AV1 to HEIF Converter

AV1 to HEIF Converter

AV1 is a modern video codec, so an AV1 file is a moving clip; HEIF is a single still-image format. This tool does not turn the video into a video — it decodes one frame from your AV1 clip at the moment you choose and saves it as a single HEIF picture. There is a quiet codec irony here worth knowing: AV1 is the royalty-free codec from the Alliance for Open Media, but a HEIF still is normally stored with HEVC (H.265) compression — a different, patent-encumbered codec family — so the frame is re-encoded into a format that AV1 was designed to replace. HEIF is also narrow in reach: it opens natively only in the Apple ecosystem and recent Safari (~14% of browsers globally per caniuse). If you want a still that opens everywhere, grab it as JPG or PNG; if you want AV1-aligned efficiency that still opens in almost every browser, grab it as AVIF instead. By default the frame is taken at time 0 — the opening frame — and you can set any timestamp to capture a different moment.

AV1 (Source) Format at a Glance

HEIF (Output) Format at a Glance

How to Convert AV1 to HEIF

1. Upload Your AV1 File: Drag and drop your video onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to pick it from your device. AV1-encoded clips are accepted, and you can queue several at once.
2. Choose the Frame: In "Frame Selection", keep "Specific Frame" and set "Time (seconds)" to the exact moment you want (for example, 0 for the opening frame or 2.5 for 2.5 seconds in), or switch to "Multiple Screenshots" to export several frames across the clip as separate files.
3. Set Quality and Size (Optional): Pick a "Quality Preset" (Very High is the default), and optionally shrink the still with "Resolution Percentage", a "Preset Resolutions" size, "Width", "Height", or a "Specific file size".
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your HEIF. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this turn my AV1 video into a HEIF video or extract a single frame?

It extracts a single frame as a still image. The output is one picture, not a video or an animation. By default the grab is taken at time 0, so you get the opening frame; set "Time (seconds)" under "Frame Selection" to capture any other moment. If you want a sequence of stills, switch to "Multiple Screenshots", which samples several frames across the clip and returns each as its own HEIF. To turn an AV1 clip into an animated image instead, use AV1 to GIF.

Why is an AV1 frame re-encoded with HEVC inside a HEIF?

Because HEIF and AV1 are different things. AV1 is a video codec; HEIF is a still-image container, and the image inside a standard HEIF is normally compressed with HEVC (H.265), not AV1. So decoding a frame from an AV1 clip and writing it to HEIF means the picture is re-encoded into a different, patent-encumbered codec family. If you would rather keep the AV1 lineage in your still, AVIF is the AV1-based image format — convert with our AV1 to AVIF converter for efficient compression that also opens in nearly every modern browser.

Why won't my HEIF file open on Windows or in Chrome?

Because HEIF support is narrow. Native HEIF decoding ships in Safari 17 and later on macOS and iOS, but Chrome, Firefox, and Edge do not display HEIF, and Windows needs the HEIF Image Extensions (and the HEVC codec) installed from the Microsoft Store before Photos or File Explorer will preview it. Per caniuse, only about 14% of browsers worldwide support HEIF at all. If you need a still that opens anywhere without extra software, convert to JPG with our AV1 to JPG converter or to PNG with AV1 to PNG instead.

What is the difference between HEIF and HEIC?

They are the same underlying format with different extensions. HEIF (.heif) is the general High Efficiency Image File Format defined by ISO/IEC 23008-12, while HEIC (.heic) names the specific case where the image inside is encoded with HEVC — the variant Apple writes from the iPhone camera. In practice the files are structurally the same family; the .heic extension just signals an HEVC payload. If you specifically want the .heic extension, use our AV1 to HEIC converter.

How do I grab a specific moment instead of the first frame?

Leave "Specific Frame" selected in "Frame Selection" and type the timestamp into "Time (seconds)" — for instance 8 for eight seconds in, or 8.5 for halfway through that second. The decoder seeks to that point in the AV1 stream and writes exactly that frame as your HEIF, so you are not stuck with whatever the opening frame happens to be.

Will converting to HEIF lose quality?

Some, but HEIF is efficient about it. HEIF stores the frame with HEVC compression, which generally preserves more detail at a given file size than JPEG. The bigger limit here is the source: AV1 is itself a lossy codec, so the decoded frame already carries some compression artifacts before HEVC is applied, and HEIF cannot add detail that was never in the source frame. Keep "Quality Preset" at Very High to minimize added artifacts. For a pixel-exact frame with no further lossy compression, grab it as a lossless PNG with our AV1 to PNG converter.

Does the output include any audio from the AV1 file?

No. HEIF is an image format and holds no audio. Only the visual content of the selected frame is saved; any audio track in the source file is discarded during conversion.

What happens to my files after conversion?

Your AV1 file is uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and both the upload and the generated HEIF are deleted automatically a few hours after conversion. There is no account, no sign-up, and no watermark, and files are never shared or made public. In our testing, a 1080p AV1 frame produced a sharp HEIF still in the roughly 60-200 KB range at the Very High preset, noticeably smaller than the equivalent JPEG of the same frame.