Free online HEIF to TIFF converter

An iPhone or Android photo may need conversion when older desktop software, a scanner workflow, publishing system, or archive accepts TIFF but not HEIF. TIFF also provides a larger, editing-friendly raster file when storage efficiency matters less than application compatibility.

What HEIF is

HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is an ISO-based container commonly stored with .heif or .heic extensions. It often uses HEVC compression for still images, providing smaller files than JPEG at comparable visual quality. A HEIF container can also hold alpha transparency, depth information, HDR data, metadata, image sequences, and multiple related images.

Apple devices commonly create HEIC photographs. Newer Android phones, cameras, and imaging applications may create HEIF files as well. The exact features and codec depend on the device and software that produced the file.

What TIFF is

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a flexible raster format used in scanning, printing, publishing, medical imaging, OCR, professional editing, and digital archiving. It supports several color models, high bit depths, transparency, metadata, and lossless compression methods such as LZW and ZIP.

TIFF files are usually much larger than HEIF files, but they have broader support in desktop editors, page-layout software, OCR systems, and archival applications. TIFF is suitable when software requires a predictable raster format or when retaining an intermediate editing file is more important than minimizing storage.

Convert on 101convert.com

1. Open the HEIF-to-TIFF converter on 101convert.com.
2. Select the source .heif or .heic file from your device.
3. Start the conversion, then download the generated .tiff file.

This method requires no installation and is appropriate for ordinary, non-sensitive images. Do not upload confidential photographs or regulated documents unless the service's data-handling and deletion terms meet your requirements.

Convert with ImageMagick

Install an ImageMagick build with HEIF support through the libheif delegate. Then run:

magick input.heif -define tiff:compression=lzw output.tiff

LZW is lossless. ZIP is another lossless TIFF compression option:

magick input.heif -define tiff:compression=zip output.tiff

Check whether the installed build can read HEIF:

magick identify -list format | grep -i HEIF

On Windows Command Prompt, replace the final command with:

magick identify -list format | findstr /i HEIF

If HEIF is absent or marked unreadable, install an ImageMagick package built with HEIF delegates or use a graphical application that provides HEIF support.

Convert with macOS Preview

On a macOS version that opens the source file, open it in Preview and choose File → Export. Set Format to TIFF, choose the destination, and select Save. Preview is convenient for individual files, but it may not preserve every HEIF feature or metadata field and does not provide the same batch controls as dedicated imaging software.

Quality and compatibility limits

Converting a lossy HEIF image to TIFF does not restore detail discarded during the original HEIF encoding. TIFF can preserve the decoded pixels without adding another lossy-compression step, but it cannot recover the camera's original uncompressed data.

LZW, ZIP, and uncompressed TIFF preserve pixel values; uncompressed TIFF is larger and is rarely required. Check the required color mode and bit depth before conversion. A standard HEIF may become an 8-bit RGB TIFF, while HDR, wide-gamut, 10-bit or 12-bit data, and transparency may be reduced or discarded if the converter or destination application cannot represent them.

HEIF files can contain multiple images, bursts, animations, or image sequences. A basic command may convert only the first image, so inspect multi-image files separately when all frames matter. After conversion, verify image orientation, ICC color profile, EXIF metadata, transparency, dimensions, and the number of pages or frames. TIFF support varies by application, and the format is not universally interchangeable despite its broad adoption.