Skip to main content

Google+ improves RAW-to-JPEG conversion, supports more than 70 cameras

Since acquiring Nik and Snapseed, Google has been moving forward with online photo editing in full steam and continuing to add features and enhancements to Google+. The latest is improved RAW-to-JPEG conversion.

Because Google+ lets you store full-size photos in the cloud, users have been uploading uncompressed RAW images. Once a RAW image is uploaded, Google automatically converts it to JPEG for fast viewing and editing, while keeping the original RAW file is left intact. That converted JPEG image now looks better thanks to the improvements, Google said. The feature supports more than 70 cameras from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony, with more added in the future. Check out the before and after photos.

google-plus_pigment_before-after
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Google’s photo-editing features are still fairly basic, but over time, as stronger tools are added, it could become a serious challenger to Photoshop and Lightroom for customers who don’t mind working in the cloud. Adobe is clearly aware and has been making moves on its end too, moving elements of the professional Creative Suite to the cloud and improving its Photoshop and Premiere Elements consumer desktop software with cloud functionality.

(Images via Google)

Les Shu
Former Senior Editor, Photography
I am formerly a senior editor at Digital Trends. I bring with me more than a decade of tech and lifestyle journalism…
Topics
Fujifilm’s new Instax mini 41 offers more instant-print fun
Fujifilm's Instax mini 41 instant-print camera.

Fujifilm has just dropped the latest addition to the Instax instant-print family of cameras. 

The Instax mini 41 is an update on the four-year-old Instax mini 40, bringing with it a sleeker look and new features to ensure you don’t waste a single sheet of the photographic paper that you pop in the back. 

Read more
Space station meets aurora in this stunning time-lapse video
An aurora as seen from the ISS.

In his final days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronaut Don Pettit has shared a time-lapse video (below) showing the orbital outpost flying above cities at night before passing over a stunning aurora, shimmering in the darkness.  

https://x.com/astro_Pettit/status/1909841414713704577

Read more
The new Polaroid Flip comes with sonar autofocus
The Polaroid Flip camera, launched in April 2025.

Polaroid has just unveiled a new camera for some instant analog fun.

The Flip comes with fewer features than Polaroid's pricier I-2 model, but is more advanced than the Go, Polaroid's most basic instant camera -- so it could hit the sweet spot for some folks looking for such a device.

Read more