera newer than its copy of LibRaw may not open.
PSD: Microsoft offers no PSD extension. GIMP (free) opens PSDs, or use the browser.

We could not test Windows for this guide. If the Store is blocked on your machine, or you don't want to pay for a codec to look at one photo, use the browser.

On Linux

ImageMagick reads all three. On Debian 13 (ImageMagick 7.1.1) one package does it, HEIC and RAW included:

sudo apt install imagemagick
magick IMG_0001.heic IMG_0001.jpg
magick 'design.psd[0]' design.png
magick DSC01542.ARW DSC01542.jpg

Add [0] to a layered PSD

Without it, ImageMagick writes the flattened image and every layer as separate files: magick design.psd out.png gave us out-0.png, out-1.png and out-2.png. [0] is the flattened image only. Keep the quotes, or the shell reads the brackets itself.

On Ubuntu 24.04 the package is ImageMagick 6: the command is convert, not magick, and HEIC fails with Unsupported codec until you add the decoder:

sudo apt install imagemagick libheif-plugin-libde265
convert IMG_0001.heic IMG_0001.jpg

ImageMagick has the same 32-bit PSD problem as sips (220 became 183). This fixes it:

magick design.psd -set colorspace RGB -colorspace sRGB design.png

For a CMYK PSD meant for the web, add -colorspace sRGB:

magick 'design.psd[0]' -colorspace sRGB design.jpg

In the browser

Open the Image Viewer and drop the files on the page, or click Choose images. HEIC, PSD, TIFF and the other unusual formats take a moment: a copy of ImageMagick decodes them in the tab.
Click a tile to open it full screen. Use the arrow keys or swipe for the next one, and Zoom in, Fit or Actual size to check the detail.
Download gives you the original file, unchanged. For a HEIC or PSD, the options menu next to it also has Download as PNG, which any computer opens.

The viewer doesn't accept camera RAW yet. For RAW, or to get a JPEG rather than a PNG, use the converter: drop the files on the Image Converter, check the Output Format of each (HEIC and RAW start on JPEG, PSD on WebP), and click Process 3 Images (the number follows your files).

The Image Converter with three converted files, photo.heic, poster.psd and camera.dng, each with its new format, its size and a download button — A HEIC, a PSD and a camera RAW, each converted to something any computer opens.

Transparent PSDs: pick PNG, not JPEG

JPEG has no transparency, and the converter fills transparent areas with black when it writes one. If the PSD is a logo or a cut-out, choose PNG or WebP.

RAW: the preview inside, or a real decode

Most RAW files carry a JPEG the camera made at the time, so the camera's screen has something to show. It is quick and looks like the camera intended, but it is usually smaller than the photo. A RAW converter ignores it and develops the sensor data itself, at full size, with its own colour and contrast. On a Sony A6000 .ARW (a sample from raw.pixls.us):

Route	What you get	Size
`dcraw -e DSC01542.ARW`	The camera's embedded JPEG, as `DSC01542.thumb.jpg`	1616 × 1080
`dcraw -w -T DSC01542.ARW`	A full decode with the camera's white balance, as a 69 MB TIFF	6024 × 4024
`magick DSC01542.ARW DSC01542.jpg`	A full decode by LibRaw	6024 × 4024
`sips -s format jpeg` on a Mac	A full decode by macOS	6000 × 4000
Image Converter, to JPEG	A full decode by LibRaw, in the browser	6024 × 4024

dcraw is in Debian's dcraw package (9.28 here). Use the embedded JPEG when you only need to see the picture or send it on; decode the RAW when you need the full resolution, or when you will edit it.

PSD: when there is no flattened copy

Photoshop stores a flattened copy of the picture inside the PSD unless the setting Maximize PSD and PSB File Compatibility is off. Other programs show that copy. Without it, they have to rebuild the picture from the layers.

On our test file with simple layers and no flattened copy, macOS, ImageMagick and our tools all rebuilt it correctly. A real design is harder: layer styles, adjustment layers and smart objects are Photoshop's to draw, and a rebuilt picture can miss them. When the layers can't be combined at all, the converter says the file was saved without Maximize Compatibility instead of showing a blank image (the viewer says the same). Either way the fix is the same: ask the sender to re-save it with the setting on, or to export a PNG.

Which to use

On a Mac: double-click it. For a JPEG, the sips line at the top.
On Windows, for one HEIC: the Image Viewer, rather than buying a codec. If iPhone photos arrive every week, the two extensions are worth it.
A RAW on anything: the Image Converter to JPEG, or magick on Linux.
A PSD you need to edit: that needs Photoshop or GIMP. To look at it or send it on, open it in the viewer and click Download as PNG.

Once it is a JPEG or PNG, every computer, phone and email program opens it. To choose between JPEG, PNG and WebP for the copy you send on, see how to convert between image formats.