PaintShop Pro 2020 - Any word on HEIC Support?

[iangoodsell]

The last post I saw on the forum was from June 2019, so I thought I would ask if anyone has heard if there were plans to support this file format. It's getting annoying to always have to convert to JPEG prior to editing. The free Paint.NET supports this format now!

[Ken Berry]

Oddly enough, even the Paint program which comes as part of Windows 10 can open HEIC images without problems. The only other (paid) image editor I have which can do so is Photoshop Elements 2020.

I guess it is not really a surprise about Paint when I think about it since it is an MS program. As you'd be aware, you have to have the Microsoft HEVC Extensions installed to be able to view HEIC/HEIF images in Windows. Sounds counter-intuitive, I know, since HEVC is a video format and we are talking about images.

For those not aware of this, the Extension can be found in the MS Store and they ask for a small fee, but there is a way of getting it free: https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/06/h ... -for-free/

I doubt anyone here can say anything about PSP 2021 and HEIC, apart from expressing the hope it will be there. As far as I am aware, Corel have not even started beta testing for that yet, and who knows what will be in it. No one here works for Corel, though. We are all users like you who volunteer our time to help run the forum...

[cronos42]

How about HEIC support in PSP 2021 Ultimate?

[Jean-Luc]

How about HEIC support in PSP 2021 Ultimate?

See here:
https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/product ... tech-specs

[iNate]

Oddly enough, even the Paint program which comes as part of Windows 10 can open HEIC images without problems. The only other (paid) image editor I have which can do so is Photoshop Elements 2020.

I guess it is not really a surprise about Paint when I think about it since it is an MS program. As you'd be aware, you have to have the Microsoft HEVC Extensions installed to be able to view HEIC/HEIF images in Windows. Sounds counter-intuitive, I know, since HEVC is a video format and we are talking about images.

For those not aware of this, the Extension can be found in the MS Store and they ask for a small fee, but there is a way of getting it free: https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/06/h ... -for-free/

I doubt anyone here can say anything about PSP 2021 and HEIC, apart from expressing the hope it will be there. As far as I am aware, Corel have not even started beta testing for that yet, and who knows what will be in it. No one here works for Corel, though. We are all users like you who volunteer our time to help run the forum...

HEIC uses the same compression as HEVC, just for image data. That is why the same CODEC works. They are encoded identically, and the formats were developed to be used in tandem, in this way. HEVC as a replacement for H.264, and HEIC as a replacement for JPEG.

HEIC can also bundle RAW + Compressed image in the same container, or the image with other data (like depth data used for portrait mode photos). This is why smartphones have been keen to adopt it (particularly the iPhone, where it can put basically use one HEIC container to bundle both the Image as well as Depth Data and/or Motion Photo video data).

Affinity Photo and Designer can open HEIC images on Windows - I just checked.

This is unfortunate for PSP, because it means editing HEIC images requires you to perform a lossy transcode from HEIC to JPEG (or another image format that is supported) before they can be loaded into PaintShop Pro.

At least they gave you guys a new AI Artifact Removal tool to mitigate the issue!

[jrecasens]

Still no support for HEIC? waiting for this feature to upgrade my PSP software.

[fs999]

HEIC is an Apple format, that's why a Windows program is not so prone to implement...

You have the free CopyTrans app that can convert HEIC in Jpeg.

[LeviFiction]

That's inaccurate, HEIC is not an Apple format. Apple has officially adopted the container format and put in the greatest support for it, but it existed before Apple's adoption. I believe it was created by the MPEG group around 2015 while Apple introduced it officially in 2017. It supports several encoding formats like HEVC, AVIC, and AV1. AVIC and AV1 I believe are royalty free.

Encoders on Windows are rare, though decoders are available everywhere. CopyTrans is the most versatile option for Windows at the moment. Though programs like GIMP and imageMagick can also open and save in other formats like PNG or TIFF for lossless editing. Saving the JPEG conversion for after you're done with the image. I believe, though I could be wrong, that they make use of an open source decoder libheif. Don't know what CopyTrans uses.

HEIC support is important for people with Apple devices on Windows computers or who just prefer using PSP through a virtual machine. I'm looking forward to the official release of JPGXL though.

[Radim]

Wait for PSP 2022 trial. Hope it fulfills your wish.