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Sources

What we read before we write — and when we last checked it.

These are the primary sources our guides and tool pages depend on. Each was opened and read on the date shown. When a source changes, we re-check the pages that rely on it. Our process is described in the editorial policy; if you spot a source that says something different from one of our pages, tell us.

Standards

  • ISO/IEC 23008-12 — High efficiency image file format (HEIF) — ISO/IEC. The HEIF container standard. ISO lists this 2017 first edition as revised by later editions; it builds on the ISO base media file format (ISO/IEC 14496-12). Checked .
  • H.265: High efficiency video coding — ITU-T. The HEVC codec specification. HEVC and H.265 are the same codec; HEIC stores photos compressed with it. Checked .
  • Media types: image/heic and image/heif — IANA. The registered media types for HEIC and HEIF files; both cite ISO/IEC 23008-12. Checked .
  • ISO/IEC 23008-12:2025 — Image file format (HEIF), edition 3 — ISO/IEC. Current edition of HEIF, published 2025-07-03; replaces the 2022 edition and lists brands for HEVC, AVC, JPEG, VVC and EVC. Read via ISO's committee mirror of the same record. Checked .
  • ISO/IEC 23008-12:2022 — Image file format (HEIF), edition 2 — ISO/IEC. Second edition, published 2022-09-29; it replaced the 2017 first edition (published 2017-12-12, ISO record 66067). Read via ISO's committee mirror of the same records. Checked .
  • ISO/IEC 14496-12:2026 — ISO base media file format — ISO/IEC. The general box-based file format HEIF is built on; edition 8, published 2026-04-22. Read via ISO's committee mirror of the same record. Checked .
  • HEIF, High Efficiency Image File Format — Format description — Library of Congress. Neutral format description: development timeline (work from about 2013, committee draft January 2014, technically complete June 2015, first edition late 2017), the heic and heix brands, file extensions and lossy and lossless support. Checked .
  • Overview of the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Standard — IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology. The standard's authors on its design: coding tree blocks up to 64 × 64, 33 angular intra modes plus planar and DC, transforms from 4 × 4 to 32 × 32, CABAC, the Main Still Picture profile, and the roughly 50% bit-rate goal for video. Checked .
  • AV1 Image File Format (AVIF) v1.2.0 — Alliance for Open Media. AVIF stores AV1 images in HEIF; brands avif and avis; .avif and image/avif. AOM final deliverable of 16 October 2025. Checked .
  • Alliance for Open Media Patent License 1.0 — Alliance for Open Media. The patent licence for AOMedia specifications, which grants a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence. Checked .
  • JPEG Image Format Family — Format description — Library of Congress. JPEG (ISO/IEC 10918-1) lossy modes apply the DCT to 8 × 8 pixel blocks, and source data is limited to 8 bits per channel. Checked .
  • High Efficiency Video Coding — Wikipedia. Secondary overview of H.265: coding tree units up to 64×64 samples, 33 directional intra modes, and patent licensing through several pools. Checked .
  • JPEG — Wikipedia. Secondary overview of baseline JPEG: 8×8 blocks, DCT, quantisation, chroma subsampling, 8 bits per channel, and the committee's aim of royalty-free baseline methods. Checked .
  • Media types: image/heic-sequence and image/heif-sequence — IANA. image/heic-sequence: brands hevc, hevx, hevm or hevs, extensions .heics and .hif. image/heif-sequence: brand msf1, extensions .heifs and .hif. Checked .
  • ISO/IEC 23001-17:2024 — Carriage of uncompressed video and images in ISO base media file format — ISO/IEC. Specifies how uncompressed 2D image and video data (including alpha and depth) is carried in ISOBMFF-based files; edition 1, published February 2024. Read via ISO's committee mirror of the same record. Checked .
  • High Efficiency Image File Format — Wikipedia. Secondary overview: lists the extensions .heif/.heifs, .heic/.heics, .hif and .avci/.avcs, and the codecs that can be stored in HEIF. Used only alongside primary sources. Checked .
  • Adobe Digital Negative (DNG), Version 1.6 — Format description — Library of Congress. DNG is Adobe's TIFF-based format for camera raw images, with lossless JPEG compression of raw data; version 1.6 (2021) is closely related to Apple ProRAW, with features developed with Apple. Checked .
  • WebAssembly: Security — WebAssembly Community Group. Linear memory is bounds-checked at the region level, so an overflow can still overwrite adjacent data in the module; the module runs in a sandbox separated from the host and cannot escape except through approved APIs; direct code injection is not possible; indirect-call hijacking and side channels remain. Checked .
  • ITU-T H.273 (V4, 07/2024): Coding-independent code points for video signal type identification — ITU-T. Read the free PDF. Table 2 gives the chromaticities of the primaries (code 1 BT.709/sRGB, 9 BT.2020, 12 SMPTE EG 432-1 Display P3, white D65 0.3127, 0.3290); Table 3 gives transfer characteristics (13 sRGB, 16 SMPTE ST 2084 PQ, 18 ARIB STD-B67 HLG), with the PQ and HLG formulas used for our step-size calculation. Checked .
  • ISO 21496-1:2025: Digital photography — Gain map metadata for image conversion — Part 1: Dynamic range conversion — ISO/TC 42. Edition 1, published July 2025 (stage 60.60); 'defines a gain map used in HDR digital photography applications', including the gain map metadata and its attributes. Read via ISO's committee mirror, as iso.org returned 403. Checked .
  • ITU-R BT.2100: Image parameter values for high dynamic range television — ITU-R. Listing page: BT.2100-3 (02/2025) in force; the page itself carries no technical text, so PQ and HLG details are taken from H.273 instead. Checked .
  • JPEG XL (JPEG Committee) — JPEG. ISO/IEC 18181 parts 1 to 4 (codestream, file format, conformance, reference software); reference software described as free, open source and royalty-free; lists lossless JPEG transcoding, HDR and high bit depth, alpha, animation, lossless and progressive coding. Checked .
  • Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Specification, Third Edition — W3C. W3C Recommendation of 24 June 2025: lossless storage of static and animated raster images, sample depths 1 to 16 bits, optional alpha, APNG, and PQ and HLG HDR signalling through the cICP chunk. Checked .

Vendor documentation

  • Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices — Apple Support. Apple's description of the High Efficiency and Most Compatible camera settings and of how media is converted when imported. Checked .
  • Ultra HDR Image Format v1.1 — Android Developers. How gain-map HDR is stored in an ordinary JPEG, and Android's support for ISO 21496-1 from Android 15. Checked .
  • Convert image file types in Preview on Mac — Apple Support. Preview's File > Export steps: the Format pop-up menu (HEIC, JPEG, JPEG-2000, OpenEXR, PDF, PNG, TIFF), adjustable quality for JPEG, and converting several images by selecting them in the sidebar. The page does not discuss metadata. Checked .
  • Perform quick actions in the Finder on Mac — Apple Support. The Convert Image quick action (choose a format and a size; Apple's example is an iPhone HEIC photo to JPEG or PNG), how to reach it, and the note that available actions depend on file type and enabled extensions. Checked .
  • Export photos, videos, slideshows and memories in Photos on Mac — Apple Support. Photos' File > Export > Export [number] Photos dialog (Photo Kind, JPEG Quality, Color Profile, Size) and the separate Export Unmodified Original command. Checked .
  • Import items with Image Capture on Mac — Apple Support. Importing from a connected device and the Import To, Keep originals and Delete after import settings. The guide does not mention HEIC or any format conversion. Checked .
  • Intro to Shortcuts on Mac — Apple Support. Confirms that shortcuts can appear in the Quick Actions menu in the Finder. It does not describe the Convert Image action. Checked .
  • sips(1) manual page — Apple (man page, mirrored by Keith Smiley). The sips options we quote: -s format, -s formatOptions, -Z, --out, --formats. The mirrored page is dated 2005 and its format list does not include HEIC, so HEIC input is not documented there. Checked .
  • HEIF Image Extension (Microsoft Store listing) — Microsoft Store. Listing data read from Microsoft's Store catalogue (US market): free; lets Windows read and write HEIF files; says the HEVC Video Extensions package must also be installed to view .heic, .hif and .heif images, and the AV1 Video Extension for .avif. Last updated 9 October 2026. Checked .
  • HEVC Video Extensions (Microsoft Store listing) — Microsoft Store. Listing data read from Microsoft's Store catalogue (US market): US$0.99 full version; adds HEVC playback and encoding to Windows, with hardware acceleration where available and software decoding otherwise. Checked .
  • HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer (Microsoft Store listing) — Microsoft Store. Listing data read from Microsoft's Store catalogue (US market): a separate listing with a price of 0, with the same description as the paid package. The listing does not say who may install it or why it is free. Checked .
  • HEIF Format Overview (Windows) — Microsoft Learn (archived). Archived 2018 page: Windows Imaging Component has a native HEIF decoder for .heic and .heif (ISO/IEC 23008-12) and no native HEIF encoder. Checked .
  • Windows 10 support has ended on October 14, 2025 — Microsoft Support. Windows 10 reached end of support on 14 October 2025; consumer Extended Security Updates can protect a device until 12 October 2027. Checked .
  • Take and edit Live Photos — Apple Support. Live Photos record 1.5 seconds before and after the shot; tapping LIVE sends only the still; Mail sends a Live Photo as a still; third-party editors can drop Live Photo effects. Checked .
  • How to turn a Live Photo into a video on your iPhone — Apple Support. The Save as Video route: open the Live Photo in Photos, tap More, then Save as Video; the video lands in Recently Saved and the Live Photo stays. Checked .
  • Export photos, videos, slideshows and memories on Mac — Apple Support. Export Unmodified Original writes a Live Photo as two separate files, a still-image file and a video file; the Export command can write a Live Photo as a still image. Checked .
  • Export a Live Photo as an animated GIF in Photos on Mac — Apple Support. The Mac route to a GIF (Edit, Bounce, File, Export, Export GIF), and the fallback of exporting the unmodified original as a short video. Checked .
  • PHAssetResourceType (PhotoKit) — Apple Developer Documentation. Apple lists separate resources for a Live Photo asset: the original photo data (photo) and the original video component (pairedVideo), plus edited variants. Checked .
  • PHLivePhoto (PhotoKit) — Apple Developer Documentation. Apple's description of a Live Photo as a displayable object, distinct from the data resources that constitute it. Checked .
  • Live Photos — Human Interface Guidelines — Apple Developer. Apple's guidance that apps show Live Photos as traditional photos where unsupported and always offer sharing as a traditional photo. Checked .
  • QuickTime content identifier metadata key (AVFoundation) — Apple Developer Documentation. Apple documents a QuickTime metadata identifier for a content identifier; the page says nothing more about how Live Photos use it. Checked .
  • Download iCloud photos and videos — Apple Support. iCloud.com download options: Unmodified Originals, Highest Resolution (typically HEIC or H.265) and Most Compatible (JPEG or MP4/H.264). The page does not mention Live Photos. Checked .
  • Set up and use iCloud Photos — Apple Support. iCloud stores photos and videos, including Live Photos, in their original formats at full resolution. Checked .
  • If your iCloud Photos aren't loading on your PC — Apple Support. In iCloud for Windows 7.x each downloaded Live Photo appeared as both a video and a key still image; Apple says the latest version shows one JPEG or MOV file instead. Checked .
  • Back up photos & videos (Google Photos Help) — Google Photos Help. Supported photo types include .jpg, .heic, .heif, .png, .webp, .gif, .avif; Live Photos are listed as supported when using the Google Photos app on iPhone or iPad. Checked .
  • Choose the upload size of your photos and videos — Google Photos Help. Original quality keeps the resolution you took; Storage saver may compress into a different image format such as .jpg and scales photos above 16 MP. The page does not mention HEIC, Live Photos or motion photos. Checked .
  • Download photos or videos to your device (Google Photos Help) — Google Photos Help. Download steps on Android and computer. The page does not state the file format of a download and does not mention HEIC, Live Photos or motion photos. Checked .
  • Motion Photo format 1.0 — Android Developers. An Android Motion Photo is a single file: a JPEG, HEIC or AVIF still with a video appended at the end, described by XMP. A different mechanism from an iPhone Live Photo's two files. Checked .
  • Supported media formats — Android Developers. HEIF decoding from Android 9.0 (device optional), HEIF encoding from Android 10 via MediaCodec or HeifWriter, AVIF decoding from Android 12 and encoding from Android 14. Checked .
  • Display Ultra HDR images — Android Developers. Android provides support for Ultra HDR images beginning with Android 14 (API level 34). Checked .
