diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 34926f23..d1542ed9 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# This file is automatically @generated by Poetry 1.8.3 and should not be changed by hand.
+# This file is automatically @generated by Poetry 1.8.4 and should not be changed by hand.
 
 [[package]]
 name = "certifi"
@@ -811,6 +811,38 @@ files = [
     {file = "PyYAML-6.0.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:bfdf460b1736c775f2ba9f6a92bca30bc2095067b8a9d77876d1fad6cc3b4a43"},
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rawpy"
+version = "0.23.2"
+description = "RAW image processing for Python, a wrapper for libraw"
+optional = false
+python-versions = "*"
+files = [
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:5687a050af9e026c88bff62741214c32c7a4491244fa642c6a1b9807dc18e29c"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp310-cp310-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:14faecb9b69aa4eaea9711e06eb817b716132bb77b47318efd11273d1115f438"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl", hash = "sha256:80251d3cdfcf04d3d56f3209697a231a730c54e48f0d69acc086a8a47875aefe"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:bc52ce40f68ac07cd44c4239dd0b6effff303ba731587e82d938dc6cb58e5df8"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp310-cp310-win_amd64.whl", hash = "sha256:d00d97f722f42e9e3173eb4446465a77ea2c374b8b3043f2cf6e6e0b893bcc40"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp311-cp311-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:dd77b7ad389b47d374b522cb93ff2ed07f54230c92be8c13bfd7a620f7b9c566"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp311-cp311-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:d1e00dea7636031244633606a5ef95f7087c6807f3cecc9829cfe09809c6b99a"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl", hash = "sha256:9e58c8d33381e9638f22909554eb442f6043fdc0b475701c424b8ca05afe5d36"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:59c0701667f13d1773f3b6bab60b9a7a6e22ff184d25f4c1d1bfb444fef98914"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp311-cp311-win_amd64.whl", hash = "sha256:cf4790b20a0b27232b9511669e8777d839863efc9acc38e82db87dfec0384b4a"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp312-cp312-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:b4fbda4ba01ee3bde82d3940e025f226c715fc963bb876532d640490de133c0e"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp312-cp312-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:5998a4f7cd13236bbde72811dff3a9be7b723ef25078263ecef8ec826328483e"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl", hash = "sha256:d138c6ebc2796b44d57bbae306ec75076acd0b59091de8b886d1e9e6c30b966b"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:b0ce160d06b353769abc5ac6298fbf812d218c49943f1fe9fa97229e8846ca6d"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp312-cp312-win_amd64.whl", hash = "sha256:75fd34b63bed8ed9f585fb8d783b6260c32b45a25c202e812af642dc05837bd7"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp39-cp39-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:aa2301297d8c95a6b49e41798240c14619f4753fe35f80d565fb303ea95412d1"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp39-cp39-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:490df6aed38a63e01bec71be6c3dcaa8541b23911459f0160cb56d9b745ce74c"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp39-cp39-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl", hash = "sha256:6b17f4f7d53b7cf8fc33879a7e36439b6cbac152ab923238245cc1ee010d86cc"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp39-cp39-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:5851361e31669f7e08493dd0ed70817ea82db18a74437abf97b44cf02881fd3c"},
+    {file = "rawpy-0.23.2-cp39-cp39-win_amd64.whl", hash = "sha256:540eac17a50f6d9f84500ba1ec8d4e53472f2ee82293d9af99a7c76fcdf819a2"},
+]
+
+[package.dependencies]
+numpy = ">=1.26.0"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "regex"
 version = "2024.5.15"
@@ -1353,4 +1385,4 @@ files = [
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.0"
 python-versions = ">=3.9 <3.13"
-content-hash = "ffbdbfd76077322c443179339fb5037cb8a8437286546d753d2a241dfcf285d2"
+content-hash = "92df2052244a7720dbf326c77ef18d44868149b3a1eaaa51530db2b6b96822a8"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 9a70d664..63c2f444 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ torchvision = [
   { version = "==0.17.2+cpu", source = "pytorch-cpu", markers = "sys_platform == 'linux' and platform_machine != 'aarch64'" }
 ]
 tqdm = "^4.65.0"
+rawpy = "^0.23.2"
 
 [tool.poetry.group.dev.dependencies]
 pycodestyle = ">=2.7,<3.0"
diff --git a/rclip/const.py b/rclip/const.py
index 7740e18d..b98114b2 100644
--- a/rclip/const.py
+++ b/rclip/const.py
@@ -4,3 +4,8 @@
 IS_MACOS = sys.platform == 'darwin'
 IS_LINUX = sys.platform.startswith('linux')
 IS_WINDOWS = sys.platform == 'win32' or sys.platform == 'cygwin'
+
+# these images are always processed
+IMAGE_EXT = ["jpg", "jpeg", "png", "webp"]
+# RAW images are processed only if there is no processed image alongside it
+IMAGE_RAW_EXT = ["arw", "cr2"]
diff --git a/rclip/main.py b/rclip/main.py
index 53a9a328..918e652c 100644
--- a/rclip/main.py
+++ b/rclip/main.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from PIL import Image, ImageFile
 
