A PRACTICAL IMAGE GUIDE

HEIC or JPG?
Choose for the next step.

Keep your original HEIC when you want the camera's original file. Make a JPG copy when an app, upload form, or recipient needs wider compatibility.

Why an iPhone photo can be HEIC

Apple devices can use HEIF for efficient image storage. A photo commonly uses the .heic extension. Apple describes its compatibility settings in Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices. Camera settings vary by device and mode.

Converting to JPG can make the file bigger

Format conversion is not a promise of compression. A small HEIC can become a larger JPG, especially at high quality. If an upload form has a hard limit, use HEIC to JPG under 2MB or choose another file-size target.

Pixels, quality, and bytes are different

Dimensions describe width and height in pixels. Quality affects lossy encoding. File size is the number of bytes stored. A detailed landscape can need more bytes than a plain background at the same dimensions and quality setting.

Reducing quality keeps dimensions but can create visible artifacts. Resizing reduces detail by using fewer pixels. PicPropper first tries quality adjustments and then smaller dimensions when needed to reach a target.

What happens to metadata and color?

This converter creates a new 8-bit image without copying source EXIF, GPS, date taken, or comments. It does not preserve HDR gain maps, depth data, or wide-color profiles. Keep the original for archiving and inspect the output if color matters.

Does PNG improve the original?

PNG avoids an additional lossy encoding step after decoding. It does not restore detail or guarantee the original appearance, and photographic PNGs can be much larger. Choose HEIC to PNG when your destination needs PNG, rather than expecting a smaller photo.

A useful default

For everyday sharing, start with JPG at quality 90. Add a maximum width or byte limit only when you need it. Check the downloaded image and keep the original.