  • Use camera features on Galaxy S26 — Samsung Support (US). Camera Settings, Photos, Photo format: save space by capturing Photo mode pictures in HEIF. Samsung's page for this model names no other format option. Checked .
  • HEIF — High Efficiency Image File Format (technical information) — Nokia Technologies. HEIF's items, derived images (identity, overlay, grid), thumbnail and auxiliary image roles, metadata, brands and file extensions. The project's front page states that HEIF supports both lossy and lossless storage. Checked .
  • WWDC 2017 session 513: High Efficiency Image File Format — Apple Developer. Apple engineers on HEIF in iOS 11: the .heic extension, 512 × 512 pixel tiles, 320 × 240 thumbnails, depth stored as an auxiliary image, the HEVC Main Still Picture profile and roughly 2x compression versus JPEG. Checked .
  • WWDC 2024 session 10177: Use HDR for dynamic image experiences in your app — Apple Developer. Apple's description of gain-map HDR: an SDR base image plus a gain map stored as an auxiliary image in HEIC, and its standardisation at ISO. Checked .
  • WWDC 2016 session 501: Advances in iOS Photography — Apple Developer. How a Live Photo is built: two assets, a still image file and a QuickTime movie, paired by a shared UUID (described when the still was a JPEG). Checked .
  • HEVC Advance patent pool — Access Advance. One of the HEVC patent pools: licenses patents essential to the HEVC standard on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Checked .
  • HEVC/VVC patent portfolio license — Via LA. A second HEVC pool; says its licence extends to devices implementing the technology and that each user must determine its own licensing needs. Checked .
  • Share photos and videos on iPhone — Apple Support. The share sheet's Options menu: Format set to Automatic, Current or Most Compatible (files may convert to JPEG or MOV), All Photos Data (AirDrop only), a Live Photo shared as a still where unsupported, and the note that sharing includes metadata such as location. Checked .
  • Import and export photos and videos on iPhone — Apple Support. Select photos, tap Share, then Export Unmodified Original to a connected storage device; for edited items the unmodified original is exported. Checked .
  • Change the screen capture settings on iPhone — Apple Support. Settings > General > Screen Capture: SDR screenshots use PNG and recordings HEVC; HDR screenshots use HEIF and recordings HEVC (HDR10). The page does not state which is the default. Checked .
  • Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC — Apple Support. USB import steps for Mac (Photos) and Windows (Apple Devices app), the Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible route, and that iCloud Photos stores originals. It does not mention Keep Originals, Transfer to Mac or PC, or HEIC conversion on import. Checked .
  • About Apple ProRAW — Apple Support. ProRAW is a DNG file, 10 to 12 times larger than HEIF or JPEG (about 25 MB at 12 MP, 75 MB at 48 MP); with RAW off the photo uses the Camera Capture format (High Efficiency or Most Compatible). Page dated April 2024. Checked .
  • About Apple ProRes on iPhone — Apple Support. ProRes is turned on under Settings > Camera > Formats > Video Capture; files are up to 30 times larger than HEVC; with ProRes off, video uses HEVC or H.264 per the Formats choice. Checked .
  • Change advanced camera settings on iPhone — Apple Support. Settings > Camera > Formats > Photo Mode offers 12 MP or 24 MP on supported models; Resolution Control or ProRAW & Resolution Control enables 48 MP. Does not describe the High Efficiency and Most Compatible rows. Checked .
  • About transform actions in Shortcuts on iPhone or iPad — Apple Support. Transform actions convert content to a different format, with a PNG to JPEG example; searching for convert lists them. The page does not name the Convert Image action. Checked .
  • Action connections in Shortcuts on iPhone and iPad — Apple Support. Names a Convert Image action and shows the Select Photos action feeding photos into it. It does not list the formats Convert Image offers. Checked .
  • Applying Apple HDR effect to your photos — Apple Developer Documentation. Apple's HDR photos carry an 8-bit, single-channel gain map as auxiliary data at a quarter of the image resolution; the technique was proposed for ISO 21496-1. Checked .
  • Capturing and saving Live Photos — Apple Developer Documentation. A Live Photo appears as a single asset in Photos but is composed of separate files: the primary still image and a movie. Checked .
  • How to download your Google data — Google Account Help. Takeout steps, delivery methods, zip or tgz, archive size, scheduled Google Photos exports, 7-day expiry and 5 downloads per archive; photo metadata stays embedded in the files and Google Photos extras go to a JSON file. It does not state the file format of exported photos. Checked .
  • Transfer iCloud photos and videos to Google Photos — Google Photos Help. The transfer copies photos saved in the formats listed on the backup page; shared albums, smart albums, Photo Stream and the video portion of Live Photos do not transfer; it takes 3 to 7 days. Checked .
  • Transfer a copy of your iCloud Photos collection to another service — Apple Support. Photos are transferred in the original format or in industry-standard formats; Apple's format list (.jpg, .png, .webp, .gif, some RAW) does not name .heic; Live Photos are not transferred; unavailable with Advanced Data Protection on. Checked .
  • Add photos & videos from Google Drive to Google Photos — Google Photos Help. photos.google.com > Add > Google Drive accepts .jpg, .heic, .png, .webp, .gif and most RAW; copies are backed up at your backup quality and count against storage again; work and school accounts must download and re-upload. Checked .
  • Files you can store in Google Drive — Google Drive Help. Any file type can be stored (up to 5 TB for non-Google files); the list of common previewable image files is .JPEG, .PNG, .GIF, .BMP, .TIFF and .SVG, with no HEIC. Checked .
  • Upload files & folders to Google Drive — Google Drive Help. New > File upload or Folder upload on drive.google.com, the Drive for desktop folder, and the Drive apps' upload buttons. No format conversion is described for images. Checked .
  • Download a file (Google Drive Help) — Google Drive Help. Select files (Ctrl or Command click for several), right-click, Download. Choosing another format (PDF, .docx, .jpg) is described only for Docs, Sheets, Slides and Vids files. Checked .
  • Back up photos & videos (Computer) — Google Photos Help. Web upload (Create > Import photos), Back up folders in a Chromium-based browser, Apple Photos Library not supported from the web, and Drive for desktop ending Google Photos backup on 10 August 2026. Checked .
  • Insert or delete images & videos — Google Docs Editors Help. Insert > Image sources in Docs and Slides: Upload from computer, Stock & web, Drive & Photos, Camera, By URL. The page lists no accepted image formats. Checked .
  • Add an image to a spreadsheet — Google Docs Editors Help. Sheets accepts images under 50 MB in .png, .jpg or .gif format; SVG is not supported. Checked .
  • Google Docs API: Requests reference (InsertInlineImageRequest) — Google for Developers. Inserted images must be less than 50 MB, cannot exceed 25 megapixels, and must be PNG, JPEG or GIF. Checked .
  • Add images to a slide — Google for Developers. Images must be less than 50 MB, cannot exceed 25 megapixels, and must be in PNG, JPEG or GIF format. Checked .
  • Send photos, videos, or voice messages in Google Messages — Google Messages Help. HD (Optimized for chat) or HD+ (Original quality, full media resolution); send over RCS for clearer images because carriers compress MMS. No image formats are named. Checked .
  • RCS chats by Google FAQ — Google Messages Help. RCS shares files and high-resolution photos, including with iPhone users where the carrier supports it; falls back to SMS/MMS when RCS is unavailable. Checked .
  • Send attachments with your Gmail message — Gmail Help. 25 MB attachment limit for personal accounts; larger attachments become a Google Drive link; executables are blocked. HEIC is not mentioned. Checked .
  • Send & share files in Google Chat messages — Google Chat Help. Files up to 200 MB; supported image files are BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WBMP and HEIC. Checked .
  • Upload media (Google Photos Library API) — Google for Developers. Accepted photo types include AVIF, BMP, GIF, HEIC, ICO, JPG, PNG, TIFF, WEBP and some RAW, up to 200 MB; API uploads are stored in full resolution at original quality. Checked .
  • Access media items (Google Photos Library API) — Google for Developers. The =d base-URL parameter downloads an image retaining all Exif metadata except location. The page does not state the format of the bytes returned. Checked .
  • View thumbnails — Microsoft Support. If medium, large or extra-large icons show no thumbnails: File Explorer View > Options (the ... menu on Windows 11) > Folder Options > View tab, clear 'Always show icons, never thumbnails', Apply, OK, restart if needed. Filed under OneDrive help. Checked .
  • Free up drive space in Windows — Microsoft Support. Windows 10 section: search the taskbar for Disk Cleanup, pick the drive, tick the file types; Downloaded Program Files, Temporary Internet Files and Thumbnails are selected by default. The Windows 11 section covers Storage Sense and Cleanup recommendations, not Disk Cleanup. Checked .
  • Save disk space with OneDrive Files On-Demand for Windows — Microsoft Support. A blue cloud icon means online-only; online-only files cannot be opened without an internet connection; opening one downloads it; right-click > Always keep on this device or Free up space. Checked .
  • Manage drive space with Storage Sense — Microsoft Support. Storage Sense can make inactive cloud files online-only after a period you choose; files marked Always keep on this device are exempt. The page does not mention thumbnails. Checked .
  • Thumbnail Handlers (Win32 apps) — Microsoft Learn. When a thumbnail is needed, Windows checks the thumbnail cache first; the extractor runs only if the image is not cached or the file is newer than the cached copy. Handlers run in a separate process by default. Checked .
  • Windows Imaging Component Overview — Microsoft Learn. WIC is an extensible codec framework: any application using WIC gets support for a new image format as soon as its codec is installed. The built-in codec list has no HEIF or HEVC entry. Checked .
  • Integration with Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Explorer — Microsoft Learn. Explorer shows thumbnails through an IThumbnailProvider; the system's default implementation works for any WIC-enabled image format whose codec registers for it. Checked .
  • Codec Installation and Registration (WIC) — Microsoft Learn. Images that existed before a codec was installed have default thumbnails in the cache; the installer is meant to notify Windows so the cache discards them and extracts real ones. Checked .
  • CopyTrans HEIC for Windows — CopyTrans (WindSolutions). Third-party Windows plug-in. Its page claims HEIC thumbnails in Explorer, viewing in Windows Photo Viewer (not the Photos app), right-click Convert to JPEG and Office support; free and paid plans; Windows 7 to 11. Claims are the vendor's own. Checked .
  • Media Feature Pack for Windows N — Microsoft Support. N editions lack Windows Media Player and related technologies including Media Foundation and several codecs (H.265 among them). Windows 11 N: Settings > Apps > Optional features > View features > Media Feature Pack; restart required. Lists HEIF Image Extensions among Store add-ons. Checked .
  • Which version of Windows operating system am I running? — Microsoft Support. Right-click Start > Settings > System > About; the edition and version are shown under Windows specifications. Same steps for Windows 11 and 10. Checked .
  • Repair apps and programs in Windows — Microsoft Support. Windows 11: Settings > Apps > Installed apps > More (…) > Advanced options (some apps lack it) > Repair, then Reset if Repair is missing or does not help. Windows 10: Apps & features > app > Advanced options. Checked .
  • Get updates for apps and games in Microsoft Store — Microsoft Support. Open Microsoft Store and select Check for Updates; app updates are being made automatic and can be paused. Checked .
  • Configure access to the Microsoft Store app — Microsoft Learn. Organisations can block the Store with the 'Turn off the Store application' policy (Intune, CSP or Group Policy); Intune-managed devices can still be given Store apps by IT. Checked .
  • Get-AppxPackage — Microsoft Learn. Lists app packages installed in the current user's profile; -Name accepts wildcards; listing other users needs administrator rights. Checked .
  • Office support for HEIF, AVIF, and WebP files — Microsoft Support. Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook insert HEIF only with HEVC Video Extensions (paid) and HEIF Image Extensions (free) installed, then a restart of the app. Some cameras make HEIC images that are not compatible with the HEVC codec pack; Microsoft suggests converting to JPEG. Checked .
  • WKFileUploadPanel.mm (WebKit source, iOS file upload panel) — WebKit project. On iOS, WebKit's photo picker for <input type=file> asks for the 'compatible' asset representation unless the embedding app prefers the original format; photos taken with the camera fall back to a JPEG representation. A FIXME notes transcoding should eventually follow the accept attribute. Checked .
  • UnifiedWebPreferences.yaml: PhotoPickerPrefersOriginalImageFormat (WebKit source) — WebKit project. The internal preference 'Prefer the original image format when selecting photos for file upload' defaults to false. Checked .
