iPhone Photo Format Conversion Made Easy - 3 Methods

Updated Dec 21,2018 | by Cody

In this article, I will show you how to do iPhone photo format conversion. You do not need to use your computer, all can be done on your iOS device. what’s more, you can convert image formats among HEIC, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, PDF, GIF, etc.

As you know the latest iPhone devices like iPhone 8, iPhone X, save pictures as HEIC format, which is a new image format introduced in iOS 11. Older iPhones will save photos as JPEG format. Each format has its advantages and disadvantages, so you may want to convert image format for a certain purpose.

As a new image format, HEIC is not very compatible. When you transfer iPhone photos to PC, you may find the HEIC images are not recognized by Windows. In that case, you need to convert HEIC to JPG first.

Luckily, there is a tool called IOTransfer that allows you to transfer photos from iOS device to Windows PC and in the meantime convert HEIC to JPG. You don’t have to use iTunes to transfer photos and use another tool to convert them. Sounds cool? Let me show you how it works.

Step 1. Free download and install IOTransfer on your Windows computer.

Step 2. Open IOTransfer and connect your iOS device to your PC via lightning cable.

Step 3. Go to the Manage from the top menu and select Photos. Then the program will display all the images saved on this iPhone.

Step 4. Select photos that you want to transfer to PC and click Export. If you want select all photos, you can check the Select All option or transfer all photos to PC from the Home screen in 1 click.

If you

Step 5. Click OK to convert all HEIC images to JPG during the process of transferring and select a location to save the converted photos on PC.

That’s how easily you can transfer HEIC photos to PC and view them on Windows. If you want to convert image format on your iOS device without PC, then read the next method.

If you have updated to iOS 12, then you should use the Shortcuts app because it is so amazing. With Shortcuts, you can delete many apps on your iPhone and do things more efficiently. Converting photo format to another is one of a million more things that Shortcuts can do.

I have just made a shortcut called Photo Converter for you to convert image format. You can also use it to delete photo meta data or adjust image quality. You can follow the steps below to get it done.

Step 1. Download the Shortcuts app if you haven’t. If you are running iOS 11 or older version, then get the Workflow app instead, which is the earlier version of Shortcuts.

Step 2. Get the Photo Converter shortcut and run it to get started. You need to open the link in Safari or Firefox to download the shortcut.

Step 3. You will be prompted to select a photo to convert, select format, adjust quality, preserve metadata or not. The default format is JPEG, you can tap on it to change to another.

Step 4. The converted image will be automatically saved to Camera Roll. Then you can have a look at the converted image and decide whether or not to delete the original image.

You can also run this Shortcut from Share Sheet. You can easily modify this shortcut to make it more efficient. You can open the shortcut and find the Convert Image action. Just change the Ask When Run to whatever format you want to convert to, so the next time you will not be prompted. If you want to convert multiple images, simply add a Repeat with Each action.  

The Shortcuts app is good enough for photo format conversion on iOS device. If you prefer a dedicated app to do this, then I recommend The Image Converter.

This is a free app that offers in-App Purchase. It supports all the major image file formats including JPG, PNG,GIF, SVG, EPS, PSD, HDR, ICO, etc.

That’s all three methods for iPhone photo format conversion. The converter app certainly supports more formats, but some advanced is limited to premium users. If you know a better way of converting image format, be sure to leave your thoughts. 

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