zenraw

Camera RAW and DNG decoder in safe Rust. Scene-referred linear f32 output by default, sRGB u8 opt-in. Three swappable backends for different camera coverage vs. dependency tradeoffs.

Quick start

use zenraw::{decode, RawDecodeConfig};
use enough::Unstoppable;

let data: &[u8] = &[/* RAW file bytes */];
let output = decode(data, &RawDecodeConfig::default(), &Unstoppable)?;
println!("{}x{} {} {}", output.info.width, output.info.height,
    output.info.make, output.info.model);
// output.pixels is a PixelBuffer<RGBF32_LINEAR>

For display-referred sRGB u8 output:

let config = RawDecodeConfig::default().with_gamma(true);
let output = decode(data, &config, &Unstoppable)?;
// output.pixels is a PixelBuffer<RGB8_SRGB>

Cancellation and deadlines use enough::Stop — pass &Unstoppable when you don't need either.

Decode pipeline

1. Parse camera RAW/DNG file (via rawloader or rawler)
2. Normalize sensor values using per-channel black/white levels
3. Demosaic Bayer CFA → RGB (Malvar-He-Cutler by default, bilinear available)
4. Demosaic X-Trans 6×6 CFA → RGB (bilinear, rawler backend only)
5. Apply white balance coefficients
6. Apply camera → XYZ → sRGB color matrix
7. Crop to active area (from camera metadata)
8. Apply EXIF orientation (rotation/flip)
9. Optionally apply sRGB gamma curve

Backends

When both rawloader and rawler are enabled, rawler takes priority. The darktable backend is independent — it delegates the entire pipeline to darktable-cli and returns its processed output.

Supported formats

Plus many more via rawler. Detection works on file content, not extension.

Features

Configuration

use zenraw::{RawDecodeConfig, DemosaicMethod};

let config = RawDecodeConfig {
    demosaic: DemosaicMethod::MalvarHeCutler, // or Bilinear
    apply_gamma: false,       // true → sRGB u8, false → linear f32
    apply_crop: true,         // use camera's crop/active area
    apply_orientation: true,  // apply EXIF rotation/flip
    max_pixels: 300_000_000,  // reject images above this
    ..Default::default()
};

zencodec integration

With the zencodec feature, zenraw implements DecoderConfig for use in format-agnostic decode pipelines. Two format definitions are exported: DNG_FORMAT and RAW_FORMAT.

use zenraw::RawDecoderConfig;
use zencodec::decode::DecoderConfig;

let config = RawDecoderConfig::new();
let job = config.job();
let info = job.probe(data)?;
println!("{}x{}, orientation={}", info.width, info.height, info.orientation());

The zencodec integration populates ImageInfo with orientation, bit depth, and XMP metadata (when the xmp feature is enabled).

AI-Generated Code Notice

Developed with Claude (Anthropic). Not all code manually reviewed. Review critical paths before production use.

Image tech I maintain

* as of 2026

General Rust awesomeness

archmage · magetypes · enough · whereat · zenbench · cargo-copter

And other projects · GitHub @imazen · GitHub @lilith · lib.rs/~lilith · NuGet (over 30 million downloads / 87 packages)

License

Dual-licensed: AGPL-3.0 or commercial.

I've maintained and developed open-source image server software — and the 40+ library ecosystem it depends on — full-time since 2011. Fifteen years of continual maintenance, backwards compatibility, support, and the (very rare) security patch. That kind of stability requires sustainable funding, and dual-licensing is how we make it work without venture capital or rug-pulls. Support sustainable and secure software; swap patch tuesday for patch leap-year.

Our open-source products

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