HEIF and HEIC Terrible print quality (On Kyocera Products)

[JVergin]

I've had a few customers try to print photos with this Apple file extension, and while they look fine on the computer, they look absolutely terrible when printed. Generally I've had complaints when the picture being printed is a portrait of someone. It makes it look like they have a bad skin disease. I've noticed that the file size is extremely small (usually 50kb or so), which I understand is the whole purpose of that picture format.

On Kyocera products, changing the color reproduction to "Publications" usually makes it look better, but still not great.

Is Kyocera the only brand that has trouble with this file format?
Are there any tips/tricks to get that file format to print correctly?

Thank you!

[tsbservice]

What will happen if You convert HEIC file to JPEG and print it?

[slimslob]

I've had a few customers try to print photos with these Apple file extensions, and while they look fine on the computer, they look absolutely terrible when printed. Generally I've had complaints when the picture being printed is a portrait of someone. It makes it look like they have a bad skin disease. I've noticed that the file size is extremely small (usually 50kb or so), which I understand is the whole purpose of that picture format.

On Kyocera products, changing the color reproduction to "Publications" usually makes it look better, but still not great.

Is Kyocera the only brand that has trouble with this file format?
Are there any tips/tricks to get that file format to print correctly?

Thank you!

And why did you post this problem in the Connectivity forum where only those interested in connectivity check posts instead of one of the Kyocera Technical threads where all the Kyo techs would be able to see it and help you?

Have you considered the fact that most laser printers use CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) pigments to print and most computer screens are RGB (Red Green Blue) light emission. Computer screens are not affected by ambient light whereas printed documents are. They are also affected by the quality, color and type of paper.

[JVergin]

What will happen if You convert HEIC file to JPEG and print it?

I just thought about that after posting. Will need to give that a shot. Thanks!

[mojorolla]

If printing these from Windows PC, you can install a HEIF image extension from the MS store.

[JVergin]

And why did you post this problem in the Connectivity forum where only those interested in connectivity check posts instead of one of the Kyocera Technical threads where all the Kyo techs would be able to see it and help you?

Have you considered the fact that most laser printers use CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) pigments to print and most computer screens are RGB (Red Green Blue) light emission. Computer screens are not affected by ambient light whereas printed documents are. They are also affected by the quality, color and type of paper.

Since this problem seems to be limited to one specific file format, and this seems like an issue that might affect more than one brand, I felt this was the best place to post it.

I definitely understand the RGB to CMYK conversion argument. I preach that to customers all the time. I wish i had an example to show, but the bad print quality goes far beyond color matching. If you can imagine taking an image and over-sharpening it to a point where there's not much detail left. That's what is happening with these .HEIF pictures.

[blackcat4866]

What application are you using to open these HEIF/HEIC files?
What MAC OS is running on the computer? High Sierra & Mojave support this file format, and later (2015).
Are you using the correct PPD file for your specific operating system?

I just did a little reading on High Efficiency Image File Format. It's more closely related to MP4 than anything else. Are these still shots extracted from a movie?

High Efficiency Image File Format - Wikipedia
=^..^=

[slimslob]

If you can imagine taking an image and over-sharpening

Maybe because that is exactly what a High Efficiency Image File is.

[blackcat4866]

With Mac coming out with an operating system every year like clockwork, I can imagine that it's nearly impossible to keep creating updated print drivers, especially on a newer file format. =^..^=

[JVergin]

What application are you using to open these HEIF/HEIC files?
What MAC OS is running on the computer? High Sierra & Mojave support this file format, and later (2015).

I just did a little reading on High Efficiency Image File Format. It's more closely related to MP4 than anything else. Are these still shots extracted from a movie?

High Efficiency Image File Format - Wikipedia
=^..^=

Customer is running Windows 10 actually. It happens whether importing a picture into word or publisher, and will also happen just printing it from windows photo viewer. These are photos taken with an iPhone. Apparently this file format has been used by Apple devices since iOS11 and MAC High Sierra.

I think converting these to a JPG will work (hopefully). My brain has been a bit scrambled this week and didn't even think of that as a possible solution until I posted the question. This is happening at churches and funeral homes that I service where various people will send in photos for them to print. I just read there's a way to transfer the photo from an iPhone as a JPG. So, if a simple conversion works, my customers will just have to educate everyone how to send the photos correctly, or download a HEIC to JPEG converter.

I will post my results. Thanks everyone!