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TIFF converter

A .tiff file is a Tagged Image File Format raster, the long-standing archival and prepress standard for images that must not lose a single bit. Its tag-based structure lets one .tiff hold multiple pages, layers of metadata, and pixel formats from 1-bit fax scans to 32-bit floating-point channels.

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Drop TIFF files here

Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.

Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.

Where TIFF comes from

Aldus Corporation created TIFF in 1986 to unify output from early desktop scanners, and the still-current revision 6.0 was published in 1992. Adobe inherited the specification when it acquired Aldus in 1994 and has stewarded it since, while extensions like BigTIFF (2004) lifted the original 4 GB size ceiling.

How TIFF works

  • Structured as Image File Directories (IFDs) of numbered tags, allowing multiple images per file
  • Compression is negotiable per file: none, PackBits, LZW, ZIP/Deflate, CCITT G4 for bilevel, or even embedded JPEG
  • Pixel support spans 1-bit bilevel through 16-bit integer and 32-bit float per channel
  • Handles RGB, CMYK, Lab, and grayscale with embedded ICC profiles, which is why prepress relies on it
  • Classic TIFF is limited to 4 GB; the BigTIFF variant uses 64-bit offsets for larger files

When to use TIFF

  • Archival masters for museums, libraries, and digitization projects
  • Print and prepress handoff where CMYK and ICC accuracy are contractual
  • Scientific and medical imaging that needs high bit depths
  • Multi-page document scans with lossless fidelity

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Losslessly preserves any bit depth and color space you throw at it
  • Decades of stability make it the safest long-term archival bet
  • Multi-page and multi-resolution storage in one file
  • Universally supported by professional imaging software

Limitations

  • Files are huge — often 10x a visually identical JPEG
  • Browsers do not display TIFF (Safari being the historical partial exception)
  • The flexible tag system means obscure variants occasionally confound simple readers

Compatibility

Every serious image editor, scanner driver, and DTP application on Windows, macOS, and Linux reads TIFF, and both major OSes preview it natively. Web browsers are the gap: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge will download rather than display a .tiff, so web delivery always requires conversion to PNG, JPEG, or WebP.

EXIF is itself structured as TIFF tags, so TIFF holds it natively, alongside XMP packets, IPTC records, ICC profiles, and GeoTIFF georeferencing tags.

Convert TIFF to another format

Convert other formats to TIFF