Clinical photo resolution and format: HEIC or JPEG

Few people in the clinic think about format and resolution until the day a photo will not open on the computer, or reaches a colleague so compressed that the skin cannot be seen. Both problems are avoidable with two simple decisions: what to capture and what to keep.

A clinical photo is not a photo for an album. It documents skin texture, relief and proportion, and loses value with every unnecessary compression.

What resolution is worth it?

Modern phones capture photos at a resolution well above what the face needs. For a clinical facial photo, what matters is sharpness at the point of interest and the absence of digital zoom, more than the megapixel count.

A few practical points:

• Camera standard mode: usually delivers more than enough resolution, with balanced processing.
• Very high resolutions: produce large files and do not always gain real detail; they only pay off if the device processes them well.
• Digital zoom: lowers the effective resolution and worsens quality, the topic of phone zoom in clinical photos.
• Sharpness and focus: a photo focused on the eye is worth more than an out-of-focus high-resolution one.

Test your routine: zoom in on the image on the computer screen. If you can make out pores, fine lines and the texture of the lip without blur, the resolution is adequate.

HEIC, JPEG or PNG?

The format determines the file's size, quality and compatibility.

For most clinics, high-quality JPEG is the safest choice because of its compatibility. HEIC is a good option if the whole workflow (phone, computer, system) supports it. The important thing is to decide and stick with it. On iPhones, the camera saves in HEIC by default, but there is an option in the camera settings to capture in a more compatible format.

What happens when the photo goes through a messaging app?

Many chat apps shrink the image and increase compression to save data. The photo that arrives on the other side is smaller, blurrier and sometimes missing part of the file's data. For a casual photo, that goes unnoticed. For a clinical photo, it can get in the way of another professional's assessment.

There is also the privacy issue: a patient's photo in a personal messaging app carries the risks covered in patient photo on personal WhatsApp. When you need to share with a colleague, use an appropriate channel and send the file at the quality needed, as in sharing a photo with another professional.

How do you define the clinic's file policy?

A short policy solves most problems. It answers three questions: what is captured, what is kept and what is sent.

1. Capture: camera standard mode, no digital zoom, no filters, no portrait mode.
2. Keep: the original file, at the highest quality the device provides, in the format the clinic chose.
3. Send: a smaller copy, without the file's internal data, at enough quality for its purpose.

Write these three lines in the clinic manual. That way the team does not need to decide for each photo, and photos stay comparable over the years. When you change phones, check that the format and resolution are still the same, as suggested in standardizing photos between visits.

What about storage space?

High-quality photos take up space, and a clinic with many patients accumulates large files. The temptation to shrink everything to save space is natural, but it leads to irreversible loss of detail. Prefer investing in proper storage, with backup, over compressing the originals. The options are in storing patient photos, backing up clinical photos and cloud storage for patient photos.

Shrinking working and sending copies is reasonable. Shrinking the original is not. The retention period, which affects the space needed, is covered in retention of photos in the patient record.

And in Harmy?

In the app, you pick the photo from the camera or the gallery. Harmy uploads it to generate the projection and the photo goes to a third-party AI, with the professional's consent in the app. Photos that are heavily compressed, out of focus or short on detail will produce a projection less faithful to the patient. Use a sharp, front-facing, well-lit photo, preferably the same one as in the patient record.

The projection is an illustrative simulation and not a promise of results. The flow is in standardized front photo. If the photo comes from a messaging app conversation, it may already have lost quality, and it is better to retake it in the office. See also poor photo for AI projection.

Summary for your routine

Capture in standard mode, with no digital zoom, pick a format compatible with your whole workflow, keep the original unedited and send smaller copies when needed. Do not let the messaging app decide the quality of your clinical record.