Free online HEIC to TIFF converter

Some print, scanning, publishing, and legacy editing workflows accept TIFF but not Apple’s HEIC photos. A TIFF copy can also be required for delivery or lossless editing, although it will usually occupy much more storage.

HEIC format and device support

HEIC is Apple’s common filename extension for images stored in the High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) container. iPhones and iPads typically create HEIC photos when Settings → Camera → Formats → High Efficiency is selected; the image data is usually compressed with HEVC/H.265.

HEIC can store a primary photo plus metadata, depth information, image sequences, or a Live Photo’s still image. Most conversions produce only the primary still image. macOS opens standard HEIC files in Preview, while some Windows applications require Microsoft’s HEIF Image Extensions and, for HEVC-coded files, HEVC codec support.

TIFF format and its advantages

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a raster format used by scanners, print-production systems, image editors, and preservation workflows. It can store 8-bit or 16-bit pixel data, ICC color profiles, alpha channels, and lossless ZIP, Deflate, or LZW compression.

TIFF is not automatically higher quality than HEIC. The conversion decodes the existing HEIC image; it cannot recover detail removed by HEVC compression or increase the original resolution. Its practical advantage is broad support in workflows that require TIFF and the option to save the decoded image without another lossy compression step.

Convert a HEIC file to TIFF

Upload the HEIC file to 101convert.com, select TIFF as the output format, start the conversion, and download the resulting .tif file. Open the downloaded file in the destination application before deleting the original.

On macOS, open the image in Preview and choose File → Export. Select TIFF, choose a compression setting if Preview offers one, select the destination, and save.

For local batch conversion, ImageMagick can create TIFF files if its installation includes HEIC/libheif support. This command creates a losslessly ZIP-compressed TIFF:

magick input.heic -compress Zip output.tif

Use -compress LZW if the receiving system specifically requires LZW-compressed TIFF. XnConvert is another desktop batch option, but HEIC support depends on the codecs available in its installation and operating system.

Quality and compatibility limits

Use 8-bit TIFF unless the receiving workflow explicitly requests 16-bit output. A 16-bit TIFF is substantially larger and does not recreate information absent from the source; it can be appropriate when software decodes a higher-bit-depth source and later editing requires that precision.

ZIP and LZW TIFF compression are lossless. Avoid JPEG-compressed TIFF when the recipient requires a lossless working or archive copy. TIFF files can be much larger than HEIC, particularly when uncompressed.

HDR or wide-gamut HEIC photos may be tone-mapped to standard dynamic range or converted to a different color space by some software. Older TIFF consumers may also ignore an embedded ICC profile. Keep the original .heic file when HDR rendering, Live Photo content, depth data, sequences, or HEIC-specific metadata must be preserved.