  • Post a photo on Instagram (Computer Help) — Instagram Help Center. On a computer: Create > Post > Select from Computer; 'The supported file formats are jpg, png and heic/heif.' The app sections do not list formats. Checked .
  • Image resolution of photos you share on Instagram — Instagram Help Center. Photos are shared at up to 1080 pixels wide; aspect ratios between 1.91:1 and 3:4 keep their resolution, others are cropped. No file formats are listed. Checked .
  • Instagram Platform: Content Publishing — Meta for Developers. For posts published through Meta's API (used by scheduling tools), 'JPEG is the only image format supported'; MPO and JPS are not supported. Checked .
  • I can't upload photos on Facebook — Facebook Help Center. Recommends uploading JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF or TIFF files, PNG under 1 MB and photos under 15 MB. HEIC is not mentioned. The article still refers to Adobe Flash, so it is old. Checked .
  • Adding pictures to your listings — eBay Help. Accepted file formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, WEBP, HEIC or AVIF, up to 12 MB each; at least 500 × 500 pixels, about 1600 × 1600 recommended. Checked .
  • Requirements and Best Practices for Images in Your Etsy Shop — Etsy Help. Shop images must be .jpg, .gif, .png, .svg or .heic, 'the only image file types Etsy supports'; images over 1 MB may not finish uploading on a slow connection. Checked .
  • Accepted file types on WordPress.com sites — WordPress.com Support. WordPress.com accepts .png, .jpg/.jpeg, .gif, .webp, .heic and .heif images through the Media library and editor; uploads are restricted to the listed types. Checked .
  • Automatic conversion of HEIC images to JPEG in WordPress 6.7 — Make WordPress Core. From 6.7, HEIC uploads are converted to JPEG on the server when its Imagick supports HEIC; the original stays downloadable; otherwise the user is warned to convert manually. Check Tools > Site Health > Info > Media Handling. Checked .
  • Check file upload formats and requirements for Canva — Canva Help Center. Upload JPEG, PNG, HEIC/HEIF and WebP images under 50 MB and no more than 250 million total pixels; WebP must be static. Checked .
  • EOS R5 Advanced User Guide: HDR PQ Settings — Canon. With HDR PQ shooting enabled, “shots are captured as HEIF or RAW images”; PQ stands for Perceptual Quantization. Checked .
  • Digital Photo Professional: Supported Image Formats — Canon. Canon's raw converter lists HEIF images from compatible cameras (or converted in DPP) with the extensions .HIF/.HEIC, and Canon RAW as .CR3, .CR2 and others. Checked .
  • ILME-FX30 Help Guide: JPEG/HEIF Switch (Photo Capture) — Sony. Still images can be saved as JPEG, HEIF 4:2:0 10bit or HEIF 4:2:2 10bit; HEIF files may not display on other cameras, computers or software. No file extension stated. Checked .
  • Characteristics of HEIF format — Sony. The page covers the ILCE-9M3. HEIF records 10-bit gradation; Sony recommends Imaging Edge Desktop to view and edit, conversion to JPEG for playback on other devices and to TIFF for editing because TIFF keeps the 10-bit gradation data. Checked .
  • X-H2 Owner's Manual: Image Quality Setting (Still Photography) — Fujifilm. HEIF pictures are stored on the card with the extension .HIF; the extension must be changed to .HEIC before viewing on a computer, which happens automatically on USB upload. Selecting HEIF sets colour space to sRGB. Checked .
  • Z6III Reference Guide: Tone Mode — Nikon. With the HLG tone mode (HDR), pictures are stored in HEIF format with the extension “*.HIF”, and colour space is fixed at BT.2100. Checked .
  • Take Apple ProRAW photos with your iPhone camera — Apple Support (iPhone User Guide). ProRAW combines a standard RAW format with iPhone image processing; available on all cameras including the front camera, not in Portrait mode; tap HEIC or JPEG then RAW in Camera; default ProRAW format can be 12 MP, 48 MP or HEIF 48 MP. Checked .
  • WWDC 2021 session 10160: Capture and process ProRAW images — Apple Developer. Apple engineers: ProRAW pixels are scene-referred, demosaiced, losslessly compressed 12-bit RGB through a companding curve for up to 14 stops of dynamic range, stored in a standard DNG with a local tone map and semantic masks; processed HEIC uses lossy compression. Checked .
  • Apple unveils iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max — Apple Newsroom. September 2023: the 48MP Main camera gains a 24MP super-high-resolution default “at a practical file size”, and supports 48MP HEIF in addition to 48MP ProRAW. Checked .
  • iPhone 17 Pro — Tech Specs — Apple Support. 48MP Fusion Main with 24MP and 48MP super-high-resolution photos, 48MP Ultra Wide and Telephoto, ProRAW; image formats captured: HEIF, JPEG and DNG. Checked .
  • iPhone 18 Pro — Tech Specs — Apple Support. 48MP Fusion Main with variable aperture and 24MP and 48MP photos; ProRAW; image formats captured: HEIF, JPEG and DNG. Checked .
  • iPhone Tech Specs (index of every model's specifications) — Apple Support. We opened the Tech Specs page of each model from iPhone 12 Pro to iPhone 18 Pro and read its camera section: which list ProRAW, 24MP and 48MP photos, and the image formats captured (HEIF and JPEG, plus DNG on Pro models from iPhone 14 Pro). Checked .
  • View, share, and print photos on iPhone — Apple Support. While viewing a photo, tap Share and swipe up to select Print; share via AirDrop, Mail or Messages; photos are tagged with location data if Location Services is on. No file formats are named. Checked .
  • Use AirPrint to print from your iPhone or iPad — Apple Support. AirPrint needs a supporting printer and the same Wi-Fi network; steps are Share or Actions, Print, choose a printer, Print. Not all apps support printing. No image formats are named. Checked .
  • Add email attachments in Mail on iPhone — Apple Support. Attach a photo through the attachment button, then Photo Library; files over the account's maximum size are offered Mail Drop. The page says nothing about converting HEIC. Checked .
  • If your iCloud Photos aren't syncing or syncing with iCloud is paused — Apple Support. Check Collections, profile button for library status; Low Data Mode, Low Power Mode, poor network, low battery below 20 percent and full iCloud storage pause syncing; Sync Now; Unable to Upload album; do not turn iCloud Photos off; supported types include HEIF. Checked .
  • Back up and sync your photos and videos with iCloud (iPhone User Guide) — Apple Support. Optimize iPhone Storage is on by default; to turn it off go to Settings, your name, iCloud, Photos, iPhone Storage, Download and Keep Originals; sync status badges in Photos, Collections. Checked .
  • Use AirDrop to send items to nearby Apple devices — Apple Support. Most items are saved in the app they are sent from, so a photo sent from Photos is saved in Photos; on an iPhone some items may be saved in Files. Checked .
  • Take and edit photos or videos in Messages on iPhone — Apple Support. Carriers may limit attachment size and iPhone may compress attachments; Send Low Quality Photo Previews sends smaller previews first so recipients get them before the full-resolution image. Checked .
  • If you can't send or receive messages on your iPhone or iPad — Apple Support. If photos or videos will not send or arrive: check free space, carrier size limits for SMS or MMS, compression, and Send Photo Previews or Low Quality Image Mode under Settings, Apps, Messages. Checked .
  • How to stop WhatsApp from saving media to your phone — WhatsApp Help Center. Android: Media visibility is on by default (Settings, Chats), per chat via Media visibility; media saved in the WhatsApp folder; a .nomedia file in the images folder hides photos from the gallery. iPhone: Save to Photos is on by default, with Default, Always and Never per chat. HEIC is not mentioned. Checked .
  • Can't download, open, or send media files — WhatsApp Help Center. Weak connection is the most common cause; update WhatsApp and the phone; SD card checks; Photos and videos permission under Settings, Apps, WhatsApp, Permissions; update the app if 'This file format is not supported'. Only video formats are named. Checked .
  • How to configure auto-download — WhatsApp Help Center. Settings, Storage and data, Media auto-download for mobile data, Wi-Fi and roaming; automatically downloaded media shows up in the gallery; .nomedia hides it. HEIC is not mentioned. Checked .
  • Finding media files — WhatsApp Help Center. Android saves media in the WhatsApp/Media folder, in internal storage or on the SD card; the iPhone app has no such page. Checked .
  • Unacceptable file types on Messenger — Messenger Help Center. Messenger supports most photo, video, audio and text files but blocks certain types that can install or run software. HEIC is not named in the part of the page that renders. Checked .
  • Access media files from shared storage — Android Developers. The system scans external storage: images in DCIM/ and Pictures/ go to MediaStore.Images; downloads in Download/ to MediaStore.Downloads on Android 10 and later; READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and the photo picker. Checked .
  • MediaStore (Android API reference) — Android Developers. MEDIA_IGNORE_FILENAME is '.nomedia': the file signals the media scanner to ignore media in the containing directory and its subdirectories. Checked .
  • Grant partial access to photos and videos — Android Developers. Android 14 introduces Selected Photos Access, letting users grant an app access to specific images and videos rather than all media of a type; compatibility behaviour for apps targeting Android 14. Checked .
  • Find items from other apps & devices (Google Photos Help) — Google Photos Help. On Android, Collections, On this device shows device folders; backup of device folders is set under Photos settings, Backup, Back up device folders; hidden content can be shown. Checked .
  • Find lost photos & videos (Google Photos Help) — Google Photos Help. Check account, backup status and settings, trash (30 days), search only covers backed-up photos, hide settings 'Show content from other apps', device folders. Checked .
  • Change app permissions on your Android phone — Google Play Help. Settings, Apps, the app, Permissions; tap a permission and choose Allow or Don't allow. Checked .
  • Photo Upload FAQs (Walgreens Photo Help) — Walgreens. 'You can upload JPEG, PNG, and HEIC photos to your account'; unsupported: TIFF, PSD, AI, PDF, CMYK and WEBP, images over 150 MB or 100 MP, 8-bit sRGB RGB JPEGs only; Standard versus Full resolution. Article last modified 5 October 2026. Checked .
  • Uploading Photos Guide & Resolution Recommendations — Shutterfly Support. Accepts JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP, HEIC and HEIF; HEIC and HEIF only via the iOS app, website and mobile web, converted to JPG at upload, not the Android app; cannot accept TIFF, GIF, PSD or PDF. Checked .
  • If you have problems uploading... (Snapfish Help) — Snapfish Support. Supports almost all JPG/JPEG and PNG images; any other image type is unsupported (GIF, BMP, TIFF, PSD, AI, PDF, WEBP given); over 150 MB or 100 MP; 8-bit RGB and sRGB only. HEIC is not named. Checked .
  • File Requirements for Amazon Photos — Amazon Customer Service. Photo types supported by Amazon Photos include JPEG, PNG, HEIF, HEVC, HEIC, AVIF and WEBP among others. Checked .
  • Amazon Prints (Amazon Customer Service) — Amazon Customer Service. Amazon Prints does not support PNG, GIF, TIFF, PSD, AI, PDF and WEBP, images over 150 MB or 54 MP, or RAW; 8-bit RGB sRGB JPEGs only. HEIC is not named either way. Checked .
  • Walmart Photo Help — Walmart Photo. 'What kind of photos can I upload and use?' answers: you can upload JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg) digital photos or PNG files; transparent PNG regions turn black. HEIC is not named. Checked .
  • Photos app Video Editor error: Can't view this file type — Microsoft Support. HEIF or HEVC files show 'You need an extension to use this file'; install HEIF Image Extensions (free) and HEVC Video Extensions ($0.99) and restart Photos; many devices automatically convert HEIC when transferring or emailing, so email files to yourself; OneDrive can convert photos. Checked .
  • Print messages, calendars, or other Outlook items (Print a picture in an email) — Microsoft Support. For a saved picture, from File Explorer right-click the file and choose Print; if it looks cut off in print preview, clear Fit picture to frame. HEIC is not mentioned. Checked .
  • HEIC and HEVC media files support in Lightroom and Camera Raw — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 10 Aug 2026. Lightroom Classic, Lightroom and Camera Raw support HEIF/.heic on macOS 10.13 or later and on Windows 10; Lightroom mobile on iOS 11 or later and on Android. The page names no Windows codec for photos. Adobe's workarounds are Most Compatible on the iPhone or Transfer To Mac Or PC set to Automatic. Checked .
  • Windows HEIF and HEVC codecs (Photoshop) — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 23 Feb 2026. To open .heic in Photoshop on Windows, install both the HEIF Image Extensions and the HEVC Video Extensions from Microsoft, then restart Photoshop. Quotes the two error messages and says Canon HIF or HEIC files are not supported. Checked .
