Why do RAW photos look different in Luminar Neo?

Have you ever opened a RAW photo in Luminar Neo and noticed that it looks less vibrant or slightly different from what you saw on your camera screen or in other photo viewers? You're not alone—and there's a good reason for it.

Luminar shows the pure RAW data exactly as captured by your camera's sensor. Your camera's screen usually displays a pre-processed JPEG preview, an embedded JPEG, which is not the RAW file itself.

📸 The Truth Behind RAW Images

When you take a photo in RAW format, your camera actually captures a vast amount of unprocessed data straight from its sensor. However, what you see on your camera's screen is not that RAW data. Instead, it’s a processed JPEG preview—also known as an embedded JPEG—that your camera quickly generates to give you a polished preview of the photo.

Luminar Neo, unlike many default viewers or even your camera display, shows you the real RAW data as your starting point. This approach gives you maximum editing flexibility and control, but it can sometimes make the photo look different at first glance—often flatter, less colorful, or with a slightly different tone.

🛠️ Is this normal & How to Fix It

Yes, this is normal behavior for software using a pure RAW converter. Luminar shows you the authentic RAW data as the starting point for your edits, not the camera's processed preview. To change the colors accordingly, you can choose the dedicated camera profile in the Develop RAW tool, so after applying it, you will see the image as the camera took it:

Develop RAW/Develop | Luminar Knowledge Hub

❓ Q&A Section

👀 What's the preview on my camera screen then? That's an embedded JPEG. RAW files contain this small, automatically adjusted JPEG created by the camera for quick viewing. It's not the actual raw data.

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🖼️ So the embedded JPEG isn't the "real" photo? Correct. It's a processed version. The RAW file holds the unprocessed data, giving you far more editing flexibility.

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🔎 Why does the image sometimes flicker or change right after opening in Luminar Neo? Luminar might briefly show the embedded JPEG while loading the full RAW file. The embedded JPEG preview is a quick, camera-generated image stored within the raw file. The software displays this instantly while it processes the full raw data. After a few seconds, the software shows its interpretation of the raw data, which often has different default settings (causing the desaturated look).