Convert HEIC to PDF
Put your HEIC images into a PDF, one per page, at the size and order you choose. HEIC is what an iPhone saves photos as by default. One thing to know first: anything see-through in the HEIC comes out on a solid background, white unless you choose another colour. Your file never leaves your computer.
How to convert HEIC to PDF
- 1 Drop your HEIC .heic or .heif file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Set the page size, orientation and margins, and drag the pages into the order you want.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the PDF, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert HEIC to PDF
- A HEIC will not open in a browser, so anything going onto a web page, into a document or into a message has to become a PDF first.
- Paperwork, receipts and scans are expected as one PDF rather than a folder of pictures, and a PDF prints at a predictable size.
- You are sending this somewhere that will not keep a transparent background anyway, so putting it on a solid colour costs you nothing.
- Layout, fonts and colour are fixed, so the file looks the same everywhere.
- Every browser and operating system opens it without extra software.
HEIC compared with PDF
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | HEIC | |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .heic | |
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Animation | Yes | No |
| Multiple pages | No | Yes |
| Colour depth | Up to 10 bits per channel | RGB, CMYK, greyscale and spot colour with ICC profiles |
| Typical file size | Smaller | Depends on mode |
| Browser support | Some browsers | Every browser |
| Introduced | 2015 | 1993 |
| Developed by | MPEG / Apple | Adobe, now ISO 32000 |
Quality and what changes
Nothing is lost as long as the image is embedded rather than re-compressed, and a HEIC that is already JPEG compressed can often be carried into the PDF byte for byte. The page size you choose decides how large the image appears when printed, not how much detail it holds.
- HEIC files can be read here but not created, so conversions run one way only.
- Anything see-through comes out on a solid background, white unless you choose another colour.
- Only the first frame of an animated HEIC is kept.
- HEIC files with a depth map or Live Photo data keep only the main still image.
- One PDF limitation to keep in mind: reflowing text for a small screen works poorly and often fails entirely.
Questions about HEIC to PDF
Will I lose transparency converting HEIC to PDF?
Yes. A PDF cannot hold transparency, so anything see-through comes out on a solid colour, white unless you choose another. If the transparency matters, convert to PNG or WebP instead, and only flatten once you know what the image will sit on.
What happens to an animated HEIC?
PDF holds a single image, so only one frame survives, normally the first. If you need the motion, convert to a format that keeps it such as MP4, WebM or WebP rather than to PDF.
Is my HEIC file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your HEIC is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a PDF. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several HEIC files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate PDF downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.