Publisher to HEIC Converter

Publisher to HEIC Converter

.pub is Microsoft Publisher's proprietary page-layout format — the container for flyers, newsletters, brochures and certificates that almost nothing outside Publisher reads properly. HEIC is the opposite end of the timeline: an Apple-popularised image format that stores HEVC-compressed pictures inside an ISO HEIF container, and which typically lands at roughly half the size of an equivalent-quality JPEG. Converting .pub to HEIC renders each page of your publication into a compact modern image, which is useful if the destination is an Apple device or an iCloud photo library. If the destination is anything else, read the compatibility question below first — HEIC's size advantage comes with a real portability cost.

Publisher and HEIC at a Glance

How the Conversion Actually Works

.pub is a layout document, not a picture, so there is nothing to re-save directly. On our servers the file passes through three stages: LibreOffice imports the Publisher file via its Draw component and exports the layout to PDF; each PDF page is rendered to a full-colour raster at 300 DPI; each rendered page is then encoded to HEIC.

That means one HEIC comes out per page — a six-page brochure downloads as a ZIP of six images. It also means the pixel dimensions follow the page's physical size rather than any DPI box: a US Letter page (8.5 × 11 in) renders at 2550 × 3300 px and A4 at roughly 2481 × 3507 px. There is no Conversion Quality (DPI) control on this converter; "Image resolution" is what changes pixel dimensions.

How to Convert Publisher to HEIC

1. Upload Your Publisher File: Drag and drop your .pub onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse. Several Publisher files can be queued at once.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: Under Advanced Options, "Quality Preset" runs Highest through Lowest, with "Very High (Recommended)" preselected. See the rung table below before reaching for Highest — it is not the upgrade it looks like.
3. Set the Image Resolution (Optional): "Image resolution" offers Keep original, Preset Resolutions (4320p down to 576p), Resolution Percentage, or an explicit Width and Height. "Specific file size" is also available when you need to land under a byte ceiling.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download the result. Multi-page publications arrive as a ZIP of one HEIC per page. No sign-up, no watermark, no Publisher licence required.

What the Quality Rungs Actually Change

The preset names map to fixed encoder quality values, but the top of the ladder is flatter than the labels suggest.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is "Highest" actually better than "Very High" for HEIC?

No — and this is worth knowing before you spend encoding time on it. In our testing across several sample images, the Highest and Very High rungs produced byte-identical files, matching pixel for pixel with zero measured difference. High (quality 90) is the first rung down that changes the output at all. So on this converter Highest is effectively a no-op relative to the default: leave the setting on "Very High (Recommended)" and use "Image resolution" if you need to influence size or detail.

Will the HEIC be 10-bit or HDR if my publication uses rich colour?

No. The output is 8-bit with 4:2:0 chroma at every quality rung, regardless of what the source contained. HEIC as a standard supports higher bit depths, but this converter does not produce them, so treat the result as a standard 8-bit image. If you need maximum colour fidelity for print, a lossless target is the better fit — Publisher to PNG or Publisher to TIFF.

Will a HEIC open on Windows, Android or in a browser?

Often not without help, and this is the main reason to think twice about HEIC as a delivery format. Apple platforms display HEIC natively. Windows generally needs a codec extension installed from the Microsoft Store, Android support varies by version and device, and the mainstream desktop browsers do not natively display HEIC the way they do JPG, PNG or WebP. If the file is going to someone whose setup you do not control — a client, a printer, a mailing list — use Publisher to JPG or Publisher to PNG instead. HEIC makes sense when you know the destination is an Apple device.

What is the difference between the .heic and .heif output?

Nothing but the filename. Both are the same ISO HEIF container carrying the same HEVC-coded image, and the files this converter produces under the two extensions are byte-identical. .heic is the conventional extension for HEVC-coded HEIF images and is the one Apple software writes, so it is the safer default. If a piece of software insists on one extension, renaming the file is enough.

Does a multi-page Publisher file become one HEIC or several?

Several. Each page becomes its own image and a multi-page .pub is delivered as a ZIP of those files in page order. The HEIF container can technically hold an image collection, but this converter writes one page per file. If you want every page kept together in a single openable document, use Publisher to PDF — which also keeps the text as text rather than pixels.

Will the HEIC keep my Publisher text searchable?

No. Every image target flattens the page into pixels, so the text stops being text — it cannot be searched, selected, copied or restyled. That is a property of raster formats generally, not of this converter. Convert to Publisher to PDF if you need the underlying words to survive.

How faithful is the rendered page to the original Publisher layout?

.pub is proprietary, so a non-Microsoft renderer cannot promise a pixel-exact match. Straightforward single-page flyers and certificates generally come through cleanly. Documents that depend on unusual fonts, heavy layering or externally linked images are the likeliest to shift, because any font that was not embedded in the .pub gets substituted with the nearest available match. Spot-check complex publications, and export from Publisher itself if you need a print-exact result while the app is still available.

Should I pick HEIC or WebP for a smaller file?

WebP is usually the more practical answer. Both compress far better than JPEG, but WebP is displayed natively by current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, while HEIC is not — so WebP gives you most of the size benefit without the compatibility problem. Compare with Publisher to WebP. Choose HEIC when the file is destined specifically for Apple devices or an iCloud library.

How is my Publisher file handled, and is it kept private?

Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public. For very large publications the practical limit is upload time rather than page count.