  • Image file formats supported in Photoshop — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 27 Mar 2026. HEIF/HEIC: supported on macOS High Sierra (10.13) or later; on Windows it requires installing both HEIF and HEVC codecs from Microsoft; Canon HIF/HEIC files are not supported. Checked .
  • Supported file formats in Photoshop — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 9 Jun 2026. Lists HEIF/HEIC under the heading 'Graphic file formats supported for import and export', alongside AVIF and WebP. It does not describe a HEIC save option anywhere we could find. Checked .
  • Manage color profiles when opening images (Photoshop) — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 30 Sep 2026. The Embedded Profile Mismatch dialog offers: use the embedded profile, convert the document's colours to the working space, or discard the embedded profile. Says nothing specific about HEIC. Checked .
  • Adobe Photoshop on desktop technical requirements — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 9 Sep 2026. For version 27.x and later on Windows: Windows 11 v24H2 or v23H2, or Windows 10 v22H2 (and v21H2 LTSC). Links to the Windows HEIF and HEVC codecs page. Checked .
  • Adobe Photoshop on desktop release notes — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 5 Oct 2026. The newest release listed is September 2026 (version 27.11); its feature and fix lists contain no HEIC or gain-map item. Earlier months are collapsed on the page and we did not read them. Checked .
  • HDR images in Photoshop — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 30 Sep 2026. Photoshop represents HDR as 32 bits per channel floating point. The page does not mention gain maps, HEIC or JPEG. Checked .
  • Edit and Export in HDR (Lightroom Classic) — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 27 Oct 2025. With the preference on, Apple HEIC and JPEG files from iPhone 12 or later and Canon and Sony HDR HEIF files are edited in HDR by default. HDR colour spaces are HDR sRGB, HDR P3 and HDR Rec. 2020. Needs an HDR display and GPU support. Checked .
  • Export photos from Lightroom Classic — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 16 Dec 2025. Export formats named: JPEG, PSD, PSB, TIFF, PNG, DNG or the original format. With HDR output on, AVIF, JPEG XL, JPEG and TIFF can include a gain map when Maximize Compatibility is ticked. Checked .
  • Lightroom Classic technical requirements — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 27 Oct 2025, for the October 2025 release (15.0) and later: Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 23H2 or later; macOS Sonoma (14.x) or later. Checked .
  • Supported File Formats in Elements Organizer — Adobe Help Center. Last updated 30 Mar 2026. Lists HEIF and HEIC and adds that 'HEIF (HEIC) support is platform dependent'. Checked .
  • Downloads — GIMP. Current stable release GIMP 3.2.6 (10 Sep 2026). Builds: Linux AppImage, Flatpak and Snap; Windows installer and Microsoft Store; macOS DMG (Big Sur or newer). The page does not mention HEIC. Checked .
  • Image File Formats (GIMP Developer) — GIMP. HEIC: import and export, via libheif. 'HEVC has patent issues... This is why many Free Software distributors do not wish to package HEIC support, hence why our file-heif plug-in has runtime tests to determine support for AVIF or HEIC.' Checked .
  • Export Image as HEIF/HEIC (GIMP 3.2 manual) — GIMP. Export options: Lossless, Quality (0 to 100), pixel format (YUV420, YUV444, RGB), bit depth 8, 10 or 12, encoder speed, and whether to save the colour profile, Exif and XMP. Checked .
  • GIMP 2.10.22 Released — GIMP. 7 Oct 2020: improved HEIC, new AVIF; HEIF files can be imported and exported at 10 and 12 bits per channel, and NCLX colour profiles and metadata are imported. Checked .
  • GIMP 3.2 Release Notes — GIMP. GIMP 3.2 adds AVCI import, a HEIF variant holding H.264 images. The page does not mention HEIC, HDR or libheif. Checked .
  • Supported file formats (Affinity Photo 2) — Affinity (Serif). The format table ticks HEIF/HEIC/HIF under Open/Import only, not Export. A footnote: an iPhone HEIC may include an upsampled depth map loaded as an editable second layer; Canon HIF (10-bit PQ HDR) files from EOS 1D X Mk III, R5 and R6 can be opened. It names no OS or codec. This is the Affinity Photo 2 manual; we did not find a page for the newer Affinity app. Checked .
  • HEIF/HEIC file format (Capture One) — Capture One Support. Import from Capture One 21 (14.0.0): Apple HEIC and 8-bit HEIF, 'to the extent that those are supported by the underlying operating system'. Windows users 'might need' the HEVC Video Extensions and HEIF Image Extensions. 10-bit HEIF/HEIC from newer cameras is not supported; export to HEIF/HEIC is not supported. The page is marked updated a year ago. Checked .
  • What file formats are suitable for import (Capture One) — Capture One Support. Lists 8-bit HEIF/HEIC as importable from version 21 (14.0.0) and says 10-bit HEIF/HEIC from new cameras is not supported at the moment. Checked .
  • supported file formats (darktable 5.6 user manual) — darktable. The list of extensions darktable will import includes JPEG, PNG, TIFF, JXL, EXR and raw formats; HEIC and HEIF are not in it. Optional JPEG 2000 and GraphicsMagick extensions are listed separately. Checked .
  • Paint.NET documentation: overview and supported file formats — dotPDN. Paint.NET 5 lists HEIC (*.heic, *.heif, *hif) among supported formats with the note 'Requires Microsoft HEVC Video Extensions'. Requires 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. Does not say whether HEIC can be saved. Checked .
  • Free HEIC Viewer for Windows, macOS and Linux (XnView MP) — XnSoft. The vendor's own page: XnView MP reads and writes HEIC and HEIF natively on Windows, macOS and Linux, 'with no plugin needed in most cases'; free for private use. A vendor claim we have not tested. Checked .
  • Ubuntu 24.04 (noble) package indexes: main, universe, multiverse, restricted — Ubuntu archive (Canonical). We downloaded the noble and noble-updates indexes and read the package records. libheif 1.17.6-1ubuntu4.9: libheif1 depends on an AV1 decoder plugin and only Suggests libheif-plugin-libde265 (main), libheif-plugin-x265 (universe) and others; heif-thumbnailer, heif-gdk-pixbuf and libheif-examples depend only on libheif1. kimageformat-plugins depends on the libde265 and x265 plugins. ubuntu-desktop depends on eog. Checked .
  • Installing plugins for playing movies and music (Fedora Quick Docs) — Fedora Project. Last review 10 May 2026: 'some codecs are not included in Fedora's official repositories due to patent or licensing restrictions'; for full support including HEVC, enable the RPM Fusion repositories. Checked .
  • libheif-freeworld (RPM Fusion package listing, Fedora 45 development) — RPM Fusion. 'This package adds support for H.264, HEVC and VVC-encoded HEIC files to applications that use libheif to read HEIF image files.' Version 1.23.5 in the development tree. Checked .
  • Configuration: enabling the free and nonfree repositories (RPM Fusion) — RPM Fusion. The free repository holds open-source software Fedora cannot ship for other reasons. Gives the dnf install command for the rpmfusion-free-release package. Checked .
  • libheif 1.23.6-1 (Arch Linux package page) — Arch Linux. Built 5 Oct 2026 in the Extra repository; the dependency list includes libde265, libx265, libaom, openh264 and x264. Checked .
  • Linux Mint 22.3 'Zena' release notes — Linux Mint. 'Linux Mint 22.x is based on Ubuntu 24.04.' The release notes say nothing about HEIC. Checked .
  • Supported image formats (ImageMagick) — ImageMagick Studio. HEIC: read and write, 'Requires the libheif delegate library', with defines such as heic:speed, heic:chroma and heic:preserve-orientation. AVIF is also read and write. Checked .
  • Security policy (ImageMagick) — ImageMagick Studio. The recommended strict policy denies all modules and permits only GIF, JPEG, PNG and WEBP; policy.xml is where a coder such as HEIC can be allowed or blocked. Glob patterns before ImageMagick 7.1.1-16 are case-sensitive, so coder names must be upper case. Checked .
  • Download FFmpeg — FFmpeg. Newest stable release 9.0.2 (18 Sep 2026); older branches 8.1.3, 8.0.3, 7.1.5 and 6.1.6 are still listed. Checked .
  • Supported file types (ExifTool) — Phil Harvey. HEIC, HEIF and HIF: read and write. The known-problems list mentions fixes in 13.09 (HDR gain-map HEIC after adding XMP) and 13.49 (motion-photo HEIC). Checked .
  • Image Files (digiKam manual) — digiKam. Lists HEIF, AVIF and JXL. Says available formats depend on the libraries on your system and how they were compiled, so no definitive list can be given; it does not name libheif. Checked .
  • CVE-2026-32740: libheif heap buffer overflow in grid tile compositing — NIST National Vulnerability Database. NVD record, read through NVD's CVE API: libheif 1.21.2 and earlier write up to 64 attacker-controlled bytes past a chroma plane when decoding a crafted grid image; CVSS 3.1 8.8, CWE-787; fixed in 1.22.0; published 2026-05-19. NVD's CISA SSVC entry lists exploitation as none. Checked .
  • GHSA-frfr-f3vg-2g6j: heap-buffer-overflow write in grid tile chroma compositing (libheif) — libheif maintainers (GitHub Security Advisories). The upstream advisory behind CVE-2026-32740: affects 1.21.2 and earlier, patched in 1.22.0, triggered during normal decoding with the default build, credited to a reporter; the advisory warns of possible remote code execution via heap grooming and of crashes. Checked .
  • CVE-2026-84383: libheif heap out-of-bounds write from nested iden and auxl references — NIST National Vulnerability Database. NVD record, read through NVD's CVE API: libheif 1.22.0 up to 1.23.2 allocate an alpha plane at the wrong bit depth for a crafted HEIF, HEIC or AVIF item graph, giving a heap out-of-bounds write; CVSS 3.1 9.8; fixed in 1.23.2; published 2026-09-18. Checked .
  • CVE-2026-33165: libde265 out-of-bounds heap write after an SPS change — NIST National Vulnerability Database. NVD record, read through NVD's CVE API: libde265 before 1.0.17 writes two bytes past a heap allocation for a crafted HEVC bitstream; NVD CVSS 3.1 5.0, CWE-787; fixed in 1.0.17; published 2026-03-20. Checked .
  • CVE-2026-45383: libde265 heap out-of-bounds read in WPP slice decoding — NIST National Vulnerability Database. NVD record, read through NVD's CVE API: libde265 before 1.0.19 reads past an array when crafted PPS/SPS headers are decoded with wavefront parallel processing; CWE-125; fixed in 1.0.19; published 2026-07-21. Checked .
  • CVE-2026-49346: libde265 integer overflow in image buffer allocation — NIST National Vulnerability Database. NVD record, read through NVD's CVE API: libde265 before 1.1.0 wraps an allocation size for large SPS dimensions at 16-bit depth, then writes far more than was allocated; CVSS 3.1 7.1, CWE-190; fixed in 1.1.0; published 2026-06-19. Checked .
  • CVE-2026-54240: libde265 signed 32-bit pixel offset overflow — NIST National Vulnerability Database. NVD record, read through NVD's CVE API: libde265 before 1.1.1 can read or write out of bounds for crafted HEVC streams with large dimensions; CVSS 3.1 7.4, CWE-190 and CWE-787; fixed in 1.1.1; published 2026-09-11. Checked .
  • NVD CVE API keyword search: libheif and libde265 — NIST National Vulnerability Database. The API we queried on 2026-10-12 for records mentioning libheif (48) or libde265 (67), 114 distinct CVE ids; used for the per-year counts and for which libde265 and libheif fixes postdate the versions this site bundles. Counts are keyword matches, not a measure of severity. Checked .
  • libde265 releases — libde265 maintainers (GitHub). Release list read on 2026-10-12: v1.1.3 marked latest; v1.1.2 a security and bugfix release (use-after-free fixes); v1.1.1 fixes CVE-2026-54240 and CVE-2026-54241; v1.1.0 fixes four issues and adds security limits on image size and memory; v1.0.19 and v1.0.17 fix the CVEs named there. Checked .
  • libheif releases — libheif maintainers (GitHub). Release list read on 2026-10-12: v1.23.6 (5 Oct) marked latest, with v1.23.5, v1.23.4, v1.23.3 and v1.23.2 each described as security releases or security maintenance; v1.23.1 added getters and setters for the CLLI and MDCV HDR metadata boxes. Checked .
