Convert HEIF to WebP

HEIF → WebP — formats compared

About HEIF

HEIF is the underlying ISO image container (MPEG-H Part 12); HEIC is simply its HEVC-coded variant, so the two are decoded the same way. It is a modern, space-efficient format that can also carry transparency and multiple images in one file.

About WebP

WebP is a modern raster format from Google that does both lossy and lossless compression, supports transparency, and runs about 25–34% smaller than JPEG at the same visual quality (per Google's own compression study).

What changes in this conversion

Transparency is preserved where it exists, since both HEIF and WebP support an alpha channel — though a normal iPhone camera photo has none to carry over. HEIF and WebP are both lossy, so the photo is re-encoded a single time; at a high quality setting the result is visually indistinguishable from the source. At matching quality WebP typically lands about 25–34% smaller than an equivalent JPEG.

When to convert HEIF → WebP

Converting HEIF to WebP swaps a poorly-supported modern format for a widely-supported modern format, keeping the file small and transparency intact — a good fit for the web.

Worth knowing: Both are efficient formats, so the saving is modest; WebP re-encodes the picture once and still isn't previewable in a handful of older desktop apps, even though every current browser handles it.