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A Canon RAW file records which camera took the picture as precisely as a fingerprint: the body’s serial number, usually the lens’s too, the owner name if you typed one into the menu, the capture time and, on bodies with GPS, the position. A CR2 metadata remover deletes those fields and leaves the sensor data, the previews and the settings your RAW editor needs exactly as they were. Add a CR2 or CR3 file above, read what it held and download a clean copy. Canon RAW files are processed on our server and deleted within minutes.
What a Canon RAW file carries
| Where | Tags | What they reveal |
|---|---|---|
| Canon maker notes | SerialNumber, InternalSerialNumber, OwnerName, FirmwareVersion | The individual camera, the name set in its menu and its firmware |
| Standard EXIF | Artist, Copyright, UserComment, DateTimeOriginal, CreateDate, ModifyDate | A name, a note and when the picture was taken |
| Newer bodies (CR3) | EXIF SerialNumber and LensSerialNumber, plus Canon ImageUniqueID and LensSerialNumber | Body and lens serial numbers, and a code unique to each picture |
| Header times (CR3) | Creation and modification times in the movie-style header | The capture time again, with a time-zone offset |
| GPS | Latitude, longitude, altitude, date stamp | Where the picture was taken, on bodies with GPS or a paired phone |
| Previews | A large JPEG, a thumbnail, and in CR3 a full-size JPEG track | Small pictures that may or may not carry their own metadata |
| XMP | Ratings and labels from editing software | How the file was handled afterwards |
CR2 and CR3 are different containers
CR2 is built like a TIFF file: a chain of directories. The first holds a large JPEG preview, the next a thumbnail, and the last the raw sensor data. CR3, used by newer mirrorless bodies, is built from boxes like an MP4 video, with the metadata in boxes near the start and the raw data in a media-data box. The cleaner works on both, because it edits the named metadata fields and never the picture data.
What we found in real Canon files
These are public sample files from the CC0 library at raw.pixls.us, run through the production cleaner and checked independently with ExifTool.
| File | Identifying fields found | After cleaning |
|---|---|---|
| EOS 450D, CR2, 17.6 MB | Three dates, body serial number, internal serial number | None left. Sensor data identical. File 1 KB smaller. |
| EOS R10, CR3, 30.2 MB | Two header dates, three EXIF dates, body serial, lens serial, internal serial, per-picture ID | None left. Media data identical. File 69 KB smaller. |
- The sensor data was compared byte for byte before and after: both strips in the CR2 and the whole media-data box in the CR3 were identical.
- ExifTool’s own validation reported the CR2 as OK before and after, and the CR3 as OK after. The original CR3 had one minor warning about an odd offset, which is gone.
- Every other Canon maker-note tag was unchanged. In the CR2 the only differences among 210 Canon tags were the two serial numbers; in the CR3, the three identity tags.
- The embedded previews carried no personal tags, so they were left byte for byte as they were.
The body number was stored twice
In the CR2 the camera’s serial number appeared in two places in the file: in the documented SerialNumber tag, and again in an undocumented spot inside Canon’s camera-info block, which no tag points at. ExifTool cannot see that second copy, so a clean-up that only edits tags would have reported success and left the number behind.
So after the tag pass the tool searches the metadata area of the file for the number it just removed, in the forms it is stored in, and zeroes every copy it finds. It skips the sensor data and the embedded previews it can locate, because a coincidence there could damage the picture, and it checks the file with ExifTool before and after, undoing the change if the file reads worse. In the CR2 sample, the second copy was found and zeroed.
What stays
- The sensor data and the previews, unchanged.
- Camera make and model and the lens model, which RAW converters use to pick the right profile and corrections.
- Exposure data, white balance, picture style and the rest of the maker notes that editing software reads.
- Edit instructions that Canon’s own software stores in or beside a RAW file are not touched.
Stop it at the source
- In the camera menu, leave owner name and copyright information empty unless you want them in every file.
- On bodies with GPS or a paired-phone location feature, switch it off when you do not need a geotag.
- Remember that files you have already recorded keep their data, so clean copies before they leave your control.
Clean a Canon RAW file in four steps
- No account needed to start. Guests can clean 5 RAW photos a month, a free account 10.
- Add the file. Drag the CR2 or CR3 anywhere on the page. The upload shows its progress.
- Wait for the clean. The server removes the fields, deals with the previews, looks for repeated serial numbers and scans the result.
- Download and read the report. It lists what was found and how many fields remain. Verified clean appears only when none do.
Mind the size limit: 25 MB for guests, 25 MB on a free account, 100 MB on Starter, 500 MB on Pro and 1,000 MB on Business. The 450D file above fits a free account, and the R10 file does not, as CR3 files from recent bodies commonly run above 25 MB. The original is deleted as soon as cleaning finishes, and the clean copy is kept for at most 15 minutes. See pricing.
exiftool -a -G1 -s "-*serial*" -ownername -artist -copyright -imageuniqueid -alldates -gps:all clean.cr2The RAW photo metadata remover page covers every RAW format, and the pages for NEF, ARW and DNG describe what we found in Nikon, Sony and DNG files.
Frequently asked questions
Does cleaning change the CR2 image data?
No. Only metadata fields are edited. We compared the sensor-data blocks of a real CR2 and a real CR3 before and after cleaning, and they were byte for byte identical.
Does it remove the camera serial number from a CR2?
Yes. The body serial number is overwritten with zeros, the internal serial number is deleted, and a second copy that Canon keeps in an undocumented block is found by its bytes and zeroed.
Why is the serial number zeros instead of empty?
Canon marks it as a required field, so it can be changed but not deleted. Zeros are the neutral value.
Is the lens serial number removed?
Yes, where the file has one. In the CR3 sample both the EXIF and the Canon copies were removed.
Does it work on CR3 files from mirrorless cameras?
Yes. CR3 is handled the same way. In the CR3 we tested, the header dates were set to zero, and all identity fields were removed.
Is my CR2 uploaded?
Yes. RAW needs ExifTool, so the file is uploaded over HTTPS to our server. The original is deleted when cleaning finishes and the clean copy within 15 minutes. We never open the picture.
Will it remove GPS from my Canon RAW?
Yes. The whole GPS block is removed. The two files we tested had no position recorded, so that part was checked on the DNG, where GPS was present.
Does it keep my white balance and picture style?
Yes. The rest of the Canon maker notes are left alone. In our test, every Canon tag other than the identity fields read the same before and after.
Can I clean CR2 files for free?
Yes, within a free account’s 25 MB size limit and its 10 RAW cleanings a month (guests get 5). Larger files and bigger batches need a paid plan.