  • CVE-2022-24457: HEIF Image Extensions Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Microsoft Security Response Center. Released 8 March 2022: Important, CVSS 7.8, local vector with user interaction required; exploitation by convincing a victim to download and open a specially crafted file; the Microsoft Store updates affected customers automatically; package versions 1.0.43012.0 and later contain the fix; check with Get-AppxPackage -Name Microsoft.HEIFImageExtension. Rendered with a browser, as the page needs JavaScript. Checked .
  • CVE-2023-38170: HEVC Video Extensions Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Microsoft Security Response Center. Microsoft explains that 'Remote' in the title is where the attacker is, and that the attack is carried out locally; fixed in package versions 2.0.61931.0 (preinstalled) and 2.0.61933.0 (Store) and later. Evidence that the HEVC codec package Windows uses for HEIC has had security fixes of its own. Checked .
  • About the security content of iOS 18.6.2 and iPadOS 18.6.2 — Apple Support. Released 20 August 2025. ImageIO, CVE-2025-43300: 'Processing a malicious image file may result in memory corruption'; an out-of-bounds write fixed with improved bounds checking; Apple aware of a report of exploitation in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals. The page does not name an image format. Checked .
  • About the security content of iOS 16.6.1 and iPadOS 16.6.1 — Apple Support. Released 7 September 2023. Image I/O, CVE-2023-41064: a buffer overflow in processing a maliciously crafted image that may lead to arbitrary code execution; Apple aware of a report of active exploitation; credited to Citizen Lab. The page does not name an image format. Checked .
  • BLASTPASS: NSO Group iPhone zero-click, zero-day exploit captured in the wild — The Citizen Lab. September 2023: an exploit chain delivered as PassKit attachments containing malicious images over iMessage, with no interaction from the victim, assigned CVE-2023-41064 and CVE-2023-41061; found on the device of an employee of a civil-society organisation. The page does not specify the image format. Checked .
  • About Lockdown Mode — Apple Support. Lockdown Mode is 'designed for the very few individuals' who may be targeted; in Messages most attachment types are blocked other than certain images, video and audio; 'Most people are never targeted by attacks of this nature'. Checked .
  • Android Security Bulletin: April 2022 — Android Open Source Project. Published 4 April 2022. Media Framework: CVE-2021-39804, denial of service, severity High, Android 11, 12 and 12L, fixed at security patch level 2022-04-01. The page does not name the component; NVD names HeifDecoderImpl.cpp. Checked .
  • CVE-2021-39804: Android HeifDecoderImpl reinit missing null check — NIST National Vulnerability Database. NVD record, read through NVD's CVE API: a missing null check in reinit of HeifDecoderImpl.cpp can crash, a remote persistent denial of service in the file picker, user interaction needed; CVSS 3.1 6.5; Android 11, 12, 12L; published 2022-04-12. Checked .
  • Android Security Bulletin: April 2017 — Android Open Source Project. Remote code execution vulnerability in Mediaserver, 2017-04-01 patch level: CVE-2017-0539, Critical, Android 5.0.2 to 7.1.1, 'using a specially crafted file'. Checked .
  • CVE-2017-0539: Android libhevc remote code execution in Mediaserver — NIST National Vulnerability Database. NVD record, read through NVD's CVE API: names libhevc, Android's HEVC decoder, memory corruption during media file processing; published 2017-04-07; links the AOSP patch. Shows HEVC decoder bugs are decoder-level, not specific to one container. Checked .
  • Using Web Workers — MDN Web Docs. A worker cannot touch the DOM or the parent page's objects, but can make network requests with fetch or XMLHttpRequest, so a worker is not by itself a network barrier. Checked .
  • Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks — CISA. Released 1 February 2021 (archived): an unsolicited email asking a user to download and open an attachment is a common delivery mechanism for malware; be suspicious of unsolicited messages; verify a request by contacting the company directly using details you already hold. Checked .
  • Phishing attacks: defending your organisation — UK National Cyber Security Centre. Version 2.0, reviewed 13 February 2024: malware is often hidden in phishing emails or the sites they link to; well-configured devices can stop malware installing even if a link is clicked; staff should feel able to report after clicking. Checked .
  • Phishing scams: how to spot and report them — UK National Cyber Security Centre. Reviewed 5 September 2022: phishing often aims to make you visit a website that may download a virus; reporting is free and lets the NCSC investigate and take down scam emails and sites. Checked .
  • Convert HEIC to JPG (Convertio) — Convertio. Says 'Conversion happens entirely on remote servers'; uploaded HEIC photos are deleted immediately after conversion; JPG results are purged within 24 hours. A statement by the site, not audited. Checked .
  • HEIC to JPG (FreeConvert) — FreeConvert. Says files are uploaded over HTTPS and deleted automatically after 8 hours. A statement by the site, not audited. Checked .
  • Convert HEIC to JPG (Zamzar) — Zamzar. 'Upload your file ... let our servers do the rest'; free converted files stored for a maximum of 24 hours; paying users' files until they delete them; does not say how long uploaded originals are kept. A statement by the site, not audited. Checked .
  • Privacy Policy (CloudConvert) — CloudConvert. Policy dated 17 April 2026: files are 'transferred to and temporarily stored on CloudConvert's servers', deleted at the latest after 24 hours, processed by machine with no human interaction, transmitted over an SSL-secured channel; says nothing about encryption at rest. A statement by the site, not audited. Checked .
  • News from WWDC25: Web technology coming this fall in Safari 26 beta — WebKit. Safari 26 beta adds support for HDR images on the web, embedded like other images and in Canvas, and the CSS dynamic-range-limit property (standard converts HDR content to SDR). Does not name image formats. Checked .
  • Safari 26 Release Notes — Apple Developer. Rendered with a browser: 'Added support for HDR Images on iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 and visionOS 26'. Checked .
  • Apple introduces iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus — Apple Newsroom. September 2016: 'a wide color capture allows for more vibrant colors with more detail'; the display has a wide colour gamut. Does not use the term Display P3. Checked .
  • WWDC 2016 session 501: Advances in iOS Photography — Apple Developer. Apple's engineers on wide colour: 'We refer to it as Display P3'; its gamma and white point are identical to sRGB's; wide-colour JPEGs use a Display P3 profile; content that is not colour-aware renders as sRGB and looks wrong. The session names the iPad Pro 9.7 as the capture device and does not mention HEIF. Checked .
  • Upload and download photos on iCloud.com — Apple Support. You can upload photos and videos 'in multiple formats' from a computer to your personal library, albums and shared albums (no formats named); photos you upload are added to iCloud Photos; downloads use 'the most compatible format for the device you're currently using'; More > More Download Options chooses a format first. Checked .
  • Set up Photos in iCloud for Windows — Apple Support. Photos are stored in C:\Users\[username]\Pictures\iCloud Photos\Photos; 'Optionally, select Download High-Efficiency format photos and videos or Download HDR videos' (iCloud for Windows 14.2 or later). The page does not say what you get with the box unticked. Checked .
  • Download and view iCloud Photos on your Windows computer — Apple Support. Photos appear as thumbnails in File Explorer until downloaded; double-click downloads one; edits made on the PC are not sent back, and an edited file must be uploaded as a new file to join iCloud Photos. Checked .
  • Upload HEIF and HEVC photos and videos to OneDrive — Microsoft Support. OneDrive for iOS uploads HEIF photos in their original format instead of as JPG, 'to preserve the image quality of original photos and to save storage space'; some iOS devices no longer offer a JPG capture option; HEIF and HEVC files can be viewed on the OneDrive website in any browser; Windows may need a codec to open downloaded files. Checked .
  • Convert an HEIC image file (OneDrive) — Microsoft Support. Short page: to convert HEIC photos to JPG automatically for upload to OneDrive, use the Apple device camera setting Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible. Describes no OneDrive app setting. Checked .
  • File types supported for previewing files in OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams — Microsoft Support. Image formats listed include HEIC and HEIF; previews and thumbnails appear in the web view and for Files On-Demand users on Windows 10; OneDrive.com shows thumbnails or previews only if the image is under 100 MB (about 12000 x 8000 pixels). Checked .
  • Automatically save photos and videos with OneDrive on iOS — Microsoft Support. Camera upload is one-way (deleting from the phone leaves the OneDrive copy); one account at a time; Settings > Camera Upload; Include Videos; 'OneDrive cannot upload photos optimized for iCloud'. Names no photo formats. Checked .
  • Download files and folders from OneDrive or SharePoint — Microsoft Support. Selecting several items and choosing Download gives one .zip; limits stated: 250 GB per file, 10,000 files. The page describes no format conversion on download. Checked .
  • Support for HEIF (.heic) and HEVC photo and video files — Dropbox Help Center. Updated 3 March 2025. Dropbox supports .heic and HEVC MOV; with camera uploads on, the app setting 'Save HEIC Photos as' uploads JPG instead (shown only if the device has a HEIF or HEVC file); converting to JPG removes some HEIF features; not retroactive; the iPhone's Transfer to Mac or PC setting (Automatic or Keep Originals) governs manual cable imports. Checked .
  • What types of files can I preview in Dropbox? — Dropbox Help Center. Updated 27 August 2026; applies to paid Dropbox users. .heic previews up to 100 MB or 50 megapixels, alongside .jpg, .png and .webp. Checked .
  • What types of files can I preview in the Dropbox mobile app? — Dropbox Help Center. Updated 12 June 2025. 'All files supported by your device preview in the Dropbox app'; the image list on the page (.jpg, .png, .gif, .tif and others) does not include .heic. Checked .
  • How to use camera and mobile device uploads — Dropbox Help Center. Updated 17 September 2026. Turning camera uploads on in the mobile and desktop apps; photos only or photos and videos. The visible text names no photo formats. Checked .
  • Viewing Different File Types Supported in Box Content Preview — Box Support. Box web and mobile apps: the Images category lists 'heic' (not 'heif') among previewable types; Content Preview is limited to files of 500 MB or smaller. No date shown on the page. Checked .
  • Supported File Types (representations API) — Box Developer Documentation. In the Image table, .heic is listed with thumbnails: yes and PDF, text and markdown representations: no. Checked .
  • Client-Side Media Processing in WordPress 7.1 — WordPress Core (make.wordpress.org). Dev note, 22 July 2026: HEIC/HEIF images decoded in the browser and uploaded as JPEG even without server HEIC support; original kept as a companion file; relies on platform codecs (Chromium on macOS and on Windows with HEVC support, Safari on macOS); full WASM pipeline Chrome and Edge 137+; falls back to server-side processing; disable with the wp_client_side_media_processing_enabled filter. Checked .
  • WordPress 7.1 "Mary Lou" — WordPress.org News. Released 19 August 2026. Says media handling includes 'native support for AVIF, HEIC, and HDR gain maps' and that compression, resizing and thumbnails now happen in the browser. Checked .
  • WordPress 7.1.3 Maintenance and Security Release — WordPress.org News. 6 October 2026; the newest release found on the WordPress news feed; does not mention HEIC. Checked .
  • WordPress core source (wordpress-develop trunk): media.php and image editors — WordPress (GitHub). Trunk (7.2-alpha) read 12 October 2026. wp_get_image_editor_output_format maps image/heic, heif and their sequence types to image/jpeg; the GD editor's supports_mime_type handles only JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP and AVIF; the Imagick editor asks Imagick::queryFormats; the REST controller lets still HEIC/HEIF uploads through for client-side processing. Checked .
  • imagetypes (PHP manual) — PHP Documentation Group. The GD bit-field constants are IMG_AVIF, IMG_BMP, IMG_GIF, IMG_JPG, IMG_PNG, IMG_WBMP, IMG_XPM and IMG_WEBP; HEIC and HEIF are not mentioned. Checked .
  • HEIC Support (WordPress plugin listing) — WordPress.org Plugin Directory. Version 2.3.0; 5,000+ installs; tested to 7.0.7. Needs ImageMagick 7 with libheif to convert locally; makes .webp, .avif or .jpg copies; optional paid cloud conversion uploads the .heic file to the vendor's service (packs from US$5.99). Checked .
  • HEIC to JPEG (WordPress plugin listing) — WordPress.org Plugin Directory. Version 1.0.1, last updated 5 April 2023, tested to 6.2.14, 1,000+ installs, needs ImageMagick 7.0.8-46 or above; the listing warns it may no longer be maintained and points to HEIC Support. Checked .
  • ShortPixel Image Optimizer (WordPress plugin listing) — WordPress.org Plugin Directory. 300,000+ installs, tested to 7.1.3, modified 9 October 2026. Says HEIC photos are 'automatically converted to JPG and optimized'; installation needs an API key; its FAQ says originals are sent to ShortPixel's cloud for compression. Checked .
