What is TIFF?
TIFF is a high-quality format used by scanners, cameras, print and publishing. It can be uncompressed or losslessly compressed and can hold several pages. TIFF is best for scans, archiving and professional print. TIFF files are very large and web browsers, phones and most websites cannot display them.
What is JPG?
JPG (also written JPEG) is the most widely supported photo format. It uses lossy compression tuned for photographs, which keeps files small, but it has no transparency. JPG is best for photos, e-mail attachments, social media and any upload form.
When should you convert TIFF to JPG?
- A scanner or camera produced huge TIFF files that are too large to e-mail.
- You want to view or share scans on a phone or upload them to a website.
- A print or archive TIFF must be sent to someone who cannot open TIFF.
Tips for the best result
Multi-page TIFFs are converted from their first page. Uncompressed, LZW, Deflate and most other common TIFF compressions are supported. Use 90 % quality and, for scans of documents, a width of 2000–2500 px for readable, light files.
TIFF vs JPG at a glance
| TIFF | JPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Raster | Raster |
| Compression | None or lossless | Lossy |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Animation | Multi-page | No |
| Compatibility | Print and pro software; not browsers | Universal |
| Best for | Scans, archiving and professional print | Photos, e-mail attachments, social media and any upload form |