TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
TIFF is a flexible, high-quality image format widely used in photography, publishing, and medical imaging. It supports lossless compression, multiple pages, layers, and very high color depths up to 32 bits per channel. TIFF is the standard archival format for professional photography and print production.
MIME Type
image/tiff
Type
Binary
Compression
Lossless
Advantages
- + Lossless compression preserves full quality
- + Supports very high bit depths and CMYK
- + Industry standard for print and archival
- + Multi-page and layer support
Disadvantages
- − Very large file sizes
- − No browser support for web display
- − Complex format with many optional features
When to Use .TIFF
Use TIFF for archival photography, print production, medical imaging, and any workflow requiring maximum quality with no compression artifacts.
Technical Details
TIFF uses a tag-based structure allowing multiple compression methods including LZW, ZIP, and JPEG. It supports ICC profiles, CMYK color, 16/32-bit floating point, and multi-page documents.
History
TIFF was created by Aldus Corporation in 1986 for desktop publishing scanners. Adobe Systems acquired the specification in 1994 and maintains it as TIFF 6.0.
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