diff --git a/apps/api/src/lib/format-decoders.ts b/apps/api/src/lib/format-decoders.ts
index efac8564..c1fab88f 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/lib/format-decoders.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/lib/format-decoders.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import { readFile, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { promisify } from "node:util";
-import sharp from "sharp";
 
 const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
 
@@ -36,65 +35,12 @@ export async function decodeToSharpCompat(buffer: Buffer, format: string): Promi
   }
 }
 
-// ── RAW decoder (dcraw_emu / dcraw) ─────────────────────────────
-
-let cachedRawCmd: string | null = null;
-
-async function findRawCmd(): Promise<string> {
-  if (cachedRawCmd) return cachedRawCmd;
-  for (const cmd of ["dcraw_emu", "dcraw"]) {
-    try {
-      await execFileAsync(cmd, [], { timeout: 5_000 });
-      cachedRawCmd = cmd;
-      return cmd;
-    } catch {
-      // dcraw_emu / dcraw exit non-zero with no args but that's fine -
-      // if the binary exists the exec won't throw ENOENT
-      if (cachedRawCmd === null) {
-        // Check if the error was ENOENT (not found) vs normal exit code
-        try {
-          await execFileAsync("which", [cmd], { timeout: 5_000 });
-          cachedRawCmd = cmd;
-          return cmd;
-        } catch {
-          // not found, try next
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  }
-  throw new Error("No RAW decoder found. Install libraw-dev (provides dcraw_emu) or dcraw.");
-}
-
-/**
- * Decode Camera RAW buffer to PNG via dcraw_emu.
- * dcraw_emu -T produces a TIFF file alongside the input (same name, .tiff extension).
- * We then convert TIFF to PNG via Sharp for consistent downstream handling.
- */
-async function decodeRaw(buffer: Buffer): Promise<Buffer> {
-  const cmd = await findRawCmd();
-  const id = randomUUID();
-  const inputPath = join(tmpdir(), `raw-in-${id}.dng`);
-  const tiffPath = join(tmpdir(), `raw-in-${id}.tiff`);
-
-  try {
-    await writeFile(inputPath, buffer);
-    // -T = output TIFF, -w = use camera white balance, -W = disable auto-brightness
-    await execFileAsync(cmd, ["-T", "-w", "-W", inputPath], { timeout: 120_000 });
-    const tiffBuffer = await readFile(tiffPath);
-    return await sharp(tiffBuffer).png().toBuffer();
-  } finally {
-    await rm(inputPath, { force: true }).catch(() => {});
-    await rm(tiffPath, { force: true }).catch(() => {});
-  }
-}
-
-// ── ImageMagick decoders (PSD, TGA, EXR, HDR) ──────────────────
+// ── ImageMagick helpers ────────────────────────────────────────
 
 let cachedMagickCmd: string | null = null;
 
 async function findMagickCmd(): Promise<string> {
   if (cachedMagickCmd) return cachedMagickCmd;
-  // ImageMagick 7 uses `magick`, v6 uses `convert`
   for (const cmd of ["magick", "convert"]) {
     try {
       await execFileAsync(cmd, ["--version"], { timeout: 5_000 });
@@ -107,14 +53,34 @@ async function findMagickCmd(): Promise<string> {
   throw new Error("No ImageMagick found. Install imagemagick (provides convert/magick).");
 }
 
-/**
- * Build the ImageMagick command args. For ImageMagick 7 (`magick`),
- * the subcommand `convert` must be prepended.
- */
 function magickArgs(cmd: string, args: string[]): string[] {
   return cmd === "magick" ? ["convert", ...args] : args;
 }
 
+// ── RAW decoder (ImageMagick with LibRaw delegate) ─────────────
+
+async function decodeRaw(buffer: Buffer): Promise<Buffer> {
+  const cmd = await findMagickCmd();
+  const id = randomUUID();
+  const inputPath = join(tmpdir(), `raw-in-${id}.dng`);
+  const outputPath = join(tmpdir(), `raw-out-${id}.png`);
+
+  try {
+    await writeFile(inputPath, buffer);
+    await execFileAsync(
+      cmd,
+      magickArgs(cmd, [inputPath, "-colorspace", "sRGB", "-auto-orient", `png:${outputPath}`]),
+      { timeout: 120_000 },
+    );
+    return await readFile(outputPath);
+  } finally {
+    await rm(inputPath, { force: true }).catch(() => {});
+    await rm(outputPath, { force: true }).catch(() => {});
+  }
+}
+
+// ── ImageMagick decoders (PSD, TGA, EXR, HDR) ──────────────────
+
 /**
  * Decode PSD to PNG. Uses [0] to read only the flattened composite layer.
  */