Definition: RAW is the file format used with digital photographs that's closest to film-quality, requiring a lot of storage space. The digital camera does not compress or process a RAW file in any way. Some people refer to RAW format as a "digital negative" because it doesn't change anything about the file when storing it.
Few beginner-level cameras allow RAW format file storage. Professional and advanced photographers like RAW because they can perform their own editing on the digital photograph without having to worry about what elements of the photo the compression program will remove, such as with JPEG.
