How to convert HEIC to PNG on Mac

Should it be PNG or JPG?

For photos, JPG is almost always the better choice: it is widely accepted and a fraction of the size. Choose PNG when:

• The destination asks for PNG, such as some design tools, app stores or print services.
• You’ll edit the image further and don’t want each save to add compression artefacts.
• It’s a screenshot or graphic with text and flat colours, where PNG keeps edges crisp.

Converting to PNG doesn’t improve quality. It preserves the photo exactly as the HEIC decoded it, including any detail the HEIC compression already removed.

Why the PNG is so much bigger

HEIC and JPEG are lossy: they discard detail the eye barely notices. PNG is lossless: it keeps every pixel. Photos have millions of slightly different colours, which PNG can’t pack tightly. A 12-megapixel iPhone photo is typically 1.5 to 3 MB as HEIC, 3 to 5 MB as JPEG, and 15 to 25 MB as PNG.

Does HEIC to PNG keep transparency?

Camera photos have no transparency, so there is nothing to keep. If a HEIC image does have transparent areas, PNG keeps them. JPG can’t, so FileMate fills transparent areas with white, or another colour you choose in Settings, when converting to JPG.

With Preview

Open the HEIC in Preview, choose File › Export, choose PNG as the format, and save. For one image, that’s all you need.