HEIF / .HEIC File Support in Photoshop [2017]

[SCSDDan]

Any idea when we will be seeing support in Photoshop to handle Apple's new iOS format for pictures? The HEIF, specifically the .heic image format?

Thank you in advance,

~Scott

[siriami]

I have updated my Photoshop CC to the latest version and still get an “unsupported format” message when I try and open an HEIC/HEIF file from my iPhone 7Plus. I am using a Windows PC - is the import facility only limited to Macs? All very frustrating. It’s the same for my updated Lightroom program - it can’t open the file either.

Alistair

[Jymnazium]

siriami​ judging from Steve's reply directly above yours it does appear they've only released the HEIC support on the MAC version of the software... I agree it is frustrating to have the biggest feature I've been waiting for only be for the MAC and not the PC -- further it should be more clear in the patch notes that it was only released on the Mac.

[JROP]

macOS only? What a joke Adobe. What are we paying you for?

[SG...]

Hi,

Yes, the import uses macOS support as there are license restrictions with HEIC. Photoshop support is only leveraging what the OS provides, and then allowing users to see depth data in the channel information.

regards,

steve

[miker15340976]

Is the HEIF format supported by Photoshop pro or Photoshop Elements? If not Elements, when will it be compatible?

[Hrunga Zmuda]

As I read it, it says Adobe Camera Raw supports HEIF. Does Elements use that too?

[Jymnazium]

Tried opening doing an "open as" on a HIEC file using the Camera Raw and it never could translate it. I confirmed that I'm using the latest version of Camera Raw. I suspect the list that shows Apple products supported are based on iOS 10 and below, not the newer 11.

[Jymnazium]

SG...​, I'm a little lost... There are many online converters to convert HEIC to JPG... Is it really that hard for ADOBE (the master of all things digital imaging) to create a plugin that would do this conversion for us so we don't have to use a 3rd party program?

[SG...]

Hi Jymnazium,

The license restrictions on the HEIC format make it expensive.

regards,

steve

[CSMR]

The implementation looks terrible.

"Photoshop now supports Apple's High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF)."

• This is a really basic misunderstanding. HEIF is not an Apple format but was developed by the MPEG group and usually uses HEVC internally.

Secondly it only works on Mac OS!

• Support which does not include WIndows does not count as support.
• If you don't want to write it yourself because of licencing problems, just allow Windows Imaging Components to be used. It's crazy that this is not possible now.

This is going to be as bad as the ui scaling saga. Because they had a 200% option, they claimed to support UI scaling. Implementing a feature improperly can be worse than not doing it at all. The bad implementation can be an excuse not to provide a good implementation because it can already be marketed.

[Jymnazium]

Amen.... too many times I see companies doing a crappy "band-aid" fixes than then become the only fix. I really hope that Adobe listens and decides to do a real implementation of supporting the format and not give us "its expensive" when they they just had their highest quarter on record with $1.8 BILLION (with a B) in profits.

[siriami]

So, I'm paying a yearly licence for Photoshop etc and I don't even have the means to access a new file format in what is the leading graphics design program for BOTH the Mac and Windows platforms. Sad.

[JROP]

Saying that it's expensive is not a fair statement; I read articles off and on about how much Adobe is making for profits year after year.

[JJMack]

I'm sure Adobe want to keep make good money if  it will cost more to support what you want  I'm sure Adobe will pass that cost on to their users which will raise the price of products like Photoshop to offset the increased cost.  IMO the statement is fair.

[JROP]

It's very fair; here's the latest article: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjhj86Glv3W...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjhj86Glv3W...

I doubt that it would be a drop in the bucket.

[JJMack]

Why would it only be a drop in the bucket? What is the cost of HEIC. SG write its expensive. Do you know that it is not expensive?

[siriami]

And if a relatively small company like Halide (I have just checked and their iPhone app has the facility for opening HEIC files on my iPhone), surely a giant like Adobe can manage it on a Windows PC? At whatever cost - this is an essential part of being able to use Photoshop on the Windows platform. I am now seriously reconsidering my use of Photoshop in the future and might not renew next year.

[Jymnazium]

siriami​, as Steve pointed out, any mac OS has the conversion ability automatically. So Halide just used the SDK Apple offered to create the iphone app you mentioned.

Thinking about that, now I suspect that Apple is waiting to see if Windows will pickup the HEIC support then they can tap into it directly and not need to spend money on it. 

[CSMR]

Jymnazium Apple is being credited with a lot these days, first it created HEIF, now Photoshop! (j/k)

[Jymnazium]

DANG IT! I meant Adobe not Apple.. ROFL!! Nice catch....

[sergey-m]

It's really a pity, that the format which was finalized in Summer of 2015 by Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), HEIF still has no support within the icon of image processing software, in Adobe Photoshop.

I got the very latest release of AdobePhotoshop CC 2018, v.19.0 (I updated just today, 2nd of November, 2017), and running the MacOS Sierra (v.10.12.6), and still can't open '.heic' files for editing.. Even though Adobe bragged in the release notes for this edition:

Photoshop now supports Apple's High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF). Photoshop can read depth maps in HEIF image files created by iPhone 7 Plus and later devices into a channel. You can then create a depth-of-field effect in the image using Filter > Blur > Lens Blur.

[cathe989]

I just opened my first ever HEIC on photoshop, but had to update my mac to the latest high Sierra OS to do so. Now I wonder how will this be beneficial  on photoshop. Like will I be able to have access to additional controllers/settings than then ones I have with standard Jpegs?

[Hrunga Zmuda]

It’s now officially supported.

Click this link.

Adobe begins rolling out support for Apple's HEIF image format, starting with Lightroom CC

[sergey-m]

If you'll this article carefully, you'll see that it's nothing special there. Editors are kind of "supporting it", but by the means of the operating system only, not by Lightroom or Photoshop itself can encode/decode the file.  Windows users still have no possibility to work with the files. Mac OS as well, unless you use very latest macOS High Sierra. Check my comment above.

[Guest]

Hi guys, we created this small Windows plugin that allows you to view HEIC/HEIF photos in native Windows Photo Viewer: https://www.copytrans.net/copytransheic/ You can even select as many HEIC files as you want in Windows Explorer, right-click and convert them to JPG. No online converters or third-party app involvement I'd love to hear your comments or feedback, whether positive or negative. Thanks!