TIFF, or Tagged Image File Format, is a high-quality image format. It is lossless, meaning it does not discard data when the file is saved. It supports layers, alpha channels, and high bit depth. It is widely used in printing, publishing, and archiving. A TIFF file is larger than a JPEG, often much larger. A 24-megapixel TIFF can be 70 megabytes or more. That size is the price of quality. TIFF is not a delivery format. It is a working and archival format. You do not upload TIFFs to social media. You do not email them. You print from them, and you store them.

TIFF has a long history. It was developed in the 1980s by Aldus, which later merged with Adobe. It is flexible and well-supported. Almost every image editing program can open and save TIFF files. It supports compression, but the compression is lossless, so no data is lost. It supports multiple pages, which makes it useful for faxes and document scanning. It supports transparency and layers. For photographers, TIFF is often used as an intermediate format. You edit a RAW file, then save a TIFF for printing. Or you scan a film negative and save it as a TIFF for archiving. TIFF is not glamorous. It is the workhorse of professional imaging.

TIFF facts

• Lossless. No data is discarded.
• Large. Files are much bigger than JPEGs.
• Flexible. Supports layers, alpha channels, and high bit depth.
• Compatible. Supported by almost all editing software.
• Use. Printing, publishing, and archiving.

TIFF is not the same as RAW. RAW is unprocessed sensor data. TIFF is a processed image format. Both are lossless, but they serve different purposes.