Convert TIFF to JPG — print-archival format meets the web

The short version

1. Drop your .tif or .tiff on the converter.
2. Leave quality at 90. TIFF sources are typically lossless masters; q=85 would add visible loss on top.
3. For multi-page TIFFs, pick per-page JPGs (default) or combine to PDF.
4. Download the JPG or the ZIP. Done.

If that's all you wanted, go. The rest is for when the TIFF is huge, when it has layers or channels you don't expect, or when you're wondering whether JPG is even the right destination.

What TIFF is, honestly

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) dates to 1986 and is deliberately flexible — almost uncomfortably so. A single .tif file can carry:

• Uncompressed raw pixels (the original intent)
• LZW-compressed pixels (lossless, patent-expired, universal)
• ZIP/Deflate-compressed pixels (lossless, better ratio than LZW)
• JPEG-in-TIFF (lossy JPEG payload inside a TIFF wrapper — yes, really)
• CCITT Group 4 for black-and-white fax scans
• Multiple pages in one file (the reason it survived the scanner era)
• 16-bit per channel, 32-bit float for HDR and scientific data
• CMYK, Lab, multispectral channels for prepress
• Alpha channels, ICC profiles, layer data, extensive metadata

JPG can carry roughly one of those things: 8-bit RGB (or grayscale), sRGB, no alpha, no layers, no multi-page. The conversion is mostly about throwing away the TIFF's optional machinery and getting what's left into a JPG container.

Why anyone converts TIFF to JPG

Three reasons cover almost every request:

• Upload caps and email. A 300 DPI scanned A4 page saved as a lossless TIFF is 25–40 MB. The same page as JPG at q=90 is 600 KB to 2 MB. You're not emailing the TIFF.
• Web display. No modern browser displays TIFF natively. Chrome, Firefox, Safari all refuse. If