What happens when you convert PDF to HEIF
- Each page of the PDF is drawn by MuPDF, the open-source PDF renderer, on our conversion server at 150 dpi, so an A4 page becomes about 1240 by 1750 pixels, and ImageMagick saves it as a HEIF file.
- A one-page PDF gives a single HEIF; a longer one comes back as a ZIP file with one HEIF per page, named page-01.heif, page-02.heif and so on, for up to 100 pages.
- The HEIF files are compressed with HEVC at quality 80 on a white background, the same kind of file as a HEIC. iPhones, iPads and Macs open it, and so does Windows with the free HEIF Image and HEVC Video extensions; most browsers and many upload forms cannot.
- This conversion runs on our server: the file is uploaded, converted, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result has been sent back to you. Nothing is kept. Files up to 25 MB are accepted.
How to convert PDF to HEIF online
- Press "Choose PDF files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. Files up to 25 MB each can be converted.
- There are no settings to choose: the converter keeps everything the target format can hold.
- Press "Convert to HEIF". The file is uploaded to our conversion server, converted in a few seconds, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result is sent back.
- Save each HEIF with its download button. Our server has already deleted both your PDF and the HEIF by then.
Why convert PDF to HEIF?
PDF files usually come from documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files. People convert them to HEIF because HEIF is the open image format behind HEIC, used by Samsung, Sony and other cameras, and about half the size of a JPG of the same quality.
In short, PDF is good at what it was made for, and HEIF is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer, while Safari on Apple devices shows HEIF; Chrome, Edge and Firefox cannot.
How to convert PDF to HEIF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your PDF files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each HEIF is saved to your Downloads folder.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the PDF files from Finder onto the drop zone and the HEIF files land in Downloads.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose PDF files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted HEIF appears in Files, in the Downloads folder; to put it in your photo library, open it there, tap Share and choose Save Image.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose PDF files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The HEIF is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for PDF to HEIF
There are no settings: every page is rendered at 150 dpi, up to the first 100 pages, with the longest side capped at 6,000 pixels.
For a result that stays sharp at any size, convert to SVG or EPS instead, which keeps the vectors.
PDF vs HEIF: the differences
| HEIF | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Portable Document Format | High Efficiency Image File Format |
| Type | document | image |
| Created by | Adobe | the Moving Picture Experts Group |
| First released | 1993 | 2015 |
| Compression | Lossy or lossless | Lossy |
| Transparency | No | Yes |
| Animation | No | No |
| Vector or raster | Vector | Raster |
| Colour | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images | up to 16-bit colour |
| In a browser | opens in every browser's built-in viewer | Safari on Apple devices shows it; Chrome, Edge and Firefox cannot |
| Common uses | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files | photos from Samsung, Sony and other Android cameras that support it |
| MIME type | application/pdf | image/heif |
About PDF and HEIF files
What is a PDF file?
A PDF fixes the layout of every page so it looks the same on any device. Converting a PDF to an image renders each page to pixels; converting an image to PDF wraps it as a page.
What is a HEIF file?
HEIF is the container standard and HEIC is the name Apple gives files that use it with HEVC compression. Android phones that shoot in this format usually label the file .heif.
PDF to HEIF not working? Common problems
- "Files up to 25 MB can be converted." Server conversions have a size limit. Compress the images inside the file, or split it, and try again.
- "The conversion took too long and was stopped." Very long or complex files can pass the 90 second limit. Split the file and convert the parts.
- "This file is not really in PDF format." The converter checks every file before it runs anything, so a file of another format renamed to .pdf is refused. Choose the page for its real format.
Convert PDF to HEIF from the command line
Poppler and ImageMagick do the same on your own computer:
pdftoppm -r 150 -png input.pdf page
magick mogrify -format heif -quality 80 page-*.pngConverting on your own computer keeps the file entirely local, which is worth it for very large or very sensitive documents. For everything else, the converter on this page does it without installing anything.
PDF to HEIF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting PDF to HEIF?
The pages are rendered to pixels at 150 dpi, which is sharp for reading and for printing text. HEIF is lossy, so fine detail is simplified slightly.
Why is the HEIF a different size from the PDF?
The HEIF stores every pixel, while the PDF stores drawing instructions, so the HEIF is usually larger for detailed pages and can be smaller for simple ones.
Are my PDF files uploaded?
Yes, for this conversion. A faithful PDF to HEIF conversion needs MuPDF and ImageMagick, two open-source tools, which cannot run in a browser. The file travels over an encrypted connection, is converted in a private temporary folder, and is deleted together with the HEIF as soon as the result has been sent back to you. We do not keep, read or share it.
Can I convert several PDF files to HEIF at once?
Yes. Select or drop as many files as you like; they are converted one after another and each gets its own download button.
How do I open a HEIF file?
Safari on Apple devices shows HEIF; Chrome, Edge and Firefox cannot. HEIF is common for photos from Samsung, Sony and other Android cameras that support it.
Is this PDF to HEIF converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no watermark. Because this conversion uses our server, there is a fair-use limit of 25 MB per file and a number of files per hour, which stops the service being overloaded.
Can I convert PDF to HEIF on my phone?
Yes. It works in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome on Android. The conversion happens on our server, so it is as fast on a phone as on a computer; the HEIF is saved to your Downloads folder.