iPhone iOS 18 HEIC & GIMP

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growler62000 Author

Level 1

123 points

iPhone iOS 18 HEIC & GIMP

I’ve had iPhone 15 Pro Max 1 year.

Photos are saved in HEIC file format. (I know I can change it to JPEG in settings)

I use GIMP for years (v. 2.10.30) to edit my photos on my iMac.

No issue with my new iPhone & GIMP from Oct. 2023 until photos created Oct 8 2024.

I U/L photos from iPhone to my iMac & that works perfectly.

When I drag the photo from iMac to GIMP, it used to work fine but, now get error message:

“Loading HEIF image failed: invalid input: unspecified: meta-data not correctly assigned to image”

My workaround is to change the HEIC image to a JPEG image and then I can drag it OK, but it's a pain to take those extra steps!

My first thought was this is a GIMP problem. I've been researching that and for the past several years there has been issues with GIMP & HEIC/HEIF images.

I just updated to the most recent stable version of GIMP (v.2.10.38)

Same problem.

The reason I am posting here ...instead of just posting on GIMP forums… Is that I can still take any of the HEIC photos that I created 9-10-2024 and before… and drag them from my iMac to GIMP without a problem!

So I'm thinking something must've changed when I updated to iOS 18 or maybe 18.0.1. (I now have v. 18.1)

But the problem existed soon after I updated to 18 or to 18.0.1.

If I was never able to drag HEIC files from my iMac to GIMP, I would not think it was an iOS issue, just an incompatibility of HEIC with GIMP.

Since I WAS able to do it until iOS 18 or 18.0.1, there must have been some change with Apple software to make GIMP no longer recognize HEIC picture files.

Any suggestions/ideas?

iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 18

Posted on Nov 3, 2024 11:33 PM

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Answer 1

lewandor

Level 1

0 points

Nov 10, 2024 12:23 PM in response to growler62000

I'm having the same issue with GIMP and Photo Mechanic. Something apparently changed in the the headers?

This is what the Photo Mechanic log says:

NRF.cpp:1999 do_NRFGetImageInfo(): No plugin available to handle '/Users/blahblahblah/IMG.HEIC'

I filed a ticket with Photo Mechanic.

In Mac preview I can do something simple (like crop) to the image, but not save it, then GIMP can open it fine. So preview touches something and makes the file valid, but I'm not sure what.

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Answer 2

growler62000 Author

Level 1

123 points

Nov 25, 2024 2:43 AM in response to RxBurner

I did not see RxBurner reply, since I was not notified by email, even though I have the “participation” box in “Preferences” checked.

@ RxBurner, do you know for certain that iOS 18 changed the the HEIC format? That would make sense re timing of the issue.

I just posted on the GIMP-Forum (as Iconoclast)

“Suddenly, dragging HEIC files from Mac to GIMP fails”

https://www.gimp-forum.net/Thread-Suddenly-dragging-HEIC-files-from-Mac-to-GIMP-fails

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Answer 3

growler62000 Author

Level 1

123 points

Nov 25, 2024 3:08 AM in response to lewandor

OK, After reading lewandor’s post, I tried something similar.

First, I tried again to drag a newer HEIC file into GIMP with the same error as before. Then I tried right clicking and selecting ‘open with GIMP’ with the same result.

Finally, I tried right clicking and ‘open with Preview’ and it opened, as expected, and then I reduced the size from 100% to 99% and saved it. I then I dragged that new, 99% size file into GIMP and… Eureka, it worked.

However, the changed file still has only a placeholder to the left of the file name instead of a tiny image.

All my old HEIC files that can be dragged into GIMP for the past year have a tiny image to the left of the file name, But, the newer HEIC files have a placeholder icon to the left.

This workaround is similar to another workaround I found and not a solution.

R click image on Mac

Scroll down to “Quick Actions”

Convert Image

Select JPEG

Change Image size from small to “Original size”

The original HEIC file remains & a new JPEG file is created

Now I am able to drag the JPEG file to GIMP.

But I do not want to go through these extra steps.

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Answer 4

RxBurner

Level 1

8 points

Nov 25, 2024 5:56 AM in response to growler62000

I don’t know for sure, but as soon as I upgraded to iOS 18, both photo editors quit recognizing the HEIC files taken on my iPhone, but still recognized my older HEIC photos taken with iOS 17. An update for one of my editors became available last week and fixed the problem. Everything I see points to iOS 18.

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Answer 5

Nov 4, 2024 12:19 AM in response to growler62000

I compared iPadOS 17.5.1 and 18.1 .heic images with exiftool and Invisor. There are some differences but I you'd better ask GIMP support what is the culprit.

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Answer 6

RxBurner

Level 1

8 points

Nov 11, 2024 7:03 AM in response to growler62000

I'm having the exact same problem with both Luminar 4 and Luminar Neo. Apparently the HEIC format changed ever so slightly in IOS 18, making it incompatible with our photo editing software.

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