HEIF (read) support for Canon HIEF (HIF files)

[lazzaml]

I recently purchased a Canon R5 series camera. I looked up supported files for Affinty Photo, which lists the ability to read HEIF files.

https://affinity.help/photo/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Appendix/fileformat.html?title=Supported file formats

However when I try to open a file using Affinity Photo for a directory that contains Canon HEIF (*.HIF) - no files are listed.

I have installed the HEVC codec from Canon - its software now reads those files. Is there something I need to do in Affinity to be able to open them?

[Pšenda]

In my opinion, only the *.hif extension mask is not added in global list all images extensions. If you want to view these files, write this mask "*.hif" in the file name.

Edit: I've verified, that files with the *.heic extension (the standard HEIF extension) are displayed.

[lazzaml]

Thanks for the suggestion.

Tried requesting *.HIF - files showed. When I select one Affinity shows an Unsupported file format message.

Also tried renaming a file to have a 'HEIC' extension - these are listed in the drop down of Affinity as the supported HEIF format.

This also resulted in an Unsupported file format message.

[Boris Harss]

I have the same issue, here with an R6. Affinity can't open my HIF files. Strangely, the apple Photos app can't either, but Apple preview can. Renaming the files does not help here either. 

[RJP]

Same issue.  Also shooting with a Canon D6. 

On macOS Big Sur (11.2.3), the Preview app (11.0) can view the HEIF image regardless of suffix (.heif, heic, or .hif). This is also true for iPadOS (14.4.2) and iOS (14.4.2). However, if you try to Save the file it puts up a dialog saying that the HEIF image cannot be edited and offers to duplicate as a TIFF, which is editable. 

The macOS photos app Version 6.0 (330.0.150) allows me to import and edit the Canon HEIF files if I change the suffix to either .heif or .heic, but it will throw an error (unrecognizable file format) for images with the .hif suffix. 

Both the Preview app and the Photos app allow viewing and editing of the raw files (.CR3). 

Affinity Photo claims support of HEIF on their website, but will not open the Canon HEIF file no matter the suffix. The Open dialog box greys out images with either the .heif or .hif suffix.The dialog box allows you to open the images with the .heic suffix but throws an error saying "the file type is not supported". 

I'm new to Affinity Photo, is there a page to report bugs?

Thanks!

[NotMyFault]

Affinity introduced HEIF support for files presumably as Apple started to use this format. HEIF is a container format which could contain different content / formats (Apple vs. Canon vs. other vendors). The wikipedia page provides some more information:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Image_File_Format

There are similar issues with TIFF files and Apps storing layers, which is kind of a extensions beyond the standard feature set and is lacking support by many apps which otherwise support standard features (without layers).

I have no insight if and when Photo will be able to support HEIF files ceated by Canon cameras for reading and/or writing. Hope that a moderator may provide more insights.

[o0Spyder0o]

Just found my R6 heif files don't view in Affinity as well. I hope this gets updated because I really don't want to go back to Adobe. 

It's a popular camera so to leave it out would be a bad decision.

[v_kyr]

See related:

• What are you using to edit HEIF?

[o0Spyder0o]

So what did he convert the HEIF file with?

[NotMyFault]

2 hours ago, o0Spyder0o said:

So what did he convert the HEIF file with?

For canon RAW, if in doubt, always stick to Canon DPP if you need HQ predictable results. DPP is painfully slow, ignoring all the expensive HW you purchased, and the UI adds even more levels of pain, but it definitely does the trick and always supports the latest formats used by Canon cameras. 

Then export to TIFF/16 and be free for all later (creative) workflow steps in Photo. 
 

The only downside: DPP does not support 3rd party lenses, but lens correction can be done in Affinity, too.

[o0Spyder0o]

Thank you so much for the detailed reply. I should have known their own app would be the one to turn to but it isn't one I'm fond of, and another app I have to install. I even paid the Microsoft store for that heic extension, of course it did nothing. Glad it was cheap anyhow.

Thanks again

 

[sergio manser]

Hello Together
Maybe I didn't understand everything correctly, but is there no solution for this problem with the different HEIF formats? In my case I'm using an EOS-1D X Mark III and it would be nice to be able to handle the .HIF format with Affinity as well.

Is there any hope there?

Thanks to all of you here

[NotMyFault]

Hi and welcome to the forum Sergio.

 

2 hours ago, sergio manser said:

Is there any hope there?

Yes, but you won't get a timeline: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/search/&q=do not tend to comment&type=forums_topic&quick=1&author=Patrick Connor&nodes=53,54,55,44,65,56&search_and_or=and&sortby=relevancy

We do not tend to comment on unannounced/unreleased features as it raises too many expectations, particularly about commenting on every other requested feature. Public betas are the only heads-up at the moment, sorry.

 

2 hours ago, sergio manser said:

Maybe I didn't understand everything correctly, but is there no solution for this problem with the different HEIF formats? In my case I'm using an EOS-1D X Mark III and it would be nice to be able to handle the .HIF format with Affinity as well.

As of today, even Adobe says it does not support any heic format except those files created by Apple devices.

You are essentially bound to Canon DPP for RAW development & conversion to intermediate formats like TIFF. This is only a minor inconvenience.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/kb/heic-files-support.html

HEIC and HEVC media files support in Lightroom and Camera Raw

 

 

Last updated on Apr 27, 2021 | Also Applies to Adobe Camera Raw, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic

Background information

Although modern camera devices provide the capability to capture HEIF/.heic photos and HEVC (H.265) videos, Lightroom and Camera raw support only HEIF/.heic files created with iOS devices.

For details on using HEIF and HEVC files with Apple devices, see Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices.