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Guide — Image Formats

What Is a TIFF File? The Complete Guide

TIFF is the workhorse format of professional printing and scanning — but its lack of web and browser support means you'll often need to convert it. Here's what TIFF is, how it works, and when to convert it.

What Does TIFF Stand For?

TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format. Aldus — the company later acquired by Adobe — developed it in 1986 as a flexible standard for storing scanned documents and professional images. It remains the default format for print production, document scanning, and long-term archiving today.

How TIFF Works

TIFF stores images either completely uncompressed or with lossless LZW compression, so no image data is ever discarded. It can hold layers, alpha channels, embedded color profiles, and rich metadata, which is why it's the preferred handoff format between scanners, cameras, and print shops. The trade-off is size — TIFF files are often dramatically larger than JPG or PNG, and the format has no native support in web browsers.

TIFF vs PNG vs JPG

Here's how TIFF compares to the two formats people most often convert it to:

Feature TIFF PNG JPG
Compression Lossless (LZW) or none Lossless (deflate) Lossy
File Size Very large Large Small
Transparency Yes Yes No
Browser Support None Universal Universal
Best For Print, archiving Web graphics Web photos
Editing Support Professional tools Universal Universal
Color Depth Up to 32-bit Up to 16-bit 8-bit

TIFF Compatibility: Where It Opens

Professional creative software handles TIFF without issue, but consumer software and every major browser do not:

Platform TIFF Support
Photoshop Full native support
GIMP Full native support
Preview (macOS) Full native support
Chrome / Firefox / Edge No native support
Windows Photo Viewer Limited support

When to Convert TIFF

Convert TIFF to PNG or JPG when you need to publish the image on a website, attach it to an email, or open it in software that doesn't support TIFF at all — which includes every web browser. PNG keeps the conversion lossless; JPG gives you the smallest possible file for casual sharing.

Our TIFF to PNG converter and TIFF to JPG converter both run entirely in your browser, with nothing uploaded to a server.

Related Tools

TIFF to PNG

Convert TIFF to lossless, browser-friendly PNG.

 TIFF to JPG

Convert TIFF to a small, shareable JPG.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a TIFF file?

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a professional image format developed by Aldus, now owned by Adobe, in 1986. It's the standard for print production, scanning, and archiving because it stores images losslessly with rich metadata, layers, and color profile support.

Is TIFF better than PNG?

For print and archival work, yes — TIFF supports higher color depths, multi-page documents, and professional color profiles that PNG doesn't. For web use, PNG is the better choice: it's far smaller and browsers can display it natively, which TIFF cannot.

Can browsers open TIFF files?

No major browser — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge — can render a TIFF file directly on a web page. TIFF was designed for professional print and scanning workflows, not web display, so it has no built-in browser decoder.

Does converting TIFF to PNG lose quality?

No. PNG uses lossless compression, so every pixel from the TIFF file is preserved exactly when converted. The only changes are file size — PNG is typically smaller — and compatibility, since PNG opens in every browser and most software.

Why are TIFF files so large?

TIFF often stores images uncompressed or with minimal lossless compression to guarantee maximum quality for print and archival use. It can also bundle multiple pages, layers, and high color-depth data in a single file, all of which add to the size.