Mark Stephens Mark has been working with Java and PDF since 1999 and is a big NetBeans fan. He enjoys speaking at conferences. He has an MA in Medieval History and a passion for reading.

How to write HEIC image files in Java with JDeli

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heic file icon

In this article, I will cover how to write out images as Heic images in Java. We also have a related article covering how to read HEIC files in Java.

ImageIO does not write HEIC file types so you will need to use an external library. We believe that JDeli is the only pure Java implementation available so we will document that. If you are looking for a free solution, we recommend the Nokia library on GitHub (which includes Java wrappers).

What is HEIC?

HEIC iconHEIC stands for “High-Efficiency Image File Format”. It is a complex lossy file format for storing bitmapped images. It was developed by Apple but is an Open Standard. The filename extension for Heic files is: .heic

If you are just looking for a Heic Viewer, JDeli includes a built-in Image Viewer.

How to write an image as a Heic file with JDeli

Step 1 Add JDeli to your class or module path. (download the trial jar).
Step 2 Create a File (or OutputStream) object

File file = new File("/path/to/outputFile.heic"));

Step 3 Pass image, Heic type, and File (or OutputStream) object into write method

JDeli.write(bufferedImage, "heic", file);

In JDeli you can also use a typesafe version

JDeli.write(bufferedImage, OutputFormat.HEIC, file);

or pass in a object for more control over Heic image output, such as level of Compression.

HeicEncoderOptions options = new HeicEncoderOptions();
JDeli.write(bufferedImage, options, file);


Start reading and writing images with one line of code

Read: BufferedImage image = JDeli.read(streamOrFile);

Write: JDeli.write(myBufferedImage, OutputFormat.HEIC, outputStreamOrFile)

Learn more >>

Mark Stephens Mark has been working with Java and PDF since 1999 and is a big NetBeans fan. He enjoys speaking at conferences. He has an MA in Medieval History and a passion for reading.