How to convert HEIC photos to PDF

You took a photo of a document on your iPhone, sent it to your computer, and the form you’re filling in won’t accept it. Or Windows says it can’t open the file. The photo is in HEIC format, and most forms and many programs still expect JPG or PDF.

This guide shows the quickest way to turn HEIC photos into one PDF on any phone or computer. It also covers the ways built into iPhone, Mac and Windows, and what to do when a photo refuses to convert.

What is a HEIC file?

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is the photo format iPhones use by default. Many Samsung and other Android phones use it too, when a setting called High efficiency pictures is switched on. A HEIC photo takes up about half the space of a JPG of the same quality, which is why phones like it.

The trade-off is compatibility. Apple devices open HEIC without trouble, but many websites, upload forms and Windows computers don’t. Converting to PDF (or JPG) solves that, because every device and portal accepts those.

Convert HEIC to PDF on any device

This works the same on iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac and Linux, in any modern browser, with nothing to install.

1. Open Image to PDF and choose your HEIC photos. You can mix them with JPG and PNG images, and add more later.
2. Wait a moment while each HEIC photo is converted. Safari does this with its own built-in support. In Chrome, Edge and Firefox, a small converter is downloaded the first time, so that first photo needs an internet connection.
3. Put the photos in order with the arrow buttons under each one, and rotate any that are sideways.
4. Choose a page size: A4 for documents you will upload or print, or Match each image to make each page the exact size of its photo.
5. Tap Create PDF, check the file size shown on the download button, and save the PDF.

Velprio recognises HEIC photos by what is inside the file, not just by the name, so a HEIC photo renamed .jpg is converted too. If the PDF is too large for an upload limit, lower the quality slider to about 70–80% and create it again. The guide to combining photos into one PDF covers size limits in more detail.

Built-in ways on iPhone, Mac and Windows

If you only have one or two photos and you’re on an Apple device, the built-in options work well. Menu names can differ slightly between software versions.

iPhone

• From Photos: select the photos, tap Share, then Print. On the print preview, spread two fingers apart on a page to open it as a PDF. Tap Share again and choose Save to Files.
• From Files: if the photos are saved in the Files app, touch and hold one and choose Quick Actions, then Create PDF. For several photos, tap the three-dot menu, then Select, choose them, and use Create PDF from the three-dot menu.

Both give you little control over page size or order. If you need A4 pages, a particular order, or photos from different places in one file, Image to PDF is easier.

Mac

Open the photo in Preview and choose File, then Export as PDF. For several photos, select them all in Finder, open them together in Preview, select every thumbnail in the sidebar, and choose File, then Print, then Save as PDF.

Windows

Windows can open HEIC only after you install extra image and video codecs from the Microsoft Store, and the video codec it needs is a paid download in most regions. Unless you already have them, converting in the browser with Image to PDF is quicker and free.

If a HEIC photo won’t convert

• “Could not be opened” on an Android phone. The gallery sometimes hands the browser a photo it isn’t allowed to read. This often happens with photos stored in the cloud, or edited after you picked them. Copy the photo to another album (for example, Gallery, then Copy to album) and choose the copy. This fixes it in most cases.
• Photo is still in iCloud or Google Photos. If only a preview is on your phone, open the photo first so the full version downloads, then choose it again.
• Nothing happens for a while in Chrome, Edge or Firefox. The first HEIC photo needs the converter downloaded, so check your internet connection. Very large photos on older phones can take up to a minute each to convert.
• It works on a computer but not on the phone (or the other way round). Send the photo to the device where it works and convert it there. The result is the same PDF.

Stop your phone saving HEIC (optional)

If you often send photos to forms or Windows computers, you can make your phone save new photos as JPG instead. Photos take a little more space, and photos you have already taken stay in HEIC.

• iPhone: Settings, then Camera, then Formats, then choose Most Compatible.
• Samsung Galaxy: open the Camera app, tap the settings cog, then Advanced picture options, and switch off High efficiency pictures.

Converting only when you need to is just as good. HEIC keeps your phone’s storage free, and Image to PDF handles the conversion when a form needs it.