Supported File Formats
Image file formats Media Moana accepts on upload, including HEIC and 25+ camera RAW formats
Media Moana accepts a wide range of image formats — from standard web images to HEIC photos straight from your phone, and 25+ camera RAW formats from 16 vendors. This page lists every format you can upload and how the system handles each.
Standard image formats
These work out of the box. You can preview, edit, AI-process, and download them like any other image.
| Format | Extensions | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| JPEG | .jpg, .jpeg | Most common photo format |
| PNG | .png | Lossless with alpha channel |
| WebP | .webp | Modern web format, smaller than JPEG |
| GIF | .gif | Animated and static |
| AVIF | .avif | Modern HDR-capable format |
| TIFF | .tif, .tiff | Archival, multi-page capable |
| BMP | .bmp | Legacy uncompressed bitmap |
| SVG | .svg | Vector graphics |
HEIC / HEIF
Photos taken on iPhones (iOS 11+) and many modern Android devices use HEIC. Media Moana accepts them natively and auto-converts to a standard format on upload so previews work in any browser.
| Format | Extensions |
|---|---|
| HEIC / HEIF | .heic, .heif, .heics, .heifs |
No need to convert iPhone photos before uploading — just drag them in.
Camera RAW formats
Upload RAW files straight from your camera. Media Moana decodes them into web-friendly WebP previews while keeping the original RAW bytes untouched, so you can re-process or download the original any time.
| Vendor | Extensions |
|---|---|
| Canon | .cr2, .cr3, .crw |
| Nikon | .nef, .nrw |
| Sony | .arw, .sr2, .srf |
| Fujifilm | .raf |
| Olympus | .orf |
| Panasonic | .raw, .rw2 |
| Pentax | .pef |
| Adobe DNG | .dng |
| Leica | .rwl |
| Samsung | .srw |
| Hasselblad | .3fr, .fff |
| Phase One | .iiq |
| Mamiya | .mef |
| Kodak | .dcr, .k25, .kdc |
| Sigma | .x3f |
| Minolta | .mrw |
That's 25 RAW formats across 16 vendors.
Behind the scenes
When you upload an image, Media Moana routes it through a small processing pipeline:
- Standard images — decoded with Sharp (libvips).
- HEIC / HEIF — decoded with
libheifon Linux, or macOSsips, then converted to JPEG before further processing. - RAW — decoded with LibRaw (
dcraw_emu) and rendered as WebP previews. - Unusual BMP variants — fall back to ImageMagick when Sharp can't read them.
You always get a fast WebP preview for the browser, while the original file stays bit-for-bit intact for download or re-processing.
What's not supported
These formats are intentionally rejected to keep the library photo-focused:
- Documents —
.pdf,.psd - Icons —
.ico - Specialist / scientific —
.exr,.hdr,.tga,.ppm,.pbm,.pgm - Optional codecs —
.jp2(JPEG 2000),.jxl(JPEG XL) - Non-image files — videos, audio, archives, etc.
If you try to upload an unsupported file via the file picker, drag-and-drop, or the CLI, that file is skipped with a "Only image files are allowed" message. The rest of the batch keeps uploading normally.
Limits
- File size — up to 100 MB per file. Larger files are skipped at upload time.
- Per-account quota — depends on your plan.
Tips
- Mixed batches just work — drop a folder containing JPEGs, RAWs, and HEICs all at once. Each file is detected and routed to the right decoder automatically.
- RAW + edits in one workflow — upload RAWs, browse them as WebP previews, and download the original (or any processed version) whenever you need.
- Duplicate detection is automatic — identical files are detected via SHA-1 hash and skipped, so re-uploading the same RAWs won't waste your quota.
Last updated: July 7, 2026