TIFF to JPG Converter

Why a TIFF is not a sharing format

A TIFF is built for print and archival work. It stores almost no compression by default, it can carry a colour profile, resolution in DPI, layers, channels, and embedded previews, and the result is a file measured in tens of megabytes. None of that is useful for an email attachment or a website, and much of it is actively in the way. JPG discards the metadata and compresses the image heavily, which produces a file that opens anywhere and looks identical at ordinary sizes. It is the right output for sharing and the wrong one for printing.

NoteA TIFF is a master, not a sharing format. Convert a copy, keep the original.

The colour profile trap

A TIFF from a designer or a print supplier often carries an embedded colour profile that describes exactly what its colours mean, such as a specific print CMYK profile. JPG conversion produces a plain RGB image, and that profile is discarded. If a print shop needs to know the intended colour handling, a JPG alone will not tell them. For anything going to print, send the original TIFF rather than a converted copy, and use the JPG only for viewing and sharing. This is the one case where the converted file is genuinely not a substitute.

• A TIFF may carry a print CMYK or custom profile that a JPG cannot hold.
• Conversion produces a plain RGB image and discards the profile.
• Send the original TIFF to any print supplier.
• Use the JPG for viewing, email, and web only.

NoteA converted JPG cannot tell a print shop what colour handling was intended.

What quality setting to use

Converting to JPG is a lossy step, and the sensible setting depends on where the result goes. For an email attachment or a web image viewed at a modest size, balanced quality is more than sufficient and the file is small. For a large display, or where the image is being printed from the JPG rather than from the TIFF, a higher setting is worth the extra bytes. The check that matters is viewing the result at 100 percent and looking at the edges and any smooth gradient, where JPG artefacts appear first.

• Email and web: balanced quality. More than sufficient at those sizes.
• Large display or a print from the JPG: use a higher setting.
• Inspect edges and gradients at 100 percent for artefacts.
• Keep the TIFF. The JPG is a delivery copy.

Converting a whole scan session

A scanning session produces a folder of TIFFs that are enormous and awkward to work with, and converting them together to JPG is the practical way to make them usable. Applying one quality setting across a set keeps it visually consistent, which matters when the images are viewed together. The originals remain where they are, so the conversion is repeatable and reversible in the sense that nothing is destroyed. A few gigabytes of TIFFs becoming a few hundred megabytes of JPGs is the normal outcome.

• Convert the folder in one pass with a single quality setting.
• One setting across a set keeps the images visually consistent.
• The TIFF originals are untouched, so nothing is lost.
• A large reduction in total size is the expected result.