RAW

An image file that contains the unprocessed data from the image sensor of a digital camera. The format is proprietary and differs from one manufacturer to another. The image must be processed and converted to an .rgb format, such as .tiff or .jpeg, before it can be manipulated by a bitmap graphics editor, printed, or displayed by a typical web browser. Raw is usually only used when additional computer processing is intended. However raw permits much greater control than .jpeg.