What is ORF?

Olympus Raw Format (ORF) contains raw sensor data from Olympus OM-D, PEN, and other Olympus digital cameras.

What is IIQ?

Phase One IIQ is a professional medium-format raw format used by Phase One digital backs, delivering exceptional image quality for commercial photography.

When Should You Use ORF vs IIQ?

ORF vs IIQ: Key Differences

• •The core technical difference: ORF relies on lossless compression whereas IIQ uses lossless compression.
• •Neither format changes compression philosophy — both are lossless compression — so any size differences are due to encoding efficiency, not a shift in quality approach.
• •Transparency: N/A
• •Storage footprint: 15-40MB per photo for ORF vs 50-150MB per image from medium-format backs for IIQ.
• •Primary audience: ORF is built for olympus camera raw processing scenarios, while IIQ focuses on professional studio photography, digital back capture — pick the format that matches your output requirement.

Advantages of ORF

• ✓ORF applies lossless compression specifically calibrated for Olympus camera raw processing.
• ✓ORF enjoys broad native support across operating systems, browsers, and creative tools alike.
• ✓ORF guarantees every bit of the original data survives — no approximations, no shortcuts.
• ✓You will find ORF support built into virtually every tool that handles Olympus camera raw processing — no plugins or converters needed.

Advantages of IIQ

• ✓At its core, IIQ relies on lossless encoding — a design choice that makes it perfect for Professional studio photography, digital back capture.
• ✓You won't run into compatibility issues with IIQ — it's a universal standard across platforms.
• ✓File size management with IIQ: larger files guaranteed to match the original exactly.
• ✓Every major application in the Professional studio photography, digital back capture space supports IIQ natively.

Common Use Cases for ORF to IIQ Conversion

• Mobile app UI assets
• Product photography for marketplaces
• Digital art portfolios
• Brochure and flyer design
• Newsletter graphics
• Video thumbnail creation

Industry Applications

Best Practices for ORF to IIQ Conversion

• →When converting ORF to IIQ, check whether IIQ supports transparency — if not, your transparent areas will be filled with a solid color
• →Use IIQ for maximum quality archival and ORF for lossless workflows
• →Optimize images for web to reduce page load times — tools like our converter let you adjust quality settings before conversion
• →Maintain original aspect ratio to avoid distortion during conversion
• →Always keep a backup of your original files before converting
• →Choose the appropriate quality settings for your specific use case

Related Article

Troubleshooting ORF to IIQ Conversion

• !IIQ shows visible compression artifacts → lower the compression level or switch to a lossless variant
• !The converted IIQ image looks washed out → the source ORF likely uses a wider color space than IIQ supports
• !IIQ file is much larger than expected → check if the conversion preserved an unnecessarily high resolution
• !Text in the converted IIQ looks fuzzy → text-heavy images benefit from higher quality settings or a different output format

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