  • Uploading and managing files (Shopify Help Center) — Shopify Help Center. Image file formats: JPEG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC and GIF; 20 MB; 25 MP maximum; trial plans may upload only a short list of formats that includes HEIC. Checked .
  • Uploading images (Shopify Help Center) — Shopify Help Center. Supported formats include HEIC; Shopify serves each visitor 'the best format available' for their browser (WebP and AVIF where supported); TIFF and BMP are converted on upload; this page states 20 MP and 20 MB limits and elsewhere 25 MP. Does not say what happens to a HEIC. Checked .
  • Formatting images for display on the web (Squarespace) — Squarespace Help Center. Last updated 22 June 2026. File type: 'Only .jpg, .gif, .png, or .webp'; 20 MB; uploaded images are converted to WebP for display and the original stays in the asset library; notes that .heic files from iPhones 'automatically convert to .jpg when imported or shared in many places, including the Squarespace App'. Checked .
  • Wix Media: Supported Media File Types and File Sizes — Wix Help Center. Site images: JPG, PNG, GIF, JPEG, JPE, JFIF, BMP, HEIC, HEIF, TIFF, TIF, WEBP, AVIF, JPEG 2000 and RAW; images up to 50 MB; 'Images are automatically converted to AVIF format on your live site'; uploads are transformed to sRGB. Checked .
  • Image file type and format guide — MDN Web Docs. Page modified 8 October 2026. Common web image types: APNG, AVIF, GIF, JPEG, JPEG XL, PNG, SVG, WebP; does not list HEIC; 'prefer WebP or AVIF'; include fallbacks for AVIF; JPEG is a good fallback for photographs. Checked .
  • The Picture element (MDN) — MDN Web Docs. A source whose type the browser does not support is skipped; the img element is the fallback and carries alt text and size; includes an AVIF, WebP and JPEG example. Checked .
  • nginx conf/mime.types (master) — nginx. Read 12 October 2026: lists image/avif and image/webp; no image/heic or image/heif line. The sample nginx.conf sets default_type application/octet-stream. Checked .
  • ngx_http_core_module: default_type — nginx. default_type sets the Content-Type used when no extension mapping exists; built-in default is text/plain. Checked .
  • Apache httpd docs/conf/mime.types (trunk) — Apache HTTP Server. Read 12 October 2026: maps image/heic to heic, image/heic-sequence to heics, image/heif to heif and image/heif-sequence to heifs. Checked .
  • Customize the wallpaper on your Mac — Apple Support (Mac User Guide). Version selector showed macOS 27. Dynamic Wallpaper: 'These images brighten and darken, based on the time of day for your current location'; 'Choose light or dark still versions of Dynamic Wallpaper'; add your own via the Add Photo button under Your Photos. Does not describe the file format. Checked .
  • Change the wallpaper on iPhone — Apple Support (iPhone User Guide). Wallpaper gallery: Photos, Emoji, Color, featured sets such as Nature, and Weather or Astronomy via Get. Says nothing about importing a multi-image dynamic-wallpaper HEIC. Checked .
  • Set a Live Photo as your Lock Screen wallpaper on your iPhone — Apple Support. 'In iOS 17 or later, you can choose a Live Photo for your Lock Screen wallpaper'; it plays whenever you wake the device. Settings > Wallpaper > Add New Wallpaper > Photos > Live Photo. No file format stated. Checked .
  • Dynaper - Dynamic Wallpapers — Mac App Store. Free with in-app purchases; makes time-shifting, solar-shifting and light/dark wallpapers; includes an HEIC metadata viewer; exports carry a watermark until purchase; requires macOS 12.0 or later; version 1.5.12, 30 August 2024. Checked .
  • EOS R3 Advanced User Guide: HDR PQ Settings — Canon. HDR PQ produces images conforming to ITU-R BT.2100 and SMPTE ST.2084; shots are captured as HEIF or RAW. No bit depth, colour space or extension on this page. Checked .
  • EOS R6 Mark II Advanced User Guide: Image Quality — Canon. HEIF can be specified when HDR shooting (HDR PQ) is Enable; extensions .JPG, .HIF and .CR3, shared file number for RAW+HEIF; HEIF shot with HDR PQ can be converted to JPEG in camera. Checked .
  • EOS R6 Mark II Advanced User Guide: Specifications — Canon. Image type table lists HEIF as .HIF beside JPEG .JPG and RAW .CR3; HEIF rows apply when HDR shooting HDR PQ is Enable. 10-bit appears only for movie formats; no still bit depth. Checked .
  • EOS R7 Advanced User Guide: Image Quality — Canon. HEIF can be specified when HDR shooting (HDR PQ) is Enable; .JPG for JPEG, .HIF for HEIF, .CR3 for RAW; HEIF can be converted to JPEG after shooting. Checked .
  • EOS R5 Mark II Advanced User Guide: Image Quality — Canon. HEIF is available when Picture style HDR shooting (PQ) is HDR PQ; .HIF for HEIF with RAW+HEIF sharing a file number; can be converted to JPEG after shooting. Checked .
  • EOS R5 Mark II Advanced User Guide: Specifications — Canon. Still photo HEIF is .HIF; HEIF rows apply when HDR shooting (PQ): HDR PQ is set. The page gives no still bit depth; 10-bit appears only in movie formats. Checked .
  • ILCE-7M4 Help Guide: JPEG/HEIF Switch — Sony. JPEG (compatibility), HEIF(4:2:0) (image quality and compression efficiency), HEIF(4:2:2) (image quality). Warns HEIF may not display on other cameras or in some software. This page does not mention 10-bit. Checked .
  • ILCE-7M4 Help Guide: HLG Still Image — Sony. HLG Still Image needs HEIF; wide colour gamut compatible with BT.2020, viewable on an HLG-compatible TV or monitor. No bit depth or extension on the page. Checked .
  • ILCE-1 Help Guide: JPEG/HEIF Switch — Sony. HEIF(4:2:0) and HEIF(4:2:2) options; HEIF may not display on other cameras and a HEIF-compatible environment is required. No 10-bit mention. Checked .
  • ILCE-7SM3 Help Guide: JPEG/HEIF Switch — Sony. HEIF(4:2:0) and (4:2:2); with HLG Still Image off HEIF is recorded in sRGB, on in BT.2100 (BT.2020 gamut). No 10-bit mention. Checked .
  • ILCE-7RM5 Help Guide: JPEG/HEIF Switch — Sony. HEIF(4:2:0) and (4:2:2); same sRGB and BT.2100 colour-space note; may not be viewable in some computers or software. No 10-bit mention. Checked .
  • ILME-FX3 Help Guide: JPEG/HEIF Switch — Sony. HEIF(4:2:0) and (4:2:2) for photo capture; may not be viewable or editable in some software. No 10-bit mention. Checked .
  • X-H2S Owner's Manual: Image Quality Setting (Still Photography) — Fujifilm. HEIF is stored as .HIF and the extension must be changed to .HEIC for a computer (automatic on USB upload); selecting HEIF disables Clarity and sets colour space to sRGB; JPEG replaces HEIF in filter-effect, panorama, multiple-exposure and HDR modes. No 10-bit mention. Checked .
  • X-T5 Owner's Manual: Image Quality Setting (Still Photography) — Fujifilm. Same HEIF text as the X-H2S: .HIF, rename to .HEIC, sRGB, Clarity disabled, JPEG fallback modes. The model is inferred from the URL path. Checked .
  • Z 8 Reference Guide: Tone Mode — Nikon. HLG pictures are stored as HEIF with the extension *.HIF, SDR as JPEG; colour space fixed at BT.2100; ISO limits and shooting restrictions; NX Studio can view and edit HLG (HEIF) photos. Checked .
  • Z 8 Reference Guide: Image Recording Options — Nikon. Image quality options include JPEG/HEIF and RAW + JPEG/HEIF; photos are recorded as HEIF when HLG is selected as tone mode. No HEIF extension on this page. Checked .
  • Z 8 Reference Guide: Specifications — Nikon. HEIF at fine, normal or basic compression; still file system listed as DCF 2.0, Exif 2.32, MPEG-A MIAF; no separate still bit depth for JPEG or HEIF. Checked .
  • Professional Technical Guide: HLG Photo Edition (Z 8) — Nikon (PDF, 2023). The Z 8 supports HLG photos as RAW (.NEF) and HEIF (.HIF). Viewing HLG photos needs NX Studio and the Imaging Codec 01 codec, installed on first opening a .hif in NX Studio. Read as text with pdftotext. Checked .
  • Nikon releases the Z 8 full-frame mirrorless camera — Nikon, 10 May 2023. 'The Z 8 supports the HEIF format'; it uses '10-bit rich tonal gradation'; NX Studio 1.4.0 displays and edits stills taken in HLG tone mode. Checked .
  • DC-L10 Operating Instructions: Switch JPEG/HEIF — Panasonic. HEIF images are saved as .HIF; if software will not load them, change the extension to .HEIC; HEIF has a higher compression rate than JPEG but limited playback and printing environments. The page text does not name the model; the URL says DC-L10. Checked .
  • DC-L10 Operating Instructions: HLG Recording (HEIF Format) — Panasonic. HLG HEIF: compression HEVC, colour sampling 4:2:0, 10 bit. The DC-S1M2 manual has the same page (HLG Recording, HEIF Format) with the same three values. Checked .
  • LUMIX HLG Photo (plug-in software) — Panasonic. HLG Photo files are .HSP; an extension shows thumbnails in Windows Explorer and macOS Finder, and a plug-in opens and saves HSP in Photoshop (up to 2021 v22.4.3). Compatible cameras as of 13 July 2021: DC-S1R, S1, S1H, S5. Does not say whether HSP is HEIF. Checked .
  • Installation (sharp) — sharp. Prebuilt sharp and libvips binaries support JPEG, PNG, Ultra HDR, WebP, AVIF, TIFF, GIF and SVG (input); HEIC is not listed. A globally installed libvips is unsupported on Windows and on macOS under Rosetta; Node-API v9 / Node.js 20.9 or later. Checked .
  • Output options: heif() and avif() (sharp) — sharp. heif() takes compression 'av1' or 'hevc'; 'Support for patent-encumbered HEIC images using hevc compression requires the use of a globally-installed libvips' compiled with libheif, libde265 and x265. avif() defaults: quality 50, effort 4, chromaSubsampling 4:4:4, bitdepth 8. Checked .
  • CGImageSource (Image I/O) — Apple Developer. An opaque type for reading image data from a URL, data object or consumer; CGImageSourceCreateWithURL, CreateImageAtIndex, CreateThumbnailAtIndex, CopyPropertiesAtIndex, GetCount; available from iOS 4 and macOS 10.8. Checked .
  • CGImageDestination (Image I/O) — Apple Developer. Writes image data to a URL, data object or consumer: CreateWithURL(url, type, count, options), AddImage, Finalize; kCGImageDestinationEmbedThumbnail applies to JPEG and HEIF; a gain-map key concerns HEIF. Checked .
  • UTType.heic — Apple Developer. UTType.heic has identifier public.heic, available from iOS 14 and macOS 11. Checked .
  • kCGImageSourceCreateThumbnailFromImageAlways (Image I/O) — Apple Developer. Option for CGImageSourceCreateThumbnailAtIndex: with true the thumbnail is made from the full image, limited by kCGImageSourceThumbnailMaxPixelSize; without a maximum the full size is used. kCGImageSourceCreateThumbnailWithTransform rotates to the image's orientation. Checked .
  • kCGImageDestinationLossyCompressionQuality (Image I/O) — Apple Developer. A number from 0.0 to 1.0; 1.0 asks for lossless compression if the destination format supports it, 0.0 for maximum compression. Checked .
  • Shipping JPEG XL in Chrome — Chrome for Developers. Dated 6 October 2026: Chrome 155 ships JPEG XL decoding using jxl-rs, a pure Rust decoder; says JPEG XL gives 30-50% better compression than JPEG, with lossless compression, HDR and lossless JPEG transcoding; recommends trying both AVIF and JPEG XL. Checked .
  • Chromium milestone schedule, M155 — Chromium Dash. Chrome 155 stable release date 2026-10-06 (stable cut 2026-09-29). Checked .
  • Firefox releases (whattrainisitnow) — Mozilla. Newest Firefox release 157.0.1 on 2026-10-06; 157.0 on 2026-09-29; no 158 yet. Checked .
  • WebP FAQ — Google for Developers. Lossy WebP works only with 8-bit Y'CbCr 4:2:0; lossless works with RGBA; maximum 16383 x 16383 pixels; animation supported; Google says lossy is typically 30% smaller than JPEG and lossless 26% smaller than PNG. Checked .
