How to Convert HEIC to JPG Using ImageMagick

If you’ve ever found yourself with a bunch of HEIC photos from an iPhone or recent Android and need to convert them to the more universally compatible JPG format, ImageMagick is a powerful, free tool that can handle this task efficiently. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to use ImageMagick to convert HEIC files to JPG format, including everything from installation to the simple commands you need.

Why Use ImageMagick?

ImageMagick is a robust command-line tool that supports a wide range of image formats, including HEIC, and it’s ideal for batch conversions. Whether you’re on Windows, macOS, or Linux, ImageMagick is cross-platform and extremely versatile, making it a perfect choice for anyone who wants a reliable way to handle image conversion without quality loss.

Step 1: Install ImageMagick

For Windows:

  1. Download ImageMagick from the official website.
  2. During installation, ensure you select the box for “Install legacy utilities (e.g., convert)” to enable the necessary commands.
  3. Once installed, open Command Prompt or PowerShell to check if it’s working by typing:
magick -version

For macOS:

  1. Open Terminal and use Homebrew (if you don’t have Homebrew, install it first):
brew install imagemagick

For Linux:

  1. Open your Terminal and use the following commands based on your distribution:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install imagemagick

Step 2: Convert HEIC to JPG

Once ImageMagick is set up, you can start converting HEIC files to JPG. Here’s a simple command to get you started.

Single File Conversion:

Open your command line interface and navigate to the folder containing your HEIC file, then enter:

magick input.heic output.jpg

Replace input.heic with the name of your HEIC file and output.jpg with your desired output name.

Batch Conversion:

If you have a folder full of HEIC files and want to convert them all to JPG at once, use the following command:

magick mogrify -format jpg *.heic

This command converts all HEIC files in the current folder to JPG format, keeping the original HEIC files intact.

Additional Tips

    • Quality Settings: To control the quality of the JPG output, add the -quality option. For instance:
magick input.heic -quality 85 output.jpg
    • This sets the quality of the converted JPG to 85, balancing file size and image clarity.
    • Resize and Convert: You can also resize images while converting them. For example:
magick input.heic -resize 50% output.jpg
  • This reduces the image size to 50% of the original while converting.

Final Thoughts

Using ImageMagick to convert HEIC files to JPG is fast, flexible, and incredibly useful, especially when dealing with batches of images. It saves time, maintains quality, and is easy to customize. If you work with a lot of photos and need reliable format conversions, ImageMagick is a great tool to have in your toolkit. Give it a try, and you’ll see how it simplifies the HEIC to JPG conversion process!