File Formats: High Efficiency File Format (HEIC)

The High Efficiency File Format (HEIF) is described in ISO/IEC 23008-12. The HEIF format was first made popular by the HEIC format, which used HEVC compression.

The HEIF container supports other compressions, too. For example HEIF images with AV1 compression are called AVIF images. The AVIF format is royalty free, whereas the HEVC compression used in the HEIC format is covered by several patents.

The rest of this topic will talk about HEIF files using HEVC compresion (HEIC). Refer to AV1 File Format (AVIF) for more information on AVIF.

LEADTOOLS supports reading and writing HEVC (H265) compressed single-image HEIC files.

The file constants associated with HEIC are:

LEADTOOLS supports the following HEIC features:

• Thumbnails (Stamps). Use ReadStamp to read a thumbnail. You can save a thumbnail by setting the SaveWithStamp property to true prior to calling the save function.

• Metadata. Store and read comments and tags supported by TIFF and EXIF. For additional EXIF file format information, refer to Exif File Comments and Exif File Extensions.

• 8-bit and 10-bit components. Save 24-bit HEIC images using 8-bit color planes. Most HEIC files use three 8-bit color planes. Those files are loaded and saved as 24-bits per pixel. HEIC also supports 10-bits per pixel color planes. By default, HEIC files with 10-bit planes are loaded as 48-bit.

• Alpha channel/transparency information. Use SetAlphaValuesCommand to manipulate the Alpha plane from fully translucent to fully opaque. If the HEIC file has an Alpha plane, LEADTOOLS will automatically load it. HEIC files with 8-bit color planes plus an Alpha plane use 32-bits per pixel of memory when loaded. HEIC files with 10-bit color planes plus an Alpha plane use 64-bits per pixel of memory when loaded. Alpha color component values provide full translucidity, semi-translucency or full opacity control as described in the table below:

  Alpha Value	Description
  0	Fully transparent
  1-254	Semi-translucent
  255	Fully opaque

• Rotate, flip, and reverse transformations. Perform a lossless rotate, flip, or reverse transformation of an existing file using the Transform method.

Required DLL

Leadtools.Codecs.Heif.Dll. For a listing of the exact DLLs needed, based on the toolkit version, refer to Files To Be Included With Your Application.

Related Formats: EXIF - Exif Formats.