  • Sisvel has licensed half the AV1 market — Sisvel. 31 Jul 2025: Sisvel's AV1 pool has 21 patent owners and over 1,900 patents, says it has licensed about half the AV1 finished-product market; its licences cover finished products, not components or software. Checked .
  • WebKit Features in Safari 17.0 — WebKit. Safari 17.0 adds JPEG XL (progressive loading, lossless JPEG recompression) and HEIC; says 'A HEIC photo can take up about half the space of an equivalent-quality JPEG file'. Checked .

Compatibility data

  • HEIF/HEIC image format — browser support — Can I use. Which browsers display HEIC natively: Safari 17 and later on macOS and iOS; every other listed browser does not. Checked .
  • WebP image format — browser support — Can I use. WebP is supported from Chrome 32, Edge 18, Firefox 65, Safari 16 (macOS) and Safari 14 (iOS); about 97% of global usage. Checked .
  • AVIF image format — browser support — Can I use. AVIF is supported from Chrome 85, Edge 121, Firefox 93, Safari 16.4 (macOS) and Safari 16 (iOS); about 96% of global usage. Checked .
  • dynamic-range-limit — MDN Web Docs. The CSS property sets the maximum luminance of HDR content: standard (HDR reference white), constrained, no-limit (initial value). Not Baseline; the compatibility table did not render in our read. Checked .
  • Can I use data file: heif, webp, avif and jpegxl (caniuse.com/data.json) — Can I use. Data file updated 11 October 2026 (StatCounter, September 2026). HEIF/HEIC: Safari and iOS Safari 17.0 and later only, global usage 16.93%; Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Samsung Internet and Android Chrome all unsupported. WebP: 97.08%. AVIF: 96.33%. JPEG XL: 0.02% supported plus 16.93% partial. The copy of this data in the Fyrd/caniuse GitHub repository lagged the live site (HEIC 14.63% on 6 October), so we use the live file. Checked .
  • JPEG XL (JXL) image format (Can I use) — Can I use. 12 Oct 2026: Chrome 155-157 supported, Chrome 145-154 and Firefox 90-157 behind flags, Firefox 158-160 supported, Safari 17 and later partial (stills, no progressive decoding, no animation), Edge only behind a flag; usage 0.02% supported plus 16.93% partial. Checked .

Software we ship

  • libheif — HEIF and AVIF decoder and encoder — strukturag (GitHub). The LGPL library behind our HEIC decoding; supports HEIC (libde265 or FFmpeg to decode, x265 or kvazaar to encode) and AVIF. Checked .
  • nokiatech/heif — HEIF reference implementation — Nokia Technologies (GitHub). Nokia's open implementation of the HEIF standard (copyright 2015–2025, releases from 2017); names MPEG as the standardising body. Checked .
  • SSIMULACRA 2 — perceptual image quality metric — Cloudinary (GitHub). Defines the score bands we use: 30 low, 50 medium, 70 high (artefacts perceptible but not annoying), 90 visually lossless. We ran a third-party Python port. Checked .
  • raw.pixls.us — raw sample repository — PIXLS.US. Camera raw files, each listed with its licence; every sample we used is marked Creative Commons Zero (CC0 1.0). Checked .
  • plug-ins/common/file-heif.c (GIMP source, master branch) — GIMP (GNOME GitLab). The HEIF load procedure is registered only if libheif reports an HEVC decoder (heif_have_decoder_for_format), and the HEIC export procedure only if it reports an HEVC encoder. Magic bytes include ftypheic, ftypheix, ftypmif1. Checked .
  • darktable README (master branch): dependencies — darktable (GitHub). Lists libheif 1.13.0 as an optional dependency 'for HEIF import & export; also for AVIF import if no libavif'. So HEIF support depends on how a given darktable build was compiled. Checked .
  • Changelog (FFmpeg master branch) — FFmpeg. Version 7.0: 'Support for HEIF/AVIF still images and tiled still images'. Version 8.1: 'ffmpeg CLI tiled HEIF support'. Version 9.0 is the newest release entry. Checked .
  • Installation (pillow-heif documentation) — pillow-heif. Install with pip; wheels exist for most popular systems and are built with libheif and its encoders and decoders. Building from source needs libheif 1.23.4 or later, libde265 1.0.8 or later and aom 3.3.0 or later. Checked .
  • glycin README — GNOME (GitLab). Glycin's sandboxed loaders: HEIF (.heic) and AVIF are decoded by glycin-heif using libheif. Loupe, Nautilus, Mutter and gdk-pixbuf are listed as software using glycin; a glycin-thumbnailer exists. Checked .
  • Image Viewer (Loupe) README — GNOME (GitLab). 'Loupe is GNOME's default Image Viewer.' It loads images through glycin, and the formats supported on a system depend on which glycin loaders are installed. Checked .
  • KImageFormats README — KDE (invent.kde.org). Lists HEIC, HEIF and HIF as read and write 'dependent on the HEIF plugins installed'. The HEIF plugin is off by default in a build (KIMAGEFORMATS_HEIF) and needs a libheif with HEVC support. Checked .
  • Shotwell NEWS — GNOME (GitLab). Shotwell 0.31.90 (4 Apr 2023): 'Support HEIF/HEVC files'. 0.32.0 (22 Apr 2023): 'Support more variants of HEIF'. Checked .
  • libheif: heif_security.h (security limits) — libheif maintainers (GitHub). Defines libheif's configurable security limits (maximum image size in pixels, number of tiles, items, memory, children per box and others); a limit set to 0 is disabled. The header does not state defaults; we read ours from the shipped module. Checked .
  • libheif: heif_color.h (colour profiles and HDR metadata) — libheif maintainers (GitHub). Defines the nclx colour profile (primaries, transfer, matrix, full-range flag), content light level (MaxCLL, MaxFALL; H.265 Annex D.3.35) and mastering display colour volume (H.265 Annex D.3.28, SMPTE ST 2086). Contains no gain-map API. Checked .
  • libheif-js on the npm registry (latest) — npm. The registry lists libheif-js 1.23.5 as latest on 2026-10-12. This site ships 1.23.2; the JSON does not say which libheif a release bundles, so the bundled versions were read from the WebAssembly module itself. Checked .
  • Colour (colour-science) — Colour Developers. Python toolkit; version 0.4.7 supplied the CIE 1931 2-degree standard observer table from which we computed the spectral locus in the gamut figure. The project page does not itself list which datasets it contains. Checked .
  • wallpapper: console application for creating dynamic wallpapers for macOS — Marcin Czachurski (GitHub, MIT). Read the README and source at commit 64d6e2b (6 Sep 2026). Writes apple_desktop:solar, :h24 or :apr as a base64 binary plist: si [{i, a, z}], ti [{i, t}] with t = hour/24 + minute/60/24, ap and apr {d, l} as dark and light image indexes; the primary image is written first and carries the metadata; JSON fields isPrimary, isForLight, isForDark. Checked .
  • timewall: Apple dynamic HEIF wallpapers on GNU/Linux — Bazyli Cyran (GitHub, MIT). Read the README and source at commit 19897ae (1 Oct 2026); built version 2.1.0 and ran its info command on our files. Reads the apple_desktop attribute (or element) from the XMP, supports solar, time (h24) and appearance schedules, needs libheif 1.19.7 or later. Its image-selection rules are its own: nearest stored time, and sun altitude on the rising or setting half of the day. Checked .
  • WinDynamicDesktop — Timothy Johnson (GitHub, MPL-2.0). Port of the macOS Mojave Dynamic Desktop feature to Windows 10 and 11, with its own JSON themes. A search of the repository at commit of 10 Oct 2026 found no mention of heic. Says the wallpaper images belong to Apple. Checked .
  • Creating custom themes (WinDynamicDesktop wiki) — WinDynamicDesktop project (GitHub wiki). A theme is a folder of images plus a JSON file (imageFilename, imageCredits, dayImageList, nightImageList, optional sunriseImageList and sunsetImageList). Says HEIC is not natively supported by Windows and tells you to convert macOS .heic files to JPEG first. Checked .
  • Pillow plugin (pillow-heif documentation) — pillow-heif. register_heif_opener(); EXIF and XMP live in info and are saved with the image; thumbnail() uses an embedded thumbnail when big enough; ImageSequence.Iterator for several images; save_all and append_images to write them; images open as 8-bit RGB or RGBA. Checked .
  • Options (pillow-heif documentation) — pillow-heif. Twelve runtime options with defaults: DECODE_THREADS 4, THUMBNAILS, DEPTH_IMAGES and AUX_IMAGES on, QUALITY (None, -1 for lossless or 0-100; lossless also needs chroma 444), SAVE_HDR_TO_12_BIT off (10-bit by default), SAVE_NCLX_PROFILE on, DISABLE_SECURITY_LIMITS off, GRID_TILE_SIZE 0. Checked .
  • Saving images (pillow-heif documentation) — pillow-heif. Lossless example uses quality=-1, chroma 4:4:4 and matrix_coefficients=0; 16-bit images are saved at 10 bits by default; images opened from a file are saved at the depth in info['bit_depth']; the HEIF format records no quality value. Checked .
  • Image file formats: JPEG (Pillow documentation) — Pillow. JPEG save options: exif stores the provided raw EXIF data, icc_profile stores the provided profile (omitted means no profile), quality 0-95 default 75. Checked .
  • heif_decoding.h (libheif source) — libheif. heif_decoding_options.ignore_transformations: 'Ignore geometric transformations like cropping, rotation, mirroring. Default: false (do not ignore).' So libheif applies rotation unless told not to. Checked .
  • libde265 README — Dirk Farin / Struktur AG. libde265 is an open source h.265 decoder written from scratch with a plain C API; the library is under the GNU Lesser General Public License, the sample programs under MIT. Checked .
  • libheif-js README — catdad-experiments. An Emscripten build of libheif as an npm module for Node.js and the browser, LGPL-3.0. Entry points: default pure JS, libheif-js/wasm, libheif-js/wasm-bundle. HeifDecoder.decode() returns an array of images; display() fills an RGBA buffer. Major and minor versions match the bundled libheif. Checked .
  • heic-convert README — catdad-experiments. convert({ buffer, format: 'JPEG' | 'PNG', quality 0-1 }); convert.all for multi-image files; a separate browser entry that uses the browser's encoders; notes that much of the work is synchronous. Silent on EXIF and orientation. Checked .
  • heic2any README — alexcorvi. Client-side HEIC/HEIF to JPEG, PNG or GIF; 'will not work in node environment'; MIT; takes no metadata from the original file; only the first frame of an animated HEIC; needs a DOM. Checked .
  • gen2brain/heic: Go decoder for HEIC — gen2brain. CGo-free Go HEIC decoder (MIT) built on a Rust decoder compiled to WebAssembly and run with wazero; uses a libheif shared library through purego when one is installed, otherwise the embedded WASM. Decode only. Checked .
  • NightMonkeys: ImageIO plugins for newer formats — gotson. ImageIO plugins (MIT) including imageio-heif for HEIF and AVIF, read and write; uses the Foreign Linker API of JDK 22 and later; needs the native library on java.library.path; in maintenance mode. Checked .
  • Magick.NET — Dirk Lemstra. A .NET library for ImageMagick (Apache-2.0) that needs no ImageMagick install; Q8, Q16 and Q16-HDRI packages for Windows, Linux and macOS. The README says nothing about HEIC, libheif or HEVC licensing. Checked .
  • libheif-rs README — Cykooz. Safe Rust wrapper (MIT) around libheif-sys; needs libheif-dev 1.17 or later and pkg-config; version features v1_17 to v1_21 and latest; embedded-libheif builds libheif from bundled sources without its codec dependencies. Checked .
  • imazen/heic: pure Rust HEIC decoder — Imazen. Pure Rust HEIC/HEIF decoder with no C dependencies; dual-licensed AGPL-3.0 or commercial; decode only; 118 of 162 HEIF test files decode; warns that HEVC and HEIF may be covered by third-party patents. Checked .
  • FFmpeg-Builds (BtbN) — BtbN. Automated static FFmpeg builds for Windows and Linux x86_64 from master and release branches; the gpl variant includes GPL-only dependencies such as libx264 and libx265. We ran n8.1.3 from here. Checked .
  • libjxl PATENTS (Additional IP Rights Grant) — Google / libjxl. Google's perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free patent licence for the JPEG XL implementation; it ends for anyone who starts patent litigation alleging the implementation infringes. Checked .
