Skip to main content
F
FeedbackCommunityMember
Inspiring
August 18, 2018
Open for Voting

P: Ability to export files in the HEIC/HEIF formats

  • August 18, 2018
  • 70 replies
  • 28685 views

Now that HEIC is starting to get some reasonable adoption after iOS 11, it’s great that Lightroom Classic CC can import those files. But it would be even better if it could export them too. For various reasons, I end up exporting from Lightroom to Apple Photos.app, and it seems like a no-brainer for me to use HEIC if Lightroom supported them. (Why not save the extra disk space?)

I know I can export to TIFF or some other lossless format and then use a third-party utility to convert them to HEIC, but that’s too much of a pain. Having native support in the Export workflow would be ideal.

    70 replies

    Show previous replies
    S
    SteffenB1970
    Participating Frequently
    October 22, 2020

    Version 10 is out but still no support for HEIC export. This means 50% more energy per image exported from Lightroom. I wasn't aware that Adobe actively committed to not contribute to fight climate change...

      Geoff the kiwi
      Community Expert
      Geoff the kiwiCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 12, 2020

      I have seen this too and thought it may be a hardware glitch with my MacBook and the external drive but like you it is always HEIC files. 
      My current work around is to restart Lightroom and they will export then.....

      I haven’t any ideas on the cause yet.

      I have had on 10.13.6 and Lr9.4

      F
      FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
      Inspiring
      October 12, 2020

      whenever I try to export the HEIC photos shot on my iPhone I get the following error:

      "some export operations were not performed. The file appears to be unsupported or damaged"

       

      I usually import them in Lightroom on my phone, but when I open/edit and then try to export on my desktop, I get this message.

       

      All software is up-to-date (MAC OS Catalina, iOS 14.0.1)

       

        M
        michaelk5102444
        Known Participant
        September 28, 2020

        Canon now has multiple cameras (1DXM3, R5 and R6) with the ability to take photos in HEIF format.  Lightroom is able to import them but when will we have the ability to export those photos after editing back to HEIF?

          F
          FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
          Inspiring
          August 11, 2020
          Please please give us an option to export to HEIF! Sure, it’s still a pain to widely use it as a sharing format, but it’s excellent for storing all my edited photos. At least let us know you’re working on it.
            F
            FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
            Inspiring
            July 11, 2020
            Adobe, please please please add support for HEIF export. It's long overdue. This will save precious space on our disks and thus contribute (a little bit) to a better environmental footprint of our photographic activities (if Adobe cares about those things?).
              M
              michaelk5102444
              Known Participant
              July 9, 2020


              Canon's announcement of the R5 and R6 mirrorless cameras today made a big splash.  Now Canon's Flagship DSLR 1D-X Mark III, Flagship Mirrorless R5 and the R6 all support HEIF file type.  It is possible to import these photos into Lightroom Classic, but not possible to export them as HEIF.  Adobe please add HEIF export ability.  Forcing us to use jpg negates the advantages of shooting using HEIF.
                Jerry Syder
                Jerry Syder
                Inspiring
                May 5, 2020
                That documents opening or importing, not exporting. Found a tweet from Affinity back in November 2019 but maybe things have changed since then? https://twitter.com/affinitybyserif/status/1198893324817580032?s=20
                T
                takit31223266
                Participant
                May 5, 2020
                Except that stuff like this forces loyal customers like you and I to look at other software... 
                And to my surprise, there's some pretty darned good photo editing software out there!
                  F
                  FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
                  Inspiring
                  May 5, 2020
                  A slightly sinister explanation for why Adobe wouldn't implement HEIC export is that they would have to pay licensing fees - which may mean less money for rich shareholders intended on milking customers (some of whom like me use Lightroom strictly privately)?
                    Show more replies
                    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
                    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices