AW to RAS Converter

AW to RAS online — Sun Raster image from legacy documents

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Sun/Unix Format

RAS is native to Sun systems. Convert AW document pages for use in Solaris and legacy Unix imaging workflows.

No Installs

Run the converter in any browser. Upload your AW file and download RAS output — no Unix workstation needed.

Fast Results

Cloud infrastructure delivers your RAS file in seconds without any processing load on your device.

How to convert AW to RAS

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose ras or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your ras file right afterwards

About formats

AW is the document format of Applix Words, the word processor component of the Applix office suite (later renamed Anyware Office) developed by Applix, Inc. for Unix and Linux workstations. The suite targeted enterprise Unix environments during the 1990s, providing word processing, spreadsheet, graphics, and presentation capabilities on platforms like Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, and Linux where Microsoft Office was unavailable. AW files store formatted text documents with support for character and paragraph styling, page layout, tables, headers and footers, and embedded graphics. The format uses a proprietary binary structure optimized for the Applix application's internal document model. Applix Words gained particular visibility in the Linux community during the late 1990s when it was bundled with several commercial Linux distributions as their default word processor before OpenOffice.org became widely available. One advantage was native Unix platform support — Applix provided professional word processing capabilities on Unix workstations at a time when few commercial alternatives existed. The format's tight integration with other Applix suite components enabled cross-referencing between word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Applix was acquired by Cognos in 2003, and the office suite was discontinued. AW files are primarily encountered today in archived documents from Unix enterprise environments of the 1990s and early 2000s.
Developer: Applix, Inc.
Initial release: 1992
RAS (Sun Raster) is a raster image format developed by Sun Microsystems for their SunOS and Solaris Unix workstations, dating to approximately 1982. Sun Raster files store 2D bitmap images with support for 1-bit monochrome, 8-bit indexed color (with a color map), 24-bit true color (BGR byte order), and 32-bit XBGR (with an unused alpha byte). The format uses a 32-byte header containing a magic number (0x59a66a95), width, height, bit depth, data length, raster type (indicating compression), color map type, and color map length, followed by the optional color map data and the pixel data. RAS supports three encoding modes: standard (uncompressed, with each scanline padded to a 16-bit boundary), byte-encoded (run-length encoded using a simple escape-code scheme), and RGB (uncompressed with RGB rather than BGR byte order). Sun Raster was the native image format for Sun's window system and later the OpenWindows desktop environment, serving as the standard format for screenshots, icons, backgrounds, and application graphics on Sun workstations throughout the 1980s and 1990s. One advantage is the format's representation of Unix workstation computing heritage: Sun Raster files from the SunOS/Solaris era document the visual culture of an important computing platform that drove advances in networking, multiprocessing, and graphics workstation design. The format's straightforward structure is another practical strength — the 32-byte header and simple encoding make RAS files easy to parse and convert, even with custom code. RAS files are supported by ImageMagick, GIMP, XnView, and other image processing tools.
Developer: Sun Microsystems
Initial release: 1982

Frequently Asked Questions

What is RAS?

RAS (Sun Raster) is an image format from Sun Microsystems, commonly used on Solaris and other Sun Unix systems.

Why convert AW to RAS?

RAS is needed by Sun/Solaris workflows. Convert AW pages when your system specifically requires Sun Raster images.

What opens RAS files?

ImageMagick, GIMP, IrfanView, and Sun/Solaris image tools can open and display RAS files.

Is this free?

Yes, AW to RAS is free. Premium accounts unlock extended processing capabilities.

Is RAS still in use?

RAS is mostly legacy. For general use, PNG or TIFF are standard — but RAS serves specific Unix requirements.

How fast is it?

Seconds. Cloud servers handle the rendering and conversion swiftly.