Website doesn’t accept HEIC? Convert the photo to JPG

The website expects JPG or PNG, and iPhone photos are HEIC. Convert the photo before uploading it. On a Mac, right-click the photo in Finder and choose FileMate › Convert Image › JPEG. The JPG is saved next to the original, ready to upload. The HEIC never has to go to a conversion site first, only the finished JPG to the site you meant.

The only upload is the one you meant to make.

What the error messages mean

Websites say it in different ways: “File type not supported”, “Please upload a JPG or PNG”, “Invalid image”, or a photo that simply doesn’t appear after uploading. If the file name ends in .HEIC or .heif, the format is the problem.

Some sites accept the photo but show a broken image, because the server can’t read HEIC even though the upload went through. Converting to JPG fixes that too.

Why so many sites don’t take HEIC

HEIC is much newer than JPEG, and many web browsers still can’t display it. Many upload forms, especially older government, school and shop websites, only allow the formats every browser shows: JPEG and PNG, sometimes GIF or WebP.

Without FileMate

Preview: open the photo, choose File › Export, choose JPEG, save.
Finder: right-click the photo and choose Quick Actions › Convert Image, then JPEG.
Photos: select the photo and choose File › Export › Export 1 Photo, with Photo Kind set to JPEG.

All three work on the Mac. FileMate is the quickest when it happens often: the conversion is one choice in the menu you already use.

The form also has a size limit

Converted JPGs are often 3 to 5 MB. If the form allows only 2 MB, compress the JPG after converting it. See how to get an image under 2 MB.

Website doesn’t accept HEIC? Convert the photo to JPG

Make an uploadable JPG with FileMate

What the error messages mean

Why so many sites don’t take HEIC

Without FileMate

The form also has a size limit

Get FileMate