Convert PNG to HEIC Online
Convert PNG images to HEIC in your browser — free and instant.
Drop your PNG file here
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How PNG to HEIC works
Upload PNG
Drag & drop or click to select your PNG file.
Choose Options
Adjust quality, size, or other output settings if needed.
Download HEIC
Click Convert and your HEIC file downloads instantly.
About PNG to HEIC conversion
PNG to HEIC is a direct conversion between two formats that both predate the modern web. HEIC — High Efficiency Image Container — is lossy hevc intra-frame, and opens where apple platforms natively; windows needs a codec; no browser renders it.
The practical reason to run this conversion is the destination: Converting WebP to HEIC normalises web-sourced images into the format an Apple photo library expects, so downloaded reference images sit alongside camera roll photos instead of as awkward outsiders.
Expect HEIC output to be comparable to WebP, often slightly smaller. If the source PNG is a photograph rather than a graphic, choose lossy WebP — lossless mode will save far less than you expect on continuous-tone detail.
Where HEIC comes from
HEIC is Apple's implementation of the MPEG HEIF container, carrying HEVC-encoded stills. It became the iPhone's default capture format with iOS 11 in 2017 because it roughly halves the size of an equivalent JPEG while adding 10-bit colour, HDR, depth maps and Live Photos. Its weakness is the mirror image of WebP's: HEIC is excellent at capture and hopeless at delivery, because no browser will display it and HEVC licensing kept it off most non-Apple platforms.
PNG vs HEIC at a glance
| PNG | HEIC | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless DEFLATE | Lossy HEVC intra-frame |
| Transparency | Full 8-bit alpha | Supported |
| Animation | Not supported (APNG is a separate extension) | Image sequences supported |
| Colour depth | 8-bit and 16-bit per channel, plus palette modes | Up to 10-bit per channel, HDR |
| Where it opens | Universal since the late 1990s | Apple platforms natively; Windows needs a codec; no browser renders it |
| Typical file size | Typically 25-35% larger than lossless webp, and several times larger than lossy webp | Comparable to webp, often slightly smaller |
Real-world workflow — Getting a web-saved image into software that rejects WebP
- Save an image from a web page and find it lands as a .webp
- The target application refuses it outright — a common wall with HEIC workflows
- Drop the .webp here and convert it to HEIC
- Set the options the destination needs (size, page format, colour handling)
- Import the HEIC file — it opens without complaint
Recommended conversion settings
| Use case | Settings |
|---|---|
| Sharing and general use | Quality 85 |
| Uploading to a form with a size cap | Resize to the maximum accepted dimensions before converting |
| Printing | Keep full resolution and leave metadata intact for colour profiles |
| Editing afterwards | Convert once from the best source — avoid round-tripping through HEIC repeatedly |
| Privacy-sensitive images | Enable strip metadata to remove EXIF, GPS and camera identifiers |
Where will your HEIC file open?
| Platform | PNG | HEIC |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome / Edge / Firefox | ✓ | ✗ |
| Safari 14+ / iOS 14+ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Windows Photos | ✓ | ~ |
| macOS Preview & Quick Look | ✓ | ✓ |
| Adobe Photoshop | ✓ | ✓ |
| Microsoft Office 2021+ | ✓ | ~ |
| Email clients (Outlook, Gmail) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Social media uploaders | ✓ | ~ |
| Print & prepress (RIP) | ✓ | ~ |
When to convert PNG to HEIC
PNG files — especially screenshots, design exports and full-colour illustrations — are often enormous, because lossless compression handles photographic detail badly. Converting to HEIC typically shrinks them by 80–90%, and unlike a JPG conversion it preserves the alpha channel, so a logo keeps its transparent background rather than being flattened onto white.
The destination matters here. HEIC is excellent inside the Apple ecosystem — Photos, iCloud, Preview and Quick Look all handle it natively — and Windows can with the HEVC extensions installed. No browser will render it.
If the images are heading for the web rather than an Apple photo library, convert PNG to WebP instead: similar savings, full transparency, and it actually displays in a browser.
PNG to HEIC tips
- If the goal is simply "make this open in my software", HEIC is usually the right call — but check whether the destination accepts PNG or JPG first, since those are accepted even more widely.
- Convert from the highest-quality WebP you have. Each lossy re-encode costs a little detail, and starting from an already-compressed copy compounds it.
- Strip metadata before sharing. Images saved from the web can carry the original photographer's EXIF, including camera serial and, occasionally, GPS coordinates.
- Batch the job rather than converting one at a time — the queue runs conversions in parallel and returns a single zip.
- Keep the .webp original if the image is also going back onto a web page. Serving the HEIC version instead will cost you page weight.
Related tools
Formats involved
PNG – Portable Network Graphics
HEIC – High Efficiency Image Container
PNG to HEIC — frequently asked questions
Related guides & articles
Maybe you wanted something else?
- You want the web-optimised version instead → PNG to WebP
- You want to pick a different output format → Image Converter
Related conversions
WebP → HEIC
WebP → WebP
PNG → PNG
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