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ImageConverter

Secure server conversion

BMP to TIFF Converter

Convert a Windows BMP into a TIFF. This is one of the rare conversions that makes a file smaller while losing nothing: every pixel is kept exactly, and a photograph shrank by 29% in testing — a simple graphic by 99%. It is the natural way to bring a folder of old bitmaps into a format built for keeping.

Deleted automatically Uploads removed within 30 minutes

Drag and drop your BMP images here

Add several at once. Each file is processed and then deleted from our server.

Up to 20 MB per file Batch ready

Step by step

How to convert BMP to TIFF in 3 steps

  1. Add your BMP

  2. Nothing to configure

    The conversion is lossless.

  3. Download your TIFF

Format comparison

BMP vs TIFF

BMP (Windows Bitmap)

Uncompressed

An early Windows format that stores pixels more or less raw, with little or no compression.

  • Read by old and embedded software that knows nothing newer
  • No compression artefacts
  • Very large files for the image size

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

Lossless

A flexible container used in scanning, printing and archiving, where quality matters more than size.

  • Lossless, with high bit depths and CMYK for print
  • Standard in publishing and scanning workflows
  • Large files, and web browsers cannot display it

Why it shrinks without losing anything

A BMP stores its pixels raw — three bytes for each, with no compression. A TIFF here stores the same pixels using LZW, a lossless compression scheme that finds repeated patterns and writes them more compactly. Nothing is approximated; the pixels decode back identically.

How much it saves depends on how much repetition the image has. Measured:

  • A photograph: 360 KB as BMP → 256 KB as TIFF, 29% smaller.
  • A simple graphic — flat colours, clean shapes: 720 KB → 5 KB, 99% smaller.

Screenshots, diagrams and interface captures, which are what old BMPs very often contain, sit at the dramatic end of that range.

Why TIFF for keeping old bitmaps

BMP is simple but was never designed as an archive format. TIFF was, and it has been the preservation format of choice for libraries and archives for decades:

  • It is openly documented and supported by essentially all professional imaging software, and will remain readable long into the future.
  • It compresses losslessly, so a collection takes a fraction of the space without any quality cost.
  • It can hold more than BMP — higher bit depths, transparency, multiple pages and colour-managed print data — so it never becomes a limitation later.

Quality

Quality and file size

There is no quality setting. The TIFF holds exactly the pixels of the BMP.

Resolution

BMPs record a resolution in pixels per metre, and it comes across. A BMP saved at 96 DPI — the Windows default — gives a 96 DPI TIFF.

Many BMPs record no resolution at all, which BMP expresses as zero. Those TIFFs are written at 72 DPI, the conventional default, rather than carrying a meaningless zero into a format that print software reads.

Old and unusual BMPs

Most BMP variants convert cleanly, including low colour depths such as 16 or 256 colours. The image comes out as ordinary full-colour TIFF with the same appearance.

If a very old or unusual bitmap will not convert, it is most likely a rare variant — an OS/2 header or unusual bit layout. Opening and re-saving it in any modern image editor usually normalises it.

Folders of screenshots

Old Windows screenshots saved as BMP add up quickly, because every one is stored at full raw size: a single 1920 × 1080 capture is about 6.2 MB whatever it shows, so a folder of a hundred is over 600 MB. Screen captures are mostly flat interface colour — the kind of image that compressed by 99% in testing — so converting a collection like that to TIFF typically reclaims most of the space, with every pixel still exact.

Ordinary BMPs have no transparency and carry no camera metadata, so there is nothing of that kind to lose: the TIFF is a plain full-colour image, identical in content.

TIFF or PNG?

BMP to PNG is equally lossless, and for simple graphics often even smaller. Choose PNG for general use and the web; choose TIFF for archiving, print and professional imaging workflows that expect it.

When BMP to TIFF makes sense

  • Archiving scans, screenshots and images from old Windows software.
  • Reclaiming disk space from folders of raw bitmaps without losing any detail.
  • Moving into print or imaging workflows that are built on TIFF.
  • Scientific, medical and industrial images exported as BMP by older equipment, going into systems that expect TIFF.

Going the other way

TIFF to BMP is the reverse, for legacy software that reads only bitmaps. For sharing an old bitmap rather than keeping it, BMP to JPG produces a much smaller file for photographs, and BMP to PDF turns it into a document.

What happens to your file

Browsers cannot write TIFF files, so this runs on our server. Your upload is deleted the moment conversion finishes, the result is deleted as you download it, and anything abandoned is swept automatically.

Privacy

What happens to your file

This tool runs on our server, so it works the same on every phone and computer. Your file is uploaded, and this is exactly what happens to it:

  • Stored outside the public web root under a random name, never under your file's name.
  • Processed, with the original upload deleted immediately — whether it succeeded or failed.
  • The result sits behind a signed link that only you receive, which stops working after 20 minutes, and the file is deleted the moment you download it.
  • Anything never collected is deleted automatically within 30 minutes.
  • The image itself is never logged or kept. If a conversion fails, we record the formats involved and the error — not the file.
  • Camera metadata, including any GPS coordinates recording where a photo was taken, is removed from the result. Only the rotation needed to show the image the right way up is kept.

Questions & answers

BMP to TIFF: frequently asked questions

Does converting BMP to TIFF lose quality?

No. The TIFF uses lossless compression, so every pixel decodes back identically to the BMP.

Why is the TIFF smaller than my BMP?

A BMP stores pixels raw; the TIFF compresses them losslessly by finding repeated patterns. Measured, a photograph shrank 29% (360 KB to 256 KB) and a simple graphic 99% (720 KB to 5 KB).

Is TIFF good for archiving old bitmaps?

Yes. TIFF is openly documented, a long-standing preservation format for archives and libraries, compresses losslessly, and can hold more than BMP ever could, so it will not become a limitation.

What DPI will my TIFF have?

The same as the BMP where one is recorded — a 96 DPI BMP gives a 96 DPI TIFF. BMPs that record none, stored as zero, become 72 DPI, the conventional default.

Will a 256-colour BMP convert properly?

Yes. Low colour depth BMPs convert to a standard full-colour TIFF that looks the same as the original.

Should I use TIFF or PNG?

Both are lossless. PNG suits general use and the web, and is often smaller for simple graphics. TIFF suits archiving, print and professional imaging workflows that expect it.

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