Image
What is a .tiff file?
A .tiff file is a high-quality image, common in scanning, printing and archiving. Files are large because nothing is thrown away.
This extension has been used by more than one format
11 different formats have claimed .tiff over the years, so two files with the same extension aren't necessarily the same kind of thing.
- Exchangeable Image File Format (Uncompressed)Version 2.2 · x-fmt/387
- Exchangeable Image File Format (Uncompressed)Version 2.1 · x-fmt/388
- Exchangeable Image File Format (Uncompressed)Version 2.0 · x-fmt/399
- Digital Negative Format (DNG)Version 1.1 · fmt/152
- Tagged Image File Format for Image Technology (TIFF/IT)No version recorded · fmt/153
- Tagged Image File Format for Electronic Photography (TIFF/EP)No version recorded · fmt/154
- Geographic Tagged Image File Format (GeoTIFF)No version recorded · fmt/155
- Tagged Image File Format for Internet Fax (TIFF-FX)No version recorded · fmt/156
- Tagged Image File FormatNo version recorded · fmt/353
- Kodak DCS RAW ImageNo version recorded · fmt/2090
- Kodak DCS RAW ImageVersion 3 · fmt/2091
How to open a .tiff file
- WindowsPhotos
- WindowsIrfanView
- WindowsGIMP
- MacPreview
- LinuxGIMP
- LinuxEye of GNOME
How to convert a .tiff file
- Save as .jpg for email, or .pdf if it's a scanned document.
MIME type
When a .tiff file travels over the web, servers label it with one of these MIME types:
image/tiffimage/dngThe technical record
For archivists, developers and the merely curious: these are the PRONOM registry entries for .tiff.
| Format name | Version | MIME type | PUID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exchangeable Image File Format (Uncompressed) | 2.2 | image/tiff | x-fmt/387 |
| Exchangeable Image File Format (Uncompressed) | 2.1 | image/tiff | x-fmt/388 |
| Exchangeable Image File Format (Uncompressed) | 2.0 | image/tiff | x-fmt/399 |
| Digital Negative Format (DNG) | 1.1 | image/dng, image/tiff | fmt/152 |
| Tagged Image File Format for Image Technology (TIFF/IT) | — | image/tiff | fmt/153 |
| Tagged Image File Format for Electronic Photography (TIFF/EP) | — | image/tiff | fmt/154 |
| Geographic Tagged Image File Format (GeoTIFF) | — | image/tiff | fmt/155 |
| Tagged Image File Format for Internet Fax (TIFF-FX) | — | image/tiff | fmt/156 |
| Tagged Image File Format | — | image/tiff | fmt/353 |
| Kodak DCS RAW Image | — | — | fmt/2090 |
| Kodak DCS RAW Image | 3 | — | fmt/2091 |