When PNG is the better choice
PNG is lossless: every pixel is kept exactly, and saving it again never makes it worse. That makes it the right pick if you’re going to edit the photo, add text, cut out the background, or use it in a design tool that asks for PNG.
The trade-off is size. A 12-megapixel iPhone photo is around 2 MB as HEIC, but can be 15 MB or more as PNG. If you only want to share or upload the photo, HEIC to JPG gives much smaller files that look the same.
Good to know
- Metadata is removed, including GPS location, because the PNG is redrawn from the pixels.
- Too big? Use the Size option to cap the longest side at 2048 or 1080 pixels.
Questions
Are my photos uploaded?
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser, on your own device.
Why is the PNG so much bigger than the HEIC?
PNG stores every pixel without lossy compression. HEIC and JPG throw away detail you can’t see to save space. Use JPG if file size matters.
Does PNG keep the photo quality?
Yes. PNG is lossless, so the converted photo is pixel-for-pixel what was decoded from the HEIC file.
More converters
Need to send the result to someone? Send it with Send Shed: free, no account, up to 3 GB per file.