  • libjxl README — libjxl. Reference implementation of JPEG XL (ISO/IEC 18181, standardised 2022), BSD 3-clause; cjxl and djxl; distance 0 is lossless, most useful lossy range 0.5-3.0; default for JPEG input is lossless recompression; update to v0.12 for security fixes. Checked .
  • libwebp PATENTS (Additional IP Rights Grant) — Google / WebM project. Google's perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, no-charge patent licence for the WebM implementations; ends on patent litigation against them. Checked .
  • libwebp COPYING — Google / WebM project. libwebp is under the BSD 3-clause licence, copyright Google Inc. Checked .

Tutorials and community answers (secondary)

  • How to batch process images with Mac Preview — MacMost (tutorial, 2023). Third-party tutorial. Names the File > Export Selected Images menu item and the Show Options button; Apple's own page does not use those names. Checked .
  • Using the new Convert Image quick action on a Mac — MacMost (tutorial, 2021). Third-party tutorial for macOS Monterey. Describes the dialog's JPEG, PNG and HEIF formats, the Actual/Large/Medium/Small size presets and the Preserve Metadata checkbox. Checked .
  • How to convert images in the macOS Finder — MacRumors (how-to, 2021). Third-party how-to. Says the converted image is saved in the same folder as the original, which stays unchanged. Checked .
  • Convert an image or resize it using macOS Shortcuts — Flavio Copes (tutorial, updated 2026). Third-party tutorial building a Finder Quick Action from the Get Selected Files in Finder and Convert Image actions, plus a shortcuts run command-line example. Checked .
  • sips: the Mac's built-in image processing tool — Dale Seo (tutorial). Third-party tutorial (Korean). Shows sips converting .HEIC files to JPEG into an output folder and setting formatOptions between 0 and 100. Not Apple documentation; no macOS version is stated. Checked .
  • Why are photos and videos from iPhone getting transferred to Windows 11 PC in HEIC and MOV format… (Q&A thread) — Microsoft Q&A (community forum). Community thread, August 2025. A moderator labelled Microsoft External Staff advises installing both HEIF Image Extensions and HEVC Video Extensions from the Store; a user reports a clean Windows 11 reinstall removed them. Not official documentation. Checked .
  • How do I convert iPhone HEIC photos to JPEG on Windows 11? (Tech Community thread) — Microsoft Tech Community (forum). Community thread, May 2026. Contributors describe Photos (three-dot menu or Ctrl + S, then Save as) and Paint (File > Save as > JPEG picture) as ways to save a JPG once HEIC opens. Not official documentation; no Microsoft staff labels. Checked .
  • HEIC files thumbnails loads slowly in File Explorer (Q&A thread) — Microsoft Q&A (community forum). Community thread, 2022. A reply signed as a Microsoft Community Support Specialist says HEIC thumbnails are slower to decode, suggests setting the folder type to Pictures and installing HEIF Image Extensions. Checked .
  • Can't open HEIC photos even with HEVC and HEIF extension installed (Q&A thread) — Microsoft Q&A (community forum). Community thread, 2024 to 2025, with no staff-labelled fix. One user reports installing an older Device Manufacturer package from an unofficial Store-mirror site; another reports reinstalling the extensions did not help. Shows that failures with both extensions installed happen. Checked .
  • Apple MakerNotes tags (ExifTool) — ExifTool. Community-maintained, reverse-engineered tag reference: lists the ContentIdentifier maker-note tag (0x0011) and LivePhotoVideoIndex. Not an Apple specification. Checked .
  • QuickTime tags (ExifTool) — ExifTool. Community-maintained, reverse-engineered tag reference: lists the QuickTime keys content.identifier and still-image-time used in Live Photo clips. Not an Apple specification. Checked .
  • Image capture - What does "Keep originals…" mean? (Apple Community thread) — Apple Community (forum). Community reply, November 2018, no Apple staff label: to import originals, switch from Automatic to Keep Originals under Settings > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC. Not official documentation. Checked .
  • iPhone to PC photo transfer via USB stops after seconds (Microsoft Q&A thread) — Microsoft Q&A (community forum). Community answers, 2020 to 2021, no staff labels, describe a Transfer to Mac or PC section with Automatic and Keep Originals, quoting 'Automatically transfer photos and videos in a compatible format, or always transfer the original file without checking for compatibility.' Not official documentation. Checked .
  • Importing photos from Google Photos to LR Classic — Adobe Community (user post, January 2021). A user reports that a ZIP download from Google Photos contained a mix: some iPhone photos converted to JPG and some still HEIC. A single, dated report. Checked .
  • Some HEIC photos cannot be viewed (issue #7860) — GrapheneOS issue tracker (GitHub). May 2026 report: HEIC photos received over RCS in Google Messages on a Pixel 10 running GrapheneOS sometimes show as static or blank; labelled upstream, reopened in July 2026. Checked .
  • How to fix Windows 11 photo folder not displaying thumbnails? (Q&A thread) — Microsoft Q&A (community forum). May 2026. The poster's fix is clearing 'Always show icons, never thumbnails'; a moderator labelled Microsoft External Staff adds, without a source, that OEM configurations, group policies or cleanup utilities can turn it on. Not official documentation. Checked .
  • Despite all attempts at suggestions I cannot get thumbnails, only icons (Q&A thread) — Microsoft Q&A (community forum). October 2024. Accepted community answer: View advanced system settings > Advanced > Performance Settings > Visual Effects > tick 'Show thumbnails instead of icons'. Two later replies say it did not help them. Checked .
  • How to Clear Windows Thumbnail Cache in Windows 11 — Geek Rewind (tutorial). Third-party tutorial, updated 6 October 2026: This PC > right-click Local Disk (C:) > Properties > General > Disk Cleanup, tick Thumbnails, OK, Delete Files. Not Microsoft documentation. Checked .
  • How to Customize the Five Windows Folder Templates — How-To Geek (tutorial). Third-party tutorial, 2016: Properties > Customize tab > 'Optimize this folder for' list with General Items, Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos. Not Microsoft documentation. Checked .
  • Getting error message: Paint cannot read this file (Q&A thread) — Microsoft Q&A (community forum). 2017 thread quoting Paint's error: 'Paint cannot read this file. This is not a valid bitmap file, or its format is not currently supported'. It concerns PNG, JPG, TIFF and BMP files, not HEIC. Checked .
  • Understanding PHPickerConfiguration AssetRepresentationMode current (forum thread) — Apple Developer Forums. August 2023 reply from an Apple engineer: unless .current is requested, the photo picker may transcode, for example converting a HEIF original to JPEG for an app that only supports JPEG. Forum post, not reference documentation. Checked .
  • Safari 17+: Image file got automatically converted to HEIC extension — Apple Developer Forums. December 2023 developer report, no Apple reply: with accept="image/*,image/heic", Safari 17+ handed the page a renamed .heic file even for a JPEG or PNG; removing image/heic stopped it. A November 2024 reply links it to WordPress 6.7's upload field. Checked .
  • Sony .HIF files in Photoshop (Adobe Community answer) — Adobe Community (staff reply). Reply signed by a Photoshop product manager, 11 May 2026: Sony .HIF files are not currently supported in Photoshop, which recognises only .heic and .heif; renaming .hif to .heif may work on Mac only. Forum answer, not documentation. Checked .
  • P: Ability to export files in the HEIC/HEIF formats (Camera Raw feature requests) — Adobe Community. A reply from Adobe Photography staff (shown as two years old when we read it): the addition of JXL and AVIF export 'largely mitigat[ed] the need for this request. At this time, HEIC exports remain not planned.' A staff statement in a forum, not documentation. Checked .
  • Opening JPEG/HEIC files with HDR directly does not preserve HDR information (Photoshop beta) — Adobe Community. A user report on Photoshop 26.9 and a beta, shown as a year old when we read it, plus a reply from an Adobe Photoshop product manager: 'at this time Ps does not support 8bit HDR.. but it is coming.' We found no Adobe page saying it has shipped. Checked .
  • HEIC file support in Photoshop is outdated (Photoshop feature requests) — Adobe Community. A user request, posted weeks before we read it: the Windows extension 'does not support 10 bit .heic files made by my cellphone while they open just fine in latest Lightroom'. One user's report, not confirmed by Adobe or Microsoft. Checked .
  • file-heif plugin fails to load HEVC-encoded HEIF image with libheif-1.15.x when libde265 is built as plugin (#9395) — GIMP (GNOME GitLab). A bug report on GIMP 2.10.34 on Fedora 37: 'Opening image1.heic failed: Unknown file type' with libde265 packaged as a libheif plugin; downgrading to libheif 1.13.0, where libde265 is built in, made the file open. The page shows no maintainer reply or resolution. Checked .
  • Won't load .heic files: Unknown file type (#6461) — GIMP (GNOME GitLab). A bug report on GIMP 2.10.22 on Fedora 33: 'Unknown file type' when opening .heic. The page gives no cause or resolution. Checked .
  • import hdr image [.exr, .avif, .jxl, .heic] into timeline (Blackmagic Forum) — Blackmagic Design Forum. Users, January 2024 onwards: Resolve 'can import some HEIC formats (e.g. HIF files from a Nikon Z8 tagged HLG Rec2020)' but does not appear to interpret them as HDR. No Blackmagic staff statement. Community only. Checked .
  • HEIC still image performance issues (Blackmagic Forum) — Blackmagic Design Forum. May 2025 user reports on macOS that a HEIC still on the timeline played back poorly compared with a JPEG of the same photo; another user on Windows could not reproduce it. Community only; no official statement. Checked .
  • Libheif vs libheif-freeworld (Ask Fedora) — Fedora Discussion. March 2025 forum thread: a user shows the RPM Fusion libheif-freeworld package description and says it supplements libheif with components Fedora cannot ship. A user's reading, not a Fedora statement. Checked .
  • macOS Dynamic Desktop — NSHipster (Mattt), 1 October 2018. Reverse engineering of Mojave.heic: 16 images at 5,120 x 2,880, XMP namespace apple_desktop (http://ns.apple.com/namespace/1.0/), attribute solar holding a base64 binary plist with ap {d, l} and si [{i, a, z}]. The author marks l and d as not understood and says the code is untested guesswork. Does not mention ti, h24 or apr. Checked .
  • What are those huge files doing in Mojave's Desktop Pictures? — The Eclectic Light Company (hoakley), 26 November 2018. Mojave.heic and Solar Gradients.heic in /Library/Desktop Pictures, about 135 and 81 MB; Mojave.heic holds two stills plus 14 transition images, 5120 x 2880; the Mac shows one image at a time and does not load the whole file; metadata decoded by Marcin Czachurski. Checked .
  • How to Create Mojave's True Dynamic Desktops with GraphicConverter — TidBITS (Adam Engst), 10 October 2018. Mojave's dynamic desktops are HEIC containers of 16 images; GraphicConverter 10.6.5 added Export > Dynamic Desktops; the author tested by changing the system clock. A 2018 article; we did not check the current GraphicConverter. Checked .
  • Dynamic Tahoe Wallpapers — BasicAppleGuy. A designer's set of Tahoe dynamic wallpapers (August 2025): a day/night HEIC of 19.4 MB and a time-of-day HEIC of 38.1 MB; advises installing through System Settings > Wallpaper > Add Photo and not from Preview or the menu bar. One person's advice; we installed nothing. Checked .
  • Example 'HEIC to RAW' converter page (third-party site, not named in the article) — Third-party converter site. Read via our fetch tool. Says the output 'contains pure binary pixel values arranged sequentially' with no header or metadata, lists 8-bit grey, 16-bit grey, 24-bit RGB and 32-bit RGBA, says you must supply width, height and bit depth to open it, and that conversion happens in the browser. Not camera RAW. Checked .
  • Example 'HEIC to DNG' converter page (third-party site, not named in the article) — Third-party converter site. Read via our fetch tool. Says it draws HEIC files to a canvas and writes uncompressed baseline DNG with TIFF and DNG tags at 8 bits per channel, blends transparency onto white, and promises access to 'raw exposure and color balance wheels'. Has no note that a HEIC is already processed. Checked .
  • JPEG XL (Wikipedia) — Wikipedia. Secondary overview used for the support timeline: Chrome added then removed JPEG XL (2022) and reversed in November 2025; Safari 17; Firefox Labs from 152; Windows through a Store extension. Used only beside primary sources. Checked .
  • AVIF (Wikipedia) — Wikipedia. Secondary overview: 8, 10 and 12-bit, HDR, alpha, animation, 4:2:0 to 4:4:4, lossless and lossy; operating-system support dates; baseline profile size limits. Used only beside primary sources. Checked .

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