Will Photoshop Elements 2022 on PC edit HEIC format?

[BeachSandGuy]

See quetion in subject.  I have Photoshop Elements 2020 on my Windows PC.  I can import HEIC files, would like to keep in that format due to its superior file size and quality.  Does Photoshop Elements 2022 now work for editing HEIC files now?  Can't seem to find anything other than on Whats New: Support for HEIF and HEVC on Windows.

[Greg_S. · Accepted solution]

You can edit .heic files in Elements 2021 and 2022 but you cannot save your edited file in that format.  In my experience, there has been an improvement in Elements 2022 with respect to rotating files in the Organizer.  In Elements 2021, .heic files from an iPhone often have an incorrect orientation.  In other words, portrait thumbnails are displayed in landscape orientation.  And if you try to rotate them, you are prompted to save the file in a different format.  Elements 2022 does a better job of recognizing the orientation of the thumbnail.  And it automatically rotates the thumbnails of files that were imported in the prior version.  If you update the thumbnail of the file while it is in the correct orientation, it will remain sticky and in the correct orientation.  If you don't update the thumbnail, it will revert to the incorrect orientation.  This can be an annoyance if you are scrolling though the grid.

And while .heic files may save some space on your hard drive, I haven't seen any authorative study that suggests the quality is any better than other formats.

[BeachSandGuy]

Thank you Greg!  Appreciate the detailed answer very much.  Appears while there are a few minor updates to allow the orientation to be more accurate and thumbnails to retain this correction that appears to be all it does for now.  No native editing capability yet at this time.  Disappointing.

As far as studies, here is a really good article that discusses what heif (heic) adds to the table quality wise:

https://photographylife.com/definition/heif

Excert from the article:

HEIC vs JPEG

It is important to point out that HEIC has many advantages when compared to JPEG. While JPEG always produces lossy 8-bit images (even at the highest quality setting), HEIC can store images up to 16-bit, lossy or lossless. This makes HEIC similar in its potential to the original RAW file, something JPEG cannot even remotely compete with. And best of all, it can store all this data very efficiently, resulting in comparably small file sizes. How small? Let’s take a look.

[uweh73374318]

At least in Photoshop elements 2020, you can also open HEIC files with File - Open in Camera Raw -  and then can manipulate basic features lossless. Like in Lightroom. You can then save it in .dng format (so another lossless format) or open it in Photoshop Elements Editor as jpeg. 

[Steerpike58]

I have PE 2023 on Windows 11 and cannot open HEIC files.  I can open them in Irfanview, and in Windows Photo app, but not PE.  I've tried opening with camera raw (usupported format), opening with the organizer (unsupported) and opening directly in the editor - crashes the program. Others here seem to have had some success so this maybe a problem with my configuration.