You’ve probably met a TIFF file when a printer, a scanner or a stock photo agency asked for one. It’s an older format that remains popular in professional workflows, and it behaves very differently from the files you share online.
What TIFF is
TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format. It’s a flexible container designed to store image data at high quality. A TIFF can be uncompressed, losslessly compressed, or sometimes compressed with other methods. It can store 16 bits per color channel, multiple layers or pages and various color modes including CMYK.
Why people use it
- No quality loss. With uncompressed or lossless compression, every detail is preserved. Re-saving doesn’t degrade it. See lossy vs lossless compression.
- High bit depth. 16-bit TIFFs give editors more room for adjusting tones without banding.
- Print workflows. Many print shops and publishers accept or prefer TIFF. It handles CMYK, which web formats mostly don’t. See RGB vs CMYK.
- Scanning and archiving. Libraries and museums store masters as TIFF because it’s stable and well documented.
Why you shouldn’t use it on the web
TIFF files are very large, often tens of megabytes for one photo. Most browsers don’t display them, and sharing them by email or upload forms is awkward. For the web, use JPG, PNG or WebP. See JPG vs PNG vs WebP.
TIFF vs JPG vs PNG
- TIFF: highest fidelity and flexibility, biggest files, not web friendly
- PNG: lossless, great for graphics and transparency, browser friendly
- JPG: small and lossy, best for sharing photos
How to convert a TIFF
If a TIFF is too big or refuses to upload, convert a copy to JPG, or PNG if you need to keep exactness or transparency. Keep the TIFF as your master. For sharing, resize it first, since TIFFs are often at full camera or scanner resolution. Steps for shrinking files are in how to reduce image file size.
Compression inside TIFF
Some TIFFs use LZW or ZIP compression, which is lossless and can shrink the file without any quality penalty. JPEG compression inside a TIFF exists too, but is lossy. If you must keep TIFF but save space, LZW or ZIP is the safe option.
When to use TIFF
- As an archival master of scanned photos or documents
- When a printer or publisher asks for it
- As an editing intermediate when you need maximum quality
- When you need CMYK or 16-bit data
For scanning, see reducing the size of scanned documents, where TIFF’s size is often the reason files balloon.
Is TIFF the same as RAW?
No. RAW files hold unprocessed sensor data. TIFFs are processed images. See RAW vs JPG.
Need to turn a large file into something shareable? Use our online image resizer to shrink and convert.