TIFF is a lossless image format, ideal for professional printing and archiving. It stores images without loss of quality and supports high color depths and CMYK colors. TIFF files are large and less suitable for the web, but are standard in publishing and printing. It is often used as an intermediate format in image editing. All common image-editing programs support TIFF.
Category: Photography Basics > 6. Photo Formats & Files Article ID: 6.4 Created: May 2026
The essentials at a glance
- TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a lossless image format—ideal for professional printing and archiving
- TIFF files are significantly larger than JPEG files, but without any loss of quality—all image information is retained
- Less relevant for photographers in everyday use than RAW or JPEG, but the standard in publishing and printing
Explanation
What is TIFF?
TIFF (file extension: .tif or .tiff) is an image format that stores image data losslessly or with lossless compression. Unlike JPEG, no image information is lost when saving—the image can be opened, edited, and saved again any number of times without affecting its quality.
TIFF supports various color depths (8, 16, or 32 bits per channel) and can store both RGB and CMYK colors, making it particularly suitable for professional printing processes.
TIFF vs. JPEG vs. RAW
| Property | TIFF | JPEG | RAW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless (or none) | Lossy | Lossless |
| Quality loss when saving | None | Yes (every time) | None |
| Color depth | 8, 16, or 32 bits | 8 bits | 12–16 bits |
| File size | Very large | Small | Large |
| Immediately usable | Yes | Yes | No (conversion) |
| CMYK support | Yes | Limited | No |
| Typical use | Printing, archiving | Web, everyday use | Post-processing |
When is TIFF used?
Professional printing and publishing: TIFF is the standard in printing companies and publishing houses because it delivers the highest image quality without compression artifacts and supports CMYK. Book covers, magazine pages, advertising posters—everywhere the highest quality matters.
Archiving: Anyone who wants to archive photos long-term without loss of quality can use TIFF as an archival format. However, RAW is often the better choice here because it contains the original sensor data.
Intermediate storage during image editing: If an image is edited in multiple steps and no loss of quality should occur, TIFF is suitable as an intermediate format—before exporting as JPEG at the end.
Disadvantages of TIFF
- Very large files: A 12 MP TIFF (16-bit) can be 70–100 MB in size
- Not suitable for the web: Although browsers can display TIFF files, social media platforms and most web services do not accept them
- Slow loading: Opening and saving large files can take longer
- Not a standard in digital cameras: Most cameras only offer JPEG and RAW—TIFF is rarely available directly from the camera
TIFF and image-editing software
All professional image-editing programs (Photoshop, Lightroom, GIMP, Affinity Photo) fully support TIFF. When exporting from Lightroom or Photoshop, you can save directly as TIFF (8 or 16 bits)—ideal as an output format for printing services.
Practical tip
For delivery to a printing company or a publishing layout, TIFF in CMYK, 300 dpi, 8 or 16 bits is usually the requested standard. Before sending a file to a service provider, it is worth taking a quick look at their technical specifications—many modern printing companies also accept high-quality JPEG files (quality 95–100%), which significantly reduces the file size without visible loss of quality.