HEIC/HEIF to PNG converter

HEIC to PNG turns an iPhone-style HEIF still into a lossless PNG of the decoded image, not a container for HEIC depth or motion data.

Converted with Image engine · input deleted within 24 h
Free: 5 conversions a day · 5 MB each
Higher limits →

From real runs

What you get — and what changes

Element	Result	What happens
Decoded image size	Kept	The 963 byte HEIC fixture decoded to a 64×48 RGB PNG that measured 2,137 bytes in the API output.
Compression	Changed	HEVC picture compression is replaced by PNG filtering, which can make even a tiny photo fixture larger.
Orientation	Changed	Our image engine applies EXIF transpose during read, so rotation is baked into the PNG pixels rather than left as a viewer instruction.
10-bit HEIC values	Changed	The tested output was 8-bit RGB PNG; HEIC HDR or 10-bit camera data should not be treated as preserved grading data.
Live Photo motion	Lost	Only the still HEIC image is submitted to the converter, so the paired MOV from a Live Photo has no place in the PNG.
Color profile metadata	Changed	The PNG writer emitted plain RGB pixels in our run; keep the HEIC original when embedded profile metadata is required.

Decoded image size Kept
The 963 byte HEIC fixture decoded to a 64×48 RGB PNG that measured 2,137 bytes in the API output.
Compression Changed
HEVC picture compression is replaced by PNG filtering, which can make even a tiny photo fixture larger.
Orientation Changed
Our image engine applies EXIF transpose during read, so rotation is baked into the PNG pixels rather than left as a viewer instruction.
10-bit HEIC values Changed
The tested output was 8-bit RGB PNG; HEIC HDR or 10-bit camera data should not be treated as preserved grading data.
Live Photo motion Lost
Only the still HEIC image is submitted to the converter, so the paired MOV from a Live Photo has no place in the PNG.
Color profile metadata Changed
The PNG writer emitted plain RGB pixels in our run; keep the HEIC original when embedded profile metadata is required.

Sample conversions

Repository HEIC fixture

Input: 963 byte ISO Media HEIF still from apps/web/tests/fixtures/formats/sample.heic.
Output: 2,137 byte PNG at 64×48 in RGB mode. The output was simple to inspect with our image engine and contained no HEIC container tracks.

Phone photo headed to a PNG-only editor

Input: An HEIC still where compatibility matters more than preserving the phone camera container.
Output: A PNG of the decoded still image. Edits after conversion avoid another lossy save, but the original HEIC remains the better archive.

A real HEIC/HEIF → PNG run

We converted our HEIC/HEIF sample (49 KB) with Image engine on 2026-10-20. It took 255 ms and produced a 39 KB PNG file, 21% smaller than the input. The engine raised 1 warning, listed below.

Input · sample.heic · 49 KB

1200 × 800 px, heic

Width: 1,200
Height: 800
Encoding: heic

Output · sample.png · 39 KB

1200 × 800 px, 8-bit, colour type 6

Width: 1,200
Height: 800
Encoding: 8-bit, colour type 6

Image metadata stripped from output.

Is your file a scan?

If the HEIC is a photo of a receipt or page, HEIC to PNG only changes the image container. Use Deep Read workflows when the visible words need extraction.

Options and when to change them

width: Set width when a PNG-only destination has a pixel limit or the original camera image is too large.
height: Set height alone to keep aspect ratio, or with width when the target requires exact dimensions.
fit: Use cover for cropped square thumbnails and contain when padding is better than losing photo edges.

Do it yourself

Pillow 11 with pillow-heif

bash

from PIL import Image, ImageOps
import pillow_heif

pillow_heif.register_heif_opener()
im = ImageOps.exif_transpose(Image.open("photo.heic"))
im.save("photo.png", optimize=True)

This writes the decoded still image; it does not export a Live Photo movie or HEIC depth sidecar.

HEIC/HEIF to PNG by API or MCP

The HTTP API and the MCP server run the exact engine this page uses (Image engine); the response carries the same warnings the web converter shows. Check support first with GET /api/v1/pairs?from=heic&to=png.

curl

curl -X POST https://filetypeconverters.com/api/v1/convert \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FTC_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@input.heic" -F "from=heic" -F "to=png" \
  -F 'options={"width":0}' \
  --output output.png

Options this engine accepts for HEIC/HEIF → PNG

Key	Applies to	Type	Default
width	Writing PNG	number	0
height	Writing PNG	number	0
fit	Writing PNG	contain · cover · fill	contain
quality	Writing PNG	number	90
background	Writing PNG	string	#ffffff
stripMetadata	Writing PNG	boolean	true

API reference

When this is the wrong conversion

Use /convert/heic-to-webp when the output is for a web page and smaller delivery bytes matter.
Use /convert/heic-to-jpg when a legacy photo form rejects PNG but accepts JPEG.
Keep HEIC for camera-roll archiving when HDR, edits, and Apple photo metadata still matter.

HEIC/HEIF to PNG questions

Why is my PNG larger than the HEIC?

HEIC uses efficient HEVC compression. PNG stores the decoded pixels losslessly, so our 963 byte HEIC fixture grew to 2,137 bytes.

Does HEIC to PNG keep Live Photo video?

No. The API receives one HEIC still image. The separate Live Photo movie is not embedded in a PNG output.

Will HEIC orientation be correct after conversion?

The reader applies EXIF transpose before saving. That means the PNG pixels are already rotated for normal viewing.