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ImageConverter

Secure server conversion

TIFF to JPG Converter

Convert TIFF files to JPG — typically shrinking a scan or print file to a small fraction of its size. TIFFs carry things JPG cannot, including CMYK colour, 16-bit depth and multiple pages, so it is worth knowing what happens to each before you convert.

Deleted automatically Uploads removed within 30 minutes

Drag and drop your TIFF images here

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

Up to 20 MB per file Batch ready

90
Smaller file More detail
Presets:

Higher keeps more detail; lower makes a smaller file. Applies to images you add after changing it.

#ffffff

JPG cannot store transparency, so it is filled with this colour.

Step by step

How to convert TIFF to JPG in 4 steps

  1. Add your TIFF files

    Both .tif and .tiff work.

  2. Choose a quality

    90 by default — high, because TIFFs are usually masters worth preserving.

  3. Pick a background colour if the TIFF has transparency

  4. Download

    Expect a dramatically smaller file.

Format comparison

TIFF vs JPG

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

JPG / JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

Lossy

Shrinks photographs to a fraction of their size by discarding fine detail the eye is least likely to notice.

  • Small files for photographs
  • Opens on virtually every device, browser and app
  • Blurs text and sharp edges, and re-saving loses a little more each time

TIFF is not really one format so much as a container that can hold almost anything, which is why it turns up wherever image quality is the priority: scanners, print workflows, professional photography, medical imaging and archives.

A TIFF can be uncompressed or losslessly compressed, hold 8, 16 or 32 bits per channel, use RGB or CMYK colour, store transparency, contain layers, and hold multiple pages in a single file. JPG can do exactly one of those things: 8-bit RGB, lossily compressed, one page.

So this conversion discards a great deal. Here is precisely what happens to each:

  • CMYK becomes sRGB. Print files are usually CMYK, and JPEG technically permits CMYK too — which is a trap, because browsers render CMYK JPEGs with inverted or muddy colours. This converter converts the colour properly rather than passing it through, so the result looks right on screen.
  • 16-bit becomes 8-bit. A scanner's extra depth is for editing headroom; JPG has none. Once converted, heavy exposure or colour correction will band.
  • Multiple pages become the first page. A multi-page TIFF — a scanned document, typically — converts only its first page, because a JPG holds one image.
  • Layers are flattened to what the file says it looks like.
  • Transparency becomes a solid colour, since JPG has no alpha channel.

What you get in exchange is size. An uncompressed 300 dpi A4 scan can be 25 MB as TIFF and under 2 MB as JPG, with no visible difference on screen.

What happens to transparent pixels when converting TIFF to JPG?

JPG cannot store transparency, so transparent and semi-transparent areas are blended onto a solid background before the file is saved — the colour you choose above, #FFFFFF by default. Keep your original TIFF if you may need the transparency again.

Quality

Quality and file size

The default of 90 is higher than this site uses elsewhere, deliberately. TIFFs are usually master copies — a scan you may not be able to make again, or a file a client sent — so the aim is a faithful conversion rather than the smallest possible file.

  • 95–100 — Effectively indistinguishable from the TIFF. Worth it for anything you will print or edit.
  • 85–94 — The default range. Excellent for viewing, sharing and archiving alongside the original.
  • 70–84 — Much smaller. Fine for web use and email.
  • Below 70 — Visible artefacts, particularly around text in document scans.

Keep the TIFF. This conversion is one-way in every sense that matters: the colour depth, the extra pages and the colour space cannot be recovered from the JPG. Treat the JPG as a copy for use and the TIFF as the master.

If your TIFF is a document scan — text on white — JPG is a poor fit. JPEG compression smears exactly the hard black-on-white edges that make text readable. PNG handles that far better, and for a multi-page document you may want a PDF rather than an image at all.

Where TIFFs come from

  • Scanners, which default to TIFF for archival quality — flatbed scanners, document feeders and film scanners alike.
  • Print and design workflows. Agencies and printers exchange TIFFs because they are lossless and carry CMYK.
  • Professional photography, as an intermediate between a raw file and a finished export.
  • Fax and document archives, often multi-page and bitonal.
  • Satellite, medical and scientific imaging, where bit depth matters.

The CMYK problem, and why it matters here

This is the detail most converters get wrong, so it is worth explaining.

Print files use CMYK — cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the four inks a press lays down. Screens use RGB. The two describe colour completely differently, and a conversion between them is a real calculation rather than a relabelling.

The trap is that the JPEG specification allows CMYK data. So a naive converter can write a CMYK JPEG, which is technically valid and which browsers display with inverted or strangely muted colours — the classic "why does my image look like a photo negative" problem.

This tool converts the colour space properly before encoding, so what you download looks the way the file is meant to look. If you genuinely need CMYK preserved for a printer, keep the TIFF: converting to JPG for that purpose defeats the point.

Multi-page TIFFs

Scanned documents are frequently multi-page TIFFs. A JPG holds a single image, so only the first page is converted — the rest are not in the output.

If you need every page, a PDF is almost certainly the format you actually want, since it keeps the pages together in one file. Converting page by page produces a folder of loose images that is harder to use than the original.

Choosing a different target

  • Document scans and anything with text — PNG. Lossless, so text edges stay crisp.
  • Images with transparency you need — PNG again; JPG cannot store it.
  • Photographs for the web — JPG here is fine, or WebP for smaller files at the same quality.
  • Anything heading back to a printer — keep the TIFF.

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

TIFF to JPG: frequently asked questions

Why do my converted colours look wrong or inverted?

That is the CMYK problem, and it is what this converter is built to avoid. Print TIFFs are CMYK, and because the JPEG format technically allows CMYK, a naive converter writes a CMYK JPEG that browsers display with inverted or muddy colours. This tool converts the colour space properly first, so the result looks correct on screen.

My TIFF has several pages. Why did I only get one image?

Because a JPG holds a single image. Multi-page TIFFs — usually scanned documents — convert their first page only. If you need every page, a PDF is almost certainly the format you actually want, since it keeps them together in one file.

How much smaller will the JPG be?

Dramatically. An uncompressed 300 dpi A4 scan can be 25 MB as TIFF and under 2 MB as JPG with no visible difference on screen. TIFFs are frequently uncompressed or losslessly compressed, so there is a great deal of room.

Will I lose quality?

Some, and more than the word "quality" suggests. Beyond JPEG compression you also lose 16-bit depth down to 8-bit, any CMYK colour data, extra pages and transparency. At quality 90 it looks the same on screen, but the editing headroom is gone. Keep the TIFF as your master.

My scan is a text document. Is JPG the right choice?

Usually not. JPEG compression smears the hard black-on-white edges that make text readable, and document scans are made entirely of those. PNG is a much better fit, and for a multi-page document a PDF is better still.

Is my file uploaded?

Yes — most browsers cannot decode TIFF, so this conversion runs on our server. The upload is deleted immediately after conversion, the result is deleted as you download it, and anything abandoned is swept within half an hour.

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