I can’t believe I haven’t come across HEIC files before, HEIC files are a space-saving image format from Apple that uses High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) to compress and store images. HEIC images are a pain (maybe people said this about Jpeg files when they first appeared!) and my version of Photoshop doesn’t like HEIC files. My new iPhone creates HEIC file format images by default and I need to get them into Jpg format so I can edit and use them.
There are two things I needed to do, firstly convert existing HEIC files into Jpeg, and secondly stop my iPhone from creating HEIC files! Luckily both of these are easy to do.
Easiest way to convert HEIC files into JPG format on a Mac
1. Load up the HEIC image files you want to convert into Preview
2. Select a single or multiple HEIC files
3. Go to File / Export (or ‘Export Selected’ if more than 1 image needs converting)
4. Select ‘Options’ this will allow you to export in various formats including JPG.
Stop the iPhone creating the HEIC files in the first place!
1. Open Settings on your iPhone
2. Select Camera
3. Select Format
4. Under formats change from ‘High Efficiency’ to ‘Most Compatible’
5. Hello again JPGs!