 from rclip import db, fs, model
+from rclip.const import IMAGE_EXT, IMAGE_RAW_EXT
 from rclip.utils.preview import preview
 from rclip.utils.snap import check_snap_permissions, is_snap
 from rclip.utils import helpers
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ def is_image_meta_equal(image: db.Image, meta: ImageMeta) -> bool:
 
 class RClip:
   EXCLUDE_DIRS_DEFAULT = ['@eaDir', 'node_modules', '.git']
-  IMAGE_REGEX = re.compile(r'^.+\.(jpe?g|png|webp)$', re.I)
+  IMAGE_REGEX = re.compile(f'^.+\\.({"|".join([*IMAGE_EXT, *IMAGE_RAW_EXT])})$', re.I)
   DB_IMAGES_BEFORE_COMMIT = 50_000
 
   class SearchResult(NamedTuple):
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ def _index_files(self, filepaths: List[str], metas: List[ImageMeta]):
     filtered_paths: List[str] = []
     for path in filepaths:
       try:
-        image = Image.open(path)
+        image = helpers.read_image(path)
         images.append(image)
         filtered_paths.append(path)
       except PIL.UnidentifiedImageError as ex:
@@ -88,6 +89,18 @@ def _index_files(self, filepaths: List[str], metas: List[ImageMeta]):
         vector=vector.tobytes()
       ), commit=False)
 
+  def _does_processed_image_exist_for_raw(self, raw_path: str) -> bool:
+    """Check if there is a processed image alongside the raw one; doesn't support mixed-case extensions,
+    e.g. it won't detect the .JpG image, but will detect .jpg or .JPG"""
+
+    image_path = os.path.splitext(raw_path)[0]
+    for ext in IMAGE_EXT:
+      if os.path.isfile(image_path + "." + ext):
+        return True
+      if os.path.isfile(image_path + "." + ext.upper()):
+        return True
+    return False
+
   def ensure_index(self, directory: str):
     print(
       'checking images in the current directory for changes;'
@@ -113,7 +126,13 @@ def update_total_images(count: int):
       metas: List[ImageMeta] = []
       for entry in fs.walk(directory, self._exclude_dir_regex, self.IMAGE_REGEX):
         filepath = entry.path
-        image = self._db.get_image(filepath=filepath)
+
+        file_ext = helpers.get_file_extension(filepath)
+        if file_ext in IMAGE_RAW_EXT and self._does_processed_image_exist_for_raw(filepath):
+          images_processed += 1
+          pbar.update()
+          continue
+
         try:
           meta = get_image_meta(entry)
         except Exception as ex:
@@ -125,6 +144,7 @@ def update_total_images(count: int):
         images_processed += 1
         pbar.update()
 
+        image = self._db.get_image(filepath=filepath)
         if image and is_image_meta_equal(image, meta):
           self._db.remove_indexing_flag(filepath, commit=False)
           continue
diff --git a/rclip/utils/helpers.py b/rclip/utils/helpers.py
index 161cf108..6f37b38a 100644
--- a/rclip/utils/helpers.py
+++ b/rclip/utils/helpers.py
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@
 import textwrap
 from PIL import Image, UnidentifiedImageError
 import re
+import numpy as np
+import rawpy
 import requests
 import sys
 from importlib.metadata import version
 
-from rclip.const import IS_LINUX, IS_MACOS, IS_WINDOWS
+from rclip.const import IMAGE_RAW_EXT, IS_LINUX, IS_MACOS, IS_WINDOWS
 
 
 MAX_DOWNLOAD_SIZE_BYTES = 50_000_000
@@ -186,15 +188,29 @@ def download_image(url: str) -> Image.Image:
   return img
 
 
+def get_file_extension(path: str) -> str:
+  return os.path.splitext(path)[1].lower()[1:]
+
+
+def read_raw_image_file(path: str):
+  raw = rawpy.imread(path)
+  rgb = raw.postprocess()
+  return Image.fromarray(np.array(rgb))
+
+
 def read_image(query: str) -> Image.Image:
   path = remove_prefix(query, 'file://')
   try:
-    img = Image.open(path)
+    file_ext = get_file_extension(path)
+    if file_ext in IMAGE_RAW_EXT:
+      image = read_raw_image_file(path)
+    else:
+      image = Image.open(path)
   except UnidentifiedImageError as e:
     # by default the filename on the UnidentifiedImageError is None
     e.filename = path
     raise e
-  return img
+  return image
 
 
 def is_http_url(path: str) -> bool:
diff --git a/rclip/utils/preview.py b/rclip/utils/preview.py
index 574028a3..f8f26c44 100644
--- a/rclip/utils/preview.py
+++ b/rclip/utils/preview.py
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 import os
 from PIL import Image
 
+from rclip.utils.helpers import read_image
+
 
 def _get_start_sequence():
   term_env_var = os.getenv('TERM')
@@ -19,7 +21,7 @@ def _get_end_sequence():
 
 
 def preview(filepath: str, img_height_px: int):
-  with Image.open(filepath) as img:
+  with read_image(filepath) as img:
     if img_height_px >= img.height:
       width_px, height_px = img.width, img.height
     else: