Narrative works with RAW files from most major camera brands, plus JPEGs. On a Mac, it also works with HEIC photos, like the ones from an iPhone. Here are the file types you can cull in Narrative.

Narrative supports these file types:

Narrative supports RAW files from the Sony A7 V and A7R VI. New cameras sometimes need a newer version of Narrative, so keep Narrative up to date.

HEIC photos only work in Narrative on a Mac. It isn't on Windows yet, but Windows support is on the way. For now, on Windows, convert your HEIC photos to JPEG first.

You can't cull Smart Previews in Narrative. You need the full photo files in one of the types above.

Smart Previews only work when you train a Personal AI Preset, where they can stand in for RAW files that aren't connected. Learn which photos you can train with.

If a file isn't supported, you'll see a gray broken thumbnail, or the photo will look like pink, fuzzy noise, like this:

Gray thumbnails can also mean Narrative can't find your photos. Before you decide your camera isn't supported, see Images are not loading or show gray thumbnails.

If your photo loads but looks blurry or pixelated, see Why do my DNG or ARW files look blurry or pixelated?

If your camera's files aren't supported, try these steps:

In the meantime, you can shoot RAW+JPEG and cull the JPEGs, or convert a copy of your RAW files to DNG with Adobe DNG Converter, using a full-size preview. Always keep your original files.