Will automatic processing be applied to the RAW file?

Camera RAW formats (CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, DNG, RW2, ORF, and others) store the unprocessed sensor data from your camera - Essentially everything the image sensor captured, before sharpening, noise reduction, white balance, and colour rendering are applied. This gives photographers maximum post-processing flexibility but requires specialised software to view and share.

Converting RAW to HEIC produces a finished image at roughly half the file size a JPG export would be - And because HEIC supports 10-bit colour, it retains more of the sensor's tonal range than 8-bit JPEG can. The conversion applies automatic white balance, tone curve, and basic colour rendering to produce a natural-looking result. For maximum creative control, professionals develop RAW files in Lightroom or Capture One with custom settings first.

RAW files are considerably larger than any delivery format: a 24 MP camera produces a RAW file of 25–40 MB versus a 2–6 MB HEIC. That makes RAW→HEIC an excellent archival play for Apple-ecosystem photographers - But check the destination first, since clients and labs on Windows or older software may need JPG instead.

Reasons to convert RAW to HEIC usually come down to compatibility, file-size, or specific feature requirements. Common situations:

• An app or platform only accepts HEIC uploads.
• You need a feature unique to HEIC (e.g. transparency, vector scaling, animation, multi-page pages, etc.) that RAW doesn't provide.
• You're optimising file size — modern formats often produce smaller files than the older format you started with.
• You need a single archival format across a project so files behave consistently in the same viewer.

1. Open the RAW → HEIC tool on heic.now.
2. Drag your RAW file onto the drop zone, or click Select files. You can drop a whole folder of files at once.
3. The output is fixed to HEIC. If the format supports extra options (page size, transparency background, quality, EXIF stripping), tweak them in the right-hand panel.
4. Click Convert. The job runs on our server and finishes in a few seconds for typical photos.
5. Download the result. Files stay in storage for 24 hours and are then permanently deleted.

The entire flow is free for the first 10 jobs per day with no signup required. A free account doubles that quota; a premium plan removes the limit entirely.

• For the best tonal rendering, develop RAW files in Lightroom or Capture One with your preferred colour grading before converting - The automatic conversion applies sensible defaults but won't match custom adjustments.
• Use quality 85–90% for RAW-to-HEIC conversion - HEVC is efficient enough that higher settings add little visible quality.
• Keep your original RAW files as permanent archives even after converting - RAW data cannot be recreated from a HEIC.
• If the output is for clients, print labs, or mixed audiences, consider JPG instead - Many recipients can't open HEIC without extra codecs.