Best Fast Raw Viewer for Photos in Windows 11

Raw photos are unprocessed photos captured by your digital cameras. As the Raw photos are captured by your camera sensor, they contain the highest level of picture detail. Raw photos are used by professional photographers to get more edge & control while editing photos of their clients.

They offer a dynamic range of options to manipulate processed images, tweak color tones, change the brightness level, color saturation, white balance, etc. Because they contain more tonal and color data, it also makes them larger in size and not the best option for sharing or distributing photos on the web.

Popular Raw Image Formats

There are a large number of Raw image file formats. However, KDC from Kodak, SR2 from Sony, CRW, CR2 & CR3 from Canon, RW2 from Panasonic, NEF & NRW from Nikon, are some of the more popular ones.

Adobe Photoshop Express – Best, Free & Fast Raw Photos Viewer for Windows 11

Adobe Photoshop Express is a fast, lightweight and free-of-cost tool available for download on Microsoft Store, Google PlayStore and Apple App Store. It offers basic image manipulation tools and supports viewing a large number of photo formats including Raw photos.

Adobe introduced a major feature update back in 2014 that added the ability to view and process Raw images in both its Android and iOS apps. Thanks to the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in, you can change the noise level, sharpening levels, exposure, contrast, and color temperature of the Raw photos regardless of whether you use the desktop or mobile edition. The app does an amazing job of removing blemishes & moles by giving you the option to specify a coverage radius. Unlike its older versions, Photoshop Express comes with cool-looking filters to completely transform the look and feel of your photos.

Other features:

• Collage maker: Create a photo collage by choosing your desired photo layout.
• Instantly reduce the noise level and increase the sharpness of your photos.
• Thinking to process your Raw photos and then upload processed images on social media sites? Photoshop Express can help you create a cover photo for your Facebook profile/ page, Instagram page, Twitter profile, and more.
• If you’re thinking of distributing your Raw photos after processing them, you don’t have to download another photo watermarking app. Photoshop Express has an in-house feature to create texture and image watermarks to protect your creative work.

How to Find Duplicate Raw Photos on Windows 11?

Step 1: Import Raw Photos from your Digital Camera to your PC

There are two ways by which you can import photos from your digital camera to your Windows 11 PC. First, using a high-quality USB cable (often included with your digital camera). Second, using an SD Memory Card.

Using a USB Cable:

1. Connect your digital camera to your Windows 11 PC, and make sure that your camera is switched on.
2. Windows will recognize your camera and display a message similar to “Installing <Camera Name> Digital Camera”.
3. Once the process is finished, a new drive icon will appear in the File Explorer (for example C195 Digital Camera) from where you can access, copy and manage your photos.
4. Right-click on your camera’s drive icon, and select the Import pictures and videos option.
5. Select the Import all new items now option and then click on Next.
6. A new Import Settings dialog will appear. Specify your desired import directory in the Import images to section. By default, your camera photos are imported to C:\Users\<Your User Name>\Pictures\Camera. You can change that by clicking on the Browse button.
7. Click on the OK button.
8. On the new page, check the Select all option, and then click the Import button.

Using an SD Memory Card:

1. Connect the SD memory card to your laptop.
2. In AutoPlay, select the Import pictures and videos option.
3. Your SD memory card’s icon will appear in File Explorer. Manually transfer all the photos from your memory card into a separate folder on your hard disk (for example C:\Users\<Your User Name>\Pictures).

That’s it, your photos will be imported automatically.

Step 2: Download the Adobe Camera Raw Plug-in

1. Download and install Adobe Photoshop Express.
2. Don’t run it. If it is already running, close it.
3. Download the latest Adobe Camera Raw Plug-in from here.
4. Double-click the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions.

Step 3: Find & Fix Duplicate Raw Photos

1. Once the plug-in is successfully installed, launch Adobe Photoshop Express.
2. In the main interface, click on the Photos tab.
3. Click on the Import icon.
4. Choose a folder that contains duplicate Raw image files. For example: C:\Users\<Your User Name>\Pictures\Camera.
5. Click on the Import button.
6. Click on the Duplicate Finder icon in the toolbar.
7. Select the Similar scan criteria.
8. Click on Find Duplicates.
9. Once the duplicate results are gathered, manually check the files you want to delete and then click on the Delete option.

Limitations:

• It’s worth mentioning that the duplicate photos finder feature in Adobe Photoshop Express does not currently support finding exact-matching duplicates. What that means is, it is built to find Raw and other photos that are visually similar in nature. We strongly recommend you back up your photos and review the results carefully before deleting any photos.
• There is no in-house functionality to bulk-select duplicate photos at once. Unfortunately, it can take a lot of time to find duplicate Raw photos.