Converting HEIC to PNG and Reducing Size

In today's fast-paced digital world, the need for efficient and seamless media conversion has become more important than ever. Apple's macOS offers an inbuilt tool called "sips" that simplifies the process of converting files between various formats. In this post, we will explore how to use the sips tool to convert formats, optimize image compression using pngquant, and why it's beneficial to handle media conversions locally on your Macbook.

Part 1: Understanding Sips - The Swiss Army Knife of Media Conversion Tools

The sips (Image Converter) tool, bundled with macOS, provides a simple yet powerful command-line interface for converting images and videos between different formats. It not only supports popular formats like JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and PDF but also offers a range of customization options to fine-tune your conversions.

To get an overview of the output formats supported by sips, simply run the following command in Terminal:

sips --formats

Let's use sips to convert our HEIC file to PNG in the following command.

sips -s format png IMAGE_NAME.HEIC --out IMAGE_NAME.png

Part 2: Optimize Image Compression with Pngquant

When dealing with images, file size can be a significant concern, especially when transferring files or working with limited storage. One way to reduce the size of your PNG images without sacrificing quality is by utilizing pngquant - an advanced PNG optimization tool.

To install pngquant on your Macbook, follow these steps:

Open Terminal.
Run the following command:

brew install pngquant

Make sure you have Homebrew installed before proceeding with this step.

3. Once the installation is complete, you can use pngquant to compress your PNG images by specifying a quality rate between 0 (lossless compression) and 100 (maximum compression). Here's an example:

pngquant IMAGE_NAME.png --quality 75

In this example, the image "IMAGE_NAME.png" will be compressed to "IMAGE_NAME-fs8.png" with a quality setting of 75. Adjust the quality parameter according to your requirements and the desired level of visual quality.

Media conversion is an essential aspect of digital workflows, and macOS provides users with an intuitive solution through its built-in sips tool. By leveraging sips and complementary tools like pngquant, users can streamline their media conversion processes, optimize file sizes, and avoid the inconvenience of uploading files to servers for conversion. So, why wait? Give sips a try today and experience the simplicity and efficiency of local media conversion on your Macbook!

Written by Gökhan, edited by Hermes AI.