From Jobsite Photos to JPGs (in 5 Minutes Flat)
Last week, I took a few photos of a project we’re planning to bid on.
I wanted to share them with the team. Quick and simple, right?
Not so fast.
I AirDropped everything from my iPhone to my laptop, opened the folder, and saw this:
.HEIC .HEIC .HEIC
I always wondered why Apple used .HEIC, but these are Apple’s “high efficiency” photo files. Great quality, smaller size, but I like to convert them in case someone has an issue opening them.
So instead of spending 15 minutes manually converting them, I let Claude Code handle it.
Five minutes later, I had a clean folder of JPGs. Same names, same quality. Problem solved.
Maybe I Solved a Problem that Doesn't Exist
I'm sure no one would actually have a problem opening these pics, but in my company, someone is always claiming their technology doesn't work.
I guess I just don't want to hear,
“Hey, I can’t open these.”
I had about 10 of them sitting in my Downloads folder. The thought of right-click → export → rename… 10 times? EEhhhh, I could have done it, but nah, let's do something different this time.
The Five-Minute Fix
Since I'm trying to learn all things AI to make my life easy, I decided to try this Claude Code thing I've seen on YouTube. So I downloaded Claude Code and went through all the tutorials.
Once I had Claude Code in my terminal, all I said was...
“I need to convert all my HEIC files in the downloads folder to JPG.”
That’s it.
Claude Code did the rest.
It found the files and converted them.
All done in minutes.
Why It Actually Matters
It’s not that converting files is hard. It’s that it’s annoying.
And annoying tasks add up.
These are the little things that break your focus and waste your afternoon.
Claude Code sits perfectly in that gap between
“I could figure this out” and “I really don’t want to.”
Since then, I’ve used it to:
- Batch rename photos from weird camera names
- Resize images to meet client upload limits
- Sort project photos by date taken
Same process every time: Describe the problem → Claude handles the tech → you move on.
If You Want to Try It
- Download Claude Code on your computer
- Open Claude Code in your terminal
- Tell it what you need in plain English (“Convert all HEIC files in my downloads to JPG.”)
- It’ll guide you step by step
- Approve what it suggests
- Watch it work
No uploads. No privacy concerns. Everything stays on your computer.
The Bottom Line
Claude Code won’t change your life.
But it’ll quietly save you hours every month.
Five minutes to convert files instead of half an hour of clicking? That’s a win in my book.
What’s one annoying file problem you deal with all the time? I’m curious how others are using tools like this to skip the boring parts.
Let me know...
-Ben Lanier
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