How to convert HEIC to PNG
- Choose, drop or paste your HEIC photos.
- Wait a moment while each one converts.
- Compare the original and new file sizes.
- Download the PNGs one by one or as a ZIP.
When PNG is the better choice over JPG
PNG is lossless: once your photo is decoded, every pixel is saved exactly, with no extra compression damage. That makes it a good choice when you plan to edit the image further, for example cropping, adding text, retouching or placing it into a design. Each time a JPG is edited and saved again it loses a little more detail. A PNG does not.
PNG is also the format many design tools, slide software and some upload systems ask for. If a site specifically wants PNG, this gets you there in one step.
The trade-off: bigger files
Lossless comes at a cost. A photo saved as PNG is usually several times larger than the same photo as JPG, and much larger than the original HEIC. For a phone photo of a busy scene, a PNG running into many megabytes is normal.
So if you only need the photo to open on a PC, attach to an email or upload to a form, HEIC to JPG is the better tool. Choose PNG when you care about keeping every pixel for later work.
- Editing, design or print layout: PNG
- Sharing, email and forms: JPG
- One document with several photos: PDF
Private by design
Your photos are converted in your browser and never uploaded. Safari on iPhone and Mac can usually decode HEIC directly. Other browsers fetch a small decoder (about 0.5 MB) the first time. Details such as the GPS location stored in the original are not carried over to the PNG.
One thing PNG will not do here is add transparency. A photo has no transparent areas to begin with, so the PNG is a solid image just like the original.
Questions people ask
Is PNG better quality than JPG?
PNG keeps the decoded photo exactly, while JPG throws away a little detail to save space. At high JPG quality most people cannot see the difference, but PNG is safer if you will edit and re-save.
Why is the PNG so large?
PNG is lossless, and photos with lots of fine detail do not compress well without loss. Large PNGs from phone photos are expected.
Will the PNG have a transparent background?
No. Photos have no transparency, so the PNG is a solid image. Removing a background is a different job.
Can I convert Live Photos?
The converter works with the still HEIC image. The moving part of a Live Photo is a separate video file and is not included.