diff --git a/3rdparty/CMakeLists.txt b/3rdparty/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/3rdparty/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/3rdparty/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -212,5 +212,10 @@
 	add_subdirectory( ext_gmic )
 endif ()
 
+if(UNIX)
+    add_subdirectory( ext_pkgconfig )
+    add_subdirectory( ext_heif )
+endif()
+
 add_subdirectory(ext_giflib)
 add_subdirectory(ext_quazip)
diff --git a/3rdparty/ext_heif/CMakeLists.txt b/3rdparty/ext_heif/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/3rdparty/ext_heif/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+SET(EXTPREFIX_heif "${EXTPREFIX}" )
+ExternalProject_Add(
+    ext_libde265
+    DOWNLOAD_DIR ${EXTERNALS_DOWNLOAD_DIR}
+    URL https://github.com/strukturag/libde265/releases/download/v1.0.3/libde265-1.0.3.tar.gz
+    URL_MD5 0e1e26ffcb2177c3749c748e20fcd588
+
+    BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
+
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND <SOURCE_DIR>/configure --prefix=${EXTPREFIX_heif} ${GLOBAL_AUTOMAKE_PROFILE}
+    BUILD_COMMAND make
+    INSTALL_COMMAND make install
+
+    UPDATE_COMMAND ""
+)
+
+ExternalProject_Add(
+    ext_yasm
+    DOWNLOAD_DIR ${EXTERNALS_DOWNLOAD_DIR}
+    URL http://www.tortall.net/projects/yasm/releases/yasm-1.3.0.tar.gz
+    URL_MD5 fc9e586751ff789b34b1f21d572d96af
+
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND <SOURCE_DIR>/configure --prefix=${EXTPREFIX_heif} ${GLOBAL_AUTOMAKE_PROFILE}
+    BUILD_COMMAND make
+    INSTALL_COMMAND make install
+
+    UPDATE_COMMAND ""
+)
+
+ExternalProject_Add(
+    ext_nasm
+    DOWNLOAD_DIR ${EXTERNALS_DOWNLOAD_DIR}
+    URL https://www.nasm.us/pub/nasm/releasebuilds/2.14.03rc2/nasm-2.14.03rc2.tar.gz
+    URL_MD5 4cd1fe6788cd15d08c1a8f18b6d2428e
+
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND <SOURCE_DIR>/configure --prefix=${EXTPREFIX_heif} ${GLOBAL_AUTOMAKE_PROFILE}
+    BUILD_COMMAND make
+    INSTALL_COMMAND make install
+
+    UPDATE_COMMAND ""
+)
+
+ExternalProject_Add(
+    ext_libx265
+    DOWNLOAD_DIR ${EXTERNALS_DOWNLOAD_DIR}
+    URL http://ftp.videolan.org/pub/videolan/x265/x265_3.0.tar.gz
+    URL_MD5 8ff1780246bb7ac8506239f6129c04ec
+
+    SOURCE_SUBDIR source/
+    CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${EXTPREFIX_heif}
+    BUILD_COMMAND make
+    INSTALL_COMMAND make install
+
+    UPDATE_COMMAND ""
+    DEPENDS ext_yasm ext_nasm
+)
+
+ExternalProject_Add(
+    ext_libheif
+    DOWNLOAD_DIR ${EXTERNALS_DOWNLOAD_DIR}
+    URL https://github.com/strukturag/libheif/releases/download/v1.4.0/libheif-1.4.0.tar.gz
+    URL_MD5 b3c726609a8750c5fc1687a7b193adff
+
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND <SOURCE_DIR>/configure --prefix=${EXTPREFIX_heif} ${GLOBAL_AUTOMAKE_PROFILE}
+
+    BUILD_COMMAND CXXFLAGS="-Wno-error" make
+    INSTALL_COMMAND make install
+
+    UPDATE_COMMAND ""
+    DEPENDS ext_libde265 ext_libx265 ext_pkgconfig
+)
diff --git a/3rdparty/ext_pkgconfig/CMakeLists.txt b/3rdparty/ext_pkgconfig/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/3rdparty/ext_pkgconfig/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+SET(PREFIX_pkgconfig "${EXTPREFIX}" )
+
+ExternalProject_Add( ext_pkgconfig
+    DOWNLOAD_DIR ${EXTERNALS_DOWNLOAD_DIR}
+    URL http://pkgconfig.freedesktop.org/releases/pkg-config-0.29.1.tar.gz
+    URL_MD5 f739a28cae4e0ca291f82d1d41ef107d
+
+    BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
+
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND <SOURCE_DIR>/configure --prefix=${PREFIX_pkgconfig} ${GLOBAL_AUTOMAKE_PROFILE} --with-internal-glib
+    BUILD_COMMAND make
+    INSTALL_COMMAND make install
+)
diff --git a/packaging/macos/osxbuild.sh b/packaging/macos/osxbuild.sh
--- a/packaging/macos/osxbuild.sh
+++ b/packaging/macos/osxbuild.sh
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@
     # build 3rdparty tools
     # The order must not be changed!
     cmake_3rdparty \
+        ext_pkgconfig \
         ext_gettext \
         ext_openssl \
         ext_qt \
@@ -209,6 +210,8 @@
         ext_sip \
         ext_pyqt
 
+    cmake_3rdparty ext_libheif
+
     cmake_3rdparty \
         ext_extra_cmake_modules \
         ext_kconfig \
@@ -235,6 +238,8 @@
                 cd ${KIS_TBUILD_DIR}/${pkg}/${pkg}-prefix/src/${pkg}-stamp
             } || {
                 cd ${KIS_TBUILD_DIR}/ext_frameworks/${pkg}-prefix/src/${pkg}-stamp
+            } || {
+                cd ${KIS_TBUILD_DIR}/ext_heif/${pkg}-prefix/src/${pkg}-stamp
             }
             echo "Installing ${pkg} files..."
             rm ${pkg}-configure ${pkg}-build ${pkg}-install
@@ -251,6 +256,7 @@
     fi
 
     build_install_ext \
+        ext_pkgconfig \
         ext_gettext \
         ext_openssl \
         ext_qt \
@@ -274,6 +280,8 @@
         ext_sip \
         ext_pyqt \
 
+    build_install_ext ext_libheif
+
     # Build kde_frameworks
     build_install_ext \
         ext_extra_cmake_modules \