What ORF is and How to Open or Convert ORF Files on Windows and Mac

Last Updated on September 22, 2025 by Peter Wood

“I have some photo files saved in ORF format, but my computer failed to open them. How to solve this problem?” If you have an Olympus digital camera, you will get ORF files on the memory card after taking some photos. As a RAW image format, ORF has many benefits. But you will face some troubles when opening, browsing, managing, or editing them. Because ORF is a RAW file format with additional information, it is not compatible with some photo editors. What should you do with the ORF files? Here is everything you need to know about the file format.

Part 1: What is ORF File Format
Part 2: Possible Problems with the ORF Format File
Part 3: Best Method to Open and Convert ORF Files

Part 1: What is ORF File Format

An ORF file is the file extension commonly associated with Olympus digital cameras. This file format can store RAW images as well as metadata captured by your Olympus camera. It also indicates the file format, the way of encoding, and more information. You can select the RAW file format from the settings on your camera to get all data from the processor.

There are a lot of image formats, such as JPG, which is a compressed image format holding much less information. RAW files, such as ORF, are lossless. It means they do not lose any quality. The ORF file is at least 12 bits per pixel, while JPG only holds 8 bits per pixel. The rich metadata is helpful if you wish to adjust and edit your photos later.

Part 2: Possible Problems with the ORF Format File

1How to Open an ORF File?

There are only a few options for opening an ORF file, such as the Olympus Viewer 3 bundled in the CD. But the default photo managers on Windows and Mac cannot read the RAW photos directly.

2Can I convert an ORF file?

It is easy to convert ORG files to JPG format. Just select an ORG file converter to transcode the photo format. You should bear in mind that the metadata will lose after conversion.

3Can Photoshop open an ORF file?

Yes, Photoshop can open ORF files, edit the file format and convert the desired file to standard image formats. But it does not work for all versions of camera RAW.

4Does Lightroom support ORF files?

Lightroom can open and convert your ORF files of the Olympus camera. But you will need camera RAW 1.0. If you have the OM-D E-M1X, you will need 2.2 instead.

5Are ORF and RAW the same?

The ORF file is an extension of the RAW image format for the Olympus digital camera. However, RAW is a collection of file formats that include various file extensions, like ORF, NEF, CR2, etc.

6ORF or JPG? Which is better?

The answer is different depending on your need. JPG is used on mobile devices and the Internet. ORF, on the other hand, is a good option for original photos captured from cameras.

Part 3: Best Method to Open and Convert ORF Files

WidsMob Viewer Pro is an all-in-one ORF converter, which provides different browsing modes, such as the library mode to browse all files within the same folder, the full-screen mode to manage them, the EXIF mode to check the EXIF information, and even convert ORF file to different photo formats. Moreover, you can compare similar photos, crop the desired part, flip/rotate them, or even delete the unwanted ones.

1. Browse ORF, HEIC, WebP, MP4, JPEG, and others within the same SD card.

2. Copy ORF images to another folder, compare similar photos, and delete them.

3. Provide different modes to browse ORF images and edit them with a few clicks.

4. Convert ORF RAW to JPEG, PNG, and BMP without losing the original quality.

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How to Open and Convert ORF Files

Step 1: Download and install WidsMob Viewer Pro and make sure to set it up as the default ORF photo viewer. Connect your Olympus camera to your computer and make sure the computer can recognize the SD card. After that, you can click any file, including ORF, JPEG, TIFF format, or even MP4 file to open all files within the same SD card.

Step 2: Go to the Library mode, you can browse all ORF files, JPEG photos, and even videos in thumbnails. Just select the desired photos and press the Ctrl + C keys to copy the file. Of course, you can also press the Shift key and choose two similar photos. After that, you can click the Compare button to choose the desired one.

Step 3: To browse the details and EXIF information of the ORF, you only need to double-click the ORF file to go to the Full Screen mode. It enables you to switch to the desired one from the slide bar, you can also delete the unwanted one or check the detailed EXIF information of the ORF file via the I icon from the bottom left corner.

Note: If you need to edit the ORF photos, you only need to right-click any image and choose the desired editing feature, such as rotating left, rotating right, flipping horizontally, flipping vertically, cropping, moving to trash, showing in Explorer, or even setting up your preferences to browse the photos accordingly.

Step 4: When you need to convert ORF to another file format, you can select the ORF in the Full Screen mode and click the File menu. Select the Save As button, enter the name of the output file, and choose the desired output file format. It enables you to convert ORF to JPEG, PNG, and BMP on your computer.