Can't export files from Photos as HEIC

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Can't export files from Photos as HEIC

I have two user accounts on a clean install of Mojave on a late-2013 iMac. It has two user accounts. Both accounts are tied to iCloud Photos from each user’s iPhone. I would like to export a number of iPhone photos from the Mac Photos application as HEIC files.

When I export from Photos under the Mac’s Account A, they are HEICs.

But when I export under Account B, they go as JPEGs. I can tell that they are “live photos” because they animate when I hover the cursor over the photo, but when I select Get Info, the file name is a JPEG. If I select File|Export|Export 1 Photo, I can choose a format among JPEG, TIFF, or PNG, but not HEIC. If I select File|Export|Export Unmodified Original, I get three files: a JPEG, a mov, and an xmp.

Is there some setting I can change under Account B to export HEIC files the way I can under Account A?

iPhone XS Max, iOS 11.3

Posted on Dec 2, 2018 9:08 AM

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Answer 1

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léonie

Level 10

200,531 points

Dec 3, 2018 2:59 PM in response to AlEagan

when I "export unmodified original," I get three separate files -- the JPEG, a QuickTime file, and an XML file.

Then you are exporting a Live Photo. The Live Photos are stored as two files

A still frame (this can be a HEIC file or a JPEG, depending on the setting on the iPhone)
A video file ( a HEVC QuickTime Movie or a H.264 video, depending on the setting on the iPhone)
The XML file is optional. It will store the IPTC metadata, and will only be written, if you enable the XML sidecar files in the export dialog for unmodified originals.

What is the filename extension for the LIVE photos, that you are seeing in the Info for the photos , that you are exporting? If the Live Photos have been imported as HEIC images, you should be seeing .HEIC as the filename extension, and also HEIF as the format.

The settings on your iPhone determine, if the iPhone will store the photos as JPEGs or HEIC files. If your iPhone is taking new photos in the HEIC format, they may still be transferred to the Mac as JPEGS, if you import from the iPhone by USB or My Photo Stream. SO check the settings on the iPhone

See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207022#working

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

200,531 points

Dec 2, 2018 9:23 AM in response to AlEagan

If you export the original image files from Photos (File > Export > Export unmodified original"), and the originals are in the HEIC format, they should be exported as HEIC files. But Photos cannot render edited images as HEIC files. Currently exporting with "File > Export > Export ... photos" from Photos allows only exporting as JPEG, TIFF, or PNG.

It looks like you imported the Live Photos to Photos in your two accounts differently. Are you importing using a USB connection or iCloud Photos Library? Are you using a different method to import in your two accounts?

If "File > Export > Export unmodified original" is resulting in an exported JPEG, you used a method that imported a JPEG and not a HEIC file.

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Answer 3

AlEagan Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 3, 2018 3:00 PM in response to léonie

Thank you for your help. The files show in Get Info as JPEGs. I thought that was impossible because they do animate as Live Photos, but clearly not. I have made an adjustment to the settings on the iPhone associated with that Mac account, and it is now uploading to iCloud in HEIC format.

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Answer 4

AlEagan Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 2, 2018 10:27 AM in response to léonie

When I did the clean install of Mohave, I copied the Photo libraries that I had backed up individually. The last time I tried to export from the library associated with Account B (which was more than a year ago), it worked to export as HEIC. Since the clean install, each account has used iCloud Photos library. I can't see any difference in the way that the MacOS Photos application is configured for each account, and I can't see a difference in the way the two iPhones are set up. But perhaps I don't know where to look for the needed setting.

Just to clarify the reference in the last sentence of your response, when I "export unmodified original," I get three separate files -- the JPEG, a QuickTime file, and an XML file.

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Can't export files from Photos as HEIC

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