HEIC +Converter – Converting Photos

Part 3 of 7 · Converting photos

Choosing the output format

The Format dropdown sets the extension of every file in the run. It always starts on .jpeg; switching it applies to the whole batch, not per row.

  • .jpeg / .jpg — the safe default. Opens everywhere; quality slider applies; roughly a tenth of the HEIC size.
  • .png — lossless, larger. Pick it for screenshots, text, anything with flat colour.
  • .bmp — uncompressed, no metadata surprises. Expect very large files.
  • .tiff — lossless container for archiving or print workflows.
  • .gif — 256 colours; useful only where a GIF is required.
  • .svg — a vector container wrapping the raster image; sharp in layout tools, not actually re-drawn as vectors.
  • .xpm — X11 pixmap, for legacy Unix tooling.

Quality only applies to JPEG and JPG. For those two the slider is live. For every other format it is greyed out, because PNG and TIFF are lossless and BMP, GIF, SVG and XPM do not take a quality setting at all.

The full table, including what each format is good for, is in Supported formats.

Where the files go

The Output Folder box is the destination for the whole batch. It starts at your Pictures folder, and whatever you pick with the … button is remembered for the next time you start the app.

  • Open Output Folder opens the current destination in File Explorer — handy for checking what is already in there before converting.
  • Each output file keeps the source base name and takes the chosen extension: IMG_0421.heic becomes IMG_0421.jpeg.
  • The output is flat — everything lands directly in the chosen folder, with no subfolder tree mirroring the source.
  • Your originals are read-only input. Nothing is moved, renamed, overwritten or deleted.

Two sources with the same name collide. Because the output is flat, Holiday\IMG_0001.heic and Work\IMG_0001.heic both want to become IMG_0001.jpeg: the second one replaces the first. Convert same-named batches into separate folders, or rename before adding.

If the remembered folder no longer exists — a removed USB drive, a renamed directory — the Convert button stays greyed out until you pick an existing folder again. That is a deliberate guard, not a bug.

Running a conversion

  1. Add the photos you want. All of them arrive ticked.
  2. Untick anything to skip. The count in your head should match the ticked rows.
  3. Pick the output format and folder. Tick Open folder after convert if you want Explorer to pop up when the run ends.
  4. Set Save EXIF info and, for JPEG / JPG, the quality you want.
  5. Click Convert. The button turns into a live percentage and every row updates as it is processed.
Row statusMeans
WaitQueued and ticked, not started yet.
ConvertingBeing decoded and written right now.
Conversion succeed!The output file exists in the output folder.
Conversion failured!That one file could not be converted. The reason appears in the dialog at the end of the run.

When the last row finishes, a dialog reports the result: Conversion completed! on success, or Conversion failed! with the underlying error. If Open folder after convert is ticked, the output folder opens at the same time.

Failures are per file, not per batch. One unreadable photo does not stop the rest — the remaining rows still convert, and the failed row keeps its status so you can spot it afterwards.

Converted once and want a different format? Tick the same rows again and convert to PNG, TIFF, whatever you need. The HEIC sources are still sitting in the list.

Next · part 4 of 7 Viewing photos Double-click a row to open the built-in viewer: zoom, pan, rotate, flip between photos.