iPhones have used HEIC as the default photo format since iOS 11. HEIC produces smaller files than JPEG at equivalent quality, which is why Apple uses it. The problem appears when you need to share photos with someone who cannot open HEIC files, or when you need to combine multiple photos into a single PDF document. Both tasks are possible on iPhone without installing any additional apps.
What HEIC is and why it causes problems
HEIC stands for High Efficiency Image Container. It is Apple's implementation of the HEIF standard, which uses the H.265 video codec to compress still images. The codec produces files roughly half the size of JPEG at the same visual quality. For storing thousands of photos on a device with limited storage, the efficiency gain is meaningful.
The compatibility problem is that HEIC is not universally supported. Windows 10 and 11 support HEIC with the optional HEVC codec installed, but older Windows versions and many online tools do not. Android devices generally cannot open HEIC files. Many PDF editors and document management systems built before 2018 do not handle HEIC.
Method 1: Change iPhone camera settings to JPEG
The most reliable solution for ongoing compatibility is to change the iPhone camera to capture in JPEG instead of HEIC. Open Settings, scroll to Camera, tap Formats, and select Most Compatible. From that point, all new photos are captured as JPEG files that any device or application can open.
This setting does not convert existing HEIC photos. It only affects new photos taken after the setting change. If you have existing HEIC files you need to convert, the methods below handle them without changing your camera settings.
Method 2: Convert automatically when sharing
iPhone converts HEIC to JPEG automatically when you share photos to services that do not support HEIC. When you use AirDrop to send a photo to a Mac running a recent version of macOS, the photo stays as HEIC. When you use AirDrop to send to an older Mac or a non-Apple device, or when you email the photo, iPhone converts it to JPEG before sending.
This automatic conversion is lossless from the perspective of what you intended to share — the recipient gets a JPEG that looks identical to the HEIC original. You do not need to do anything extra; the conversion happens transparently as part of the share operation.
Method 3: Create a PDF from Photos directly
To create a PDF from one or more photos on iPhone, open the Photos app and select the photos you want to include. Tap the Share button, scroll down in the share sheet, and tap Print. On the print preview screen, use a pinch-to-zoom gesture on the preview to expand it into a full-screen PDF viewer. From there, tap the Share button in the top right and choose Save to Files or any other destination that accepts PDF files.
This method works for any number of photos and arranges them one per page in the PDF. The output is a multi-page PDF with each selected photo on a separate page. No app is required, no conversion service is needed, and the photos remain on the device throughout the process.
Method 4: Use the Files app to convert
The Files app on iPhone can create PDFs from documents, images, and scans. Open Files, navigate to the location of your HEIC files, long-press a file, and look for a Create PDF option in the contextual menu. On recent versions of iOS, this option is available for image files and produces a PDF of the image content.
For multiple files, select them all before long-pressing to apply the operation to all selected files. The Files app creates individual PDFs, not a combined document. To combine them, use the merge approach described above, or select all the photos at once from the Photos app and use the Print method, which produces a single multi-page PDF.
When you need HEIC to PDF with other content
If you need to combine HEIC photos with Word documents, spreadsheets, or other files into a single PDF, the approach changes slightly. Convert the HEIC photos to JPEG first using the sharing method above, then combine all files using a PDF tool. Once the HEIC is in JPEG or PDF form, it can be merged with any other document type.
Filum's PDF merge tool works with standard image files and PDFs. For the HEIC-to-PDF conversion itself, the iPhone's built-in print-to-PDF workflow is the most convenient no-app approach. The resulting PDF can be uploaded to Filum for merging with other documents.