"hot coals on them Jesus!" those HEIC photo hi-jackers... from (me!) mrs sandra mickanen -amen
it is the kind of thing that does make me want to pull out all my hair, the frustration is so high.
and the only reason, i would pull out my own hair vs. pull out the hair of the people responsible for my frustration
is because i have ZERO access to the responsible party. no name, no idea..
but what has happened is this: i can no longer download my pictures to my blog.
because now all the sudden, without me asking for; without them asking if..
my photos now have a HEIC suffic. no more jpg.
it is -without my knowledge or permission, now incompatible. just like that.
i did research, and try to trouble shoot, and went back to settings and undid a file thing..
had to even learn what HEIC is.. where it came from, WHY?!?
and it worked for 1 picture.
and now.. it has defaulted back to HEIC..
it is WRONG.
it is FRUSTRATING.
and what is my recourse?
and it does incapsulate and serve as an example, of just how fragile, vulnerable,
all digital information is. i am reminded with great frequency: coders/programmers have all the power/control
consumers..
only at the mercy of.
my wish, my prayer: that when coders/programmers go to hop in their car..
they can't get in.
they have to spend time and energy they dont have problem solving.
after they think they've solved the problem and successfully get in their car..
the car won't go. after they spend time and energy they don't have, figuring out a way to get their car to go..
wherever it is they do go; they can't get in.
"hot coals! hot coals! Jesus.. hot coals on whoever is responsible!"
/which is my prayer whenever i encounter a person/people who need to be enlightened..
and it helpfully overrides my less Christian thoughts and vocabulary
****
when i can.. i will find someway.. because i really want to continue capturing/sharing memories,
and vellum days.. it is valuable on multiple levels; for a myriad of reasons..
-all things are possible with God
amen & amen.
****
for the record: i do not use an apple phone. my phone; my camera has not changed; only suddenly i have HEIC
Yes — and your frustration is understandable. HEIC is one of those changes that can be very inconvenient because the technical advantages are mostly invisible to the person taking the photograph, while the compatibility problems show up later.
When did HEIC start appearing?
If you're using an iPhone, Apple introduced HEIF/HEIC with iOS 11 in September 2017. It became the default photo format on compatible iPhones, beginning with the iPhone 7/7 Plus generation.
The important distinction is:
- HEIF = the overall image-file format: High Efficiency Image File Format
- HEIC = the particular type of HEIF file Apple uses for photographs, compressed using HEVC technology.
- Therefore, the filename you see is .HEIC. Apple specifically says iOS stores its HEIF images using the .HEIC extension because they use the HEVC codec.
Why did Apple do this?
The simple answer is smaller files.
Why did Apple do this?
The simple answer is smaller files.
HEIC can preserve roughly comparable visual quality while using considerably less storage than JPEG. That means more photographs on your phone and less storage consumed by iCloud Photos. Apple Support
Apple was also trying to create a more modern replacement for JPEG that could handle things newer cameras were doing — such as greater color depth, HDR, depth information, multiple images, and richer metadata. Apple Developer
So from Apple's engineering perspective, it made a lot of sense.
From a normal person's perspective, however, there is a very real trade-off:
JPEG = enormous compatibility
HEIC = better efficiency, but compatibility depends on the device/software.
And that is exactly the problem you're noticing.
"Why didn't they ask me?"
This is the part that understandably feels irritating.
Apple didn't make HEIC an optional format that you had to consciously choose when it was introduced. Instead, Apple changed the default and provided an option called "Most Compatible" for people who wanted JPEG.
Apple's current instructions are:
Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible
Once you select Most Compatible, new photos are saved as JPEG rather than HEIC. Apple Support
So, yes, you can absolutely go back to JPEG.
One important thing: changing that setting does not convert the HEIC photographs you've already taken. It changes the format of the photographs you take from that point forward.
What about all the HEIC pictures you already have?
Those can be converted to JPEG. You don't necessarily have to lose or retake anything.
Apple also has built-in ways of converting HEIF images to JPEG when exporting them. On a Mac, for example, you can open an HEIC image in Photos or Preview and export it as JPEG. Apple Support
And there's another useful Apple feature: when transferring photos to a device that doesn't support HEIC, iPhone can automatically convert them to a more compatible format such as JPEG depending on how you're transferring them. Apple Support
So why does HEIC even need to exist?
Honestly, you don't need HEIC personally if compatibility is more important to you than saving storage space.
Think of it this way:
| JPEG | HEIC | |
|---|---|---|
| Compatibility | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| File size | Larger | Smaller |
| Image quality for size | Good | Very good |
| Works with older computers | Almost always | Sometimes not |
| Easy to email/upload | Usually | Sometimes problematic |
| Modern camera features | More limited | Better |
| Best choice if you want "it just works" | Yes | Not necessarily |
JPEG has been around since 1992, so virtually every computer, website, photo program, printer and other device knows what to do with it.
HEIC is much newer.
And your "high-stakes compatibility" point is actually important
This is probably the biggest reason I'd recommend Most Compatible for someone who routinely sends photographs to different people, uploads them to websites, prints them, or moves them between different computers.
Apple itself acknowledges that HEIF/HEIC can have compatibility limitations and specifically provides Most Compatible for people who want the older, broadly compatible JPEG format. Apple Support
So if your reaction is:
"I don't care if the file is 3 MB instead of 2 MB. I just want my pictures to work everywhere."
Then JPEG/Most Compatible is a perfectly reasonable choice.
If you'd like, I can also explain how to convert all the HEIC pictures you already have on your Windows computer into JPGs, in the easiest possible way, without paying for anything.
Ah — that changes the answer quite a bit. You do not need an Apple phone for HEIC to show up on your computer.
HEIC/HEIF is now used by some Android phones, including Samsung phones, and Google Photos can store HEIC files exactly as they were created by the camera. Microsoft also specifically notes that HEIF/HEIC files can come from either iPhone or Android devices.
So there are several possibilities:
- Your Android phone's camera may have switched to "High efficiency" / HEIF. Samsung, for example, has a camera setting that can save photos as HEIC instead of JPG.
- Someone sent you a HEIC photograph. If another person's phone created the photo as HEIC, the HEIC format can remain attached to it when you receive it.
- Google Photos may be preserving the original HEIC file. Google Photos supports HEIC as a photo format, so it doesn't necessarily convert it to JPG.
- Your Windows computer isn't creating the HEIC file simply because it displays it. It may just be storing or displaying a HEIC photograph that came from a phone, Google Photos, OneDrive, email, etc.
But here's the important part
If you don't have an Apple phone, I don't want to tell you to change an Apple setting!
blah,
blah,
blah,
blah...
posted by SANDRA MICKANEN @ 8:52 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home