Open .pef files online
To open a .pef file in your browser, press Open editor on the RAW photo editor, then choose File > Import Photos and pick your file. The Pentax RAW photo joins the editor's library and opens in the develop view with a histogram and exposure, color and tone controls. On 2026-10-28 we opened a public-domain (CC0) 14.8 MB PEF from a Pentax K-5 II s (14-bit, from raw.pixls.us); it opened within 15 seconds and showed the right picture, a metal cookie cutter on a recipe card, with ISO 200, 50 mm, f/4.0, 1/10 on the info line. We raised Exposure to +1.00 and exported a full-size JPEG, an 8-bit TIFF and a Rendered photo DNG, all 4928 x 3264, the camera's size. All three read back correctly in macOS tools, and the framing and color balance matched the camera's embedded JPEG and macOS's own rendering; our export was brighter, as set. The Raw data DNG option did nothing in our test. Two things to know: the library lives in your browser's storage, so keep your original files, and we only tried one K-5 II s file. Nothing is uploaded and there is no sign-up.
Best on a desktop browser. This editor has desktop menus and shortcuts.
Can I open it?
To export: in File > Export, type any name in the Folder box first (we used exports), or the export button only shows “Choose an export folder first.” and nothing downloads. The browser version has no folder picker, and the file still goes to your downloads.
| Check | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Listed by the engine | Listed in docs | Pentax PEF is listed as supported. In our test the Export dialog lists JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, WebP, AVIF, JPEG XL, DNG and the original file. |
| Opened a .pef file | Works | File > Import Photos with a 14.8 MB PEF from a Pentax K-5 II s (a public-domain sample from raw.pixls.us). It was added to the library as PEF and opened in the develop view within 15 seconds: a metal cookie cutter on a recipe card showed and the histogram drew. The info line read ISO 200, 50 mm, f/4.0, 1/10. The system file chooser worked, so no drag and drop was needed. |
| Edited it | Works | We typed 1 into Exposure in the Light panel. It read +1.00, the picture got brighter and the histogram moved right. |
| Exported as JPEG | Works | File > Export with Full size ticked (quality 90) wrote a 3.8 MB .jpg. The file command and macOS sips read it as a 4928 x 3264 JPEG with the camera model, the shot time and the software name LightCraft in its metadata. |
| Exported as TIFF | Works | TIFF with 8-bit depth, ZIP compression and Full size gave a 28.6 MB .tif, which sips reads as 4928 x 3264. Its tags show 8-bit RGB with Deflate compression and a color profile. |
| Exported as DNG (Rendered photo) | Works | The Rendered photo option downloaded a 70.4 MB .dng. sips reads it as a 4928 x 3264 DNG from the same camera, and the JPEG sips makes from it matches our edited JPEG (average difference about 3 on a 0 to 255 scale). Its TIFF tags show DNG version 1.4, 16-bit RGB with the LinearRaw type and Deflate compression, and the software name LightCraft DNG 2. It is a processed picture in a DNG wrapper, not the sensor data. We did not open it in other RAW software. |
| Exported as DNG (Raw data) | Not supported | The Raw data option, described as raw photos as DNG with the edits embedded, did nothing: after OK no download started, and we waited 60 seconds on one attempt. The same option also failed in our earlier DNG, ARW, RAF and RW2 tests. |
| Compared with other renderings | Works | We put our JPEG next to the camera's embedded full-size JPEG and macOS's own rendering of the PEF. The framing and size match, nothing is shifted, and the color balance is close (the red, green and blue averages keep the same ratios). Our export is brighter, which matches the +1.00 we set: average brightness 121 against 84 for the camera JPEG and 87 for macOS. Brightness patterns correlate at 0.997 with the camera JPEG. We did not judge fine color accuracy beyond that. |
| Other export formats | Not tested yet | The Export dialog also lists PNG, PSD, WebP, AVIF, JPEG XL and Original files. We did not try them. |
| Other PEF variants and cameras | Not tested yet | We only tried one K-5 II s file. Other Pentax cameras, 12-bit and compressed PEF, and pixel-shift files are Not tested yet. |
| Phone screen (390 px wide) | Not tested yet | Not tested for this format. |
Our test file open in the raw photo editor on anyedit.app, 2026-10-28