It might take HEIC some time to go mainstream, but it's one of the great things in the making. Adopted by Apple in 2017, HEIC is a relatively new file format. Although it is mostly restricted to the Apple ecosystem, people do face the need to change HEIC to JPG to avoid any incompatibility.
Fortunately, HEIC can be converted on a Mac using apps like Photos and Preview and here we are going to see how.
But first, let's understand what HEIC images are.
What Are HEIC Images?
HEIC was developed from High-Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) which was developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) as an advancement and an improvement over the JPG image format. HEIC images require about half the storage space of JPGs with equivalent quality.
The only issue with the HEIC images has been the lack of adoption by the more popular software and operating systems. You will find that many apps don't support it and it becomes quite problematic. Thus arises the need to convert HEIC images to JPG.
Converting HEIC to JPG in one click
If you have Permute installed on your Mac you really don't have to worry much about converting a batch of HEIC files to JPG. It is a universal media converter for Mac that works with a lot of photos, video, and audio formats thus making any file transformation smooth and easy. This is how you could convert HEIC to JPG in Permute:
- Open Permute from Setapp
- Then just drag and drop as many HEIC images onto the Permute window as you wish.
- Click on the Start button to convert to JPG.
Converting HEIC to JPG with macOS native tools
You could consider native apps like Preview and Photos for converting HEIC to JPG if you do not have Setapp membership, which includes Permute and Gemini. It is a little slower and not as efficient, but it will get the job done. Here are the two most common ways to change the image file format on Mac.
Converting HEIC file to JPG with Photos
Photos is the most popular photo viewing and editing app among Mac users, which is a continuation of both iPhoto and Aperture, and is most probably the place where you interact with HEIC files the most. There are two ways you can convert a HEIC file to JPG on Photos.
First, you could simply drag and drop the HEIC images to your Desktop or any other Mac Folder, if you have transferred them from your iPhone to your Photos library, and they will convert automatically to JPGs.
Next, you can simply convert HEIC to JPG files while exploring them and set the preferences for color, quality, profile, etc, accordingly.
- First, select a few HEIC images from your Photos library.
- Click on File, then Export, and Export Photos in the menu bar
- For the new JPG images, select all appropriate options.
- Click Export.
Converting HEIC file to JPG with Preview
If you need to convert your HEIC files to JPG occasionally and you do not use Photos, then you can simply use the default image viewing app on Mac - Preview.
This is how you can convert HEIC to JPG on Mac using Preview:
- Just open any HEIC image in Preview.
- Click File, then Export in the Menu bar.
- In the Format, dropdown select JPG and adjust other settings as needed.
- Choose Save.
So, you can use either of the two native apps or go for Permutem, the choice is yours; all three will get your work done smoothly.
