Camera RAW conversion
Convert CR2 to ICO
Updated Jul 2026
CR2 is the raw photo format Canon cameras save, and ICO is the small square icon format used for favicons and app icons on Windows. To convert CR2 to ICO, open the raw photo in a converter, crop it down, and export it as an icon. Doing this on your own computer keeps the raw file, and everything it recorded about the shot, off other people's servers.
- Extension
- .cr2
- Type
- Camera RAW
- Typically
- Canon cameras
- Metadata
- Carries EXIF
- Extension
- .ico
- Type
- Images
- Typically
- Favicons, app icons
- Transparency
- Supported
Convert CR2 to ICO on your own computer. Nothing uploads.
How to convert CR2 to ICO
- Open Morphjet and drag in the CR2 file, or a whole folder of them.
- Choose ICO as the output format and pick the icon size you need.
- Convert. The ICO is written next to your original, and nothing leaves your machine.
CR2 vs ICO: what actually changes
| CR2 | ICO | |
|---|---|---|
| File size | Large, often 25 to 60 MB | Tiny, usually a few KB to a couple hundred KB |
| Dimensions | Full sensor resolution, several thousand pixels wide | Small and square, typically 16 to 256 pixels |
| Quality | Lossless, all the sensor data from the shot | Lossless format, but the image is drastically resized and cropped to fit |
| Transparency | No | Yes, supports transparent backgrounds |
| Compatibility | Needs raw photo software to open or edit | Recognized natively by Windows and browsers as an icon |
| Metadata | Yes, full EXIF including camera settings and often GPS | No, icon files don't carry photo metadata |
When to convert, and when not to
Convert CR2 to ICO when you want to turn a photo you shot into a favicon for a website or a custom icon for a folder or app on Windows.
Keep the CR2 original if there's any chance you'll want to edit exposure or white balance later, since an ICO is a small, flattened crop and can't be turned back into a usable raw file.
Why not just use an online converter?
A CR2 file carries the full EXIF record of the shot, including camera settings and often the GPS location where it was taken. An online converter that turns your photo into an icon would receive that raw file first, location data and all. Converting on your own computer means the original photo and everything it recorded never leave your machine.
Questions
Does converting CR2 to ICO lose quality?
In the sense that matters here, yes, but that's expected. An icon is meant to be small, so the photo gets cropped and resized way down from its original resolution. The ICO itself is a lossless format, it just holds far less image.
Will the ICO keep the photo's location or camera data?
No. ICO files don't have a place to store EXIF metadata, so the camera settings, date, and GPS location from the CR2 are dropped during conversion.
Why would I turn a raw camera photo into an icon?
It's a less common path, but people do it to make a favicon or app icon out of a photo they actually shot rather than a stock graphic, especially for a personal site or project.
Can I convert CR2 to ICO without uploading the raw file?
Yes. A desktop app like Morphjet processes the raw file on your own computer, so it never has to travel over the internet to get turned into an icon.
Morphjet converts CR2, ICO, and 1,800+ other formats, all on your machine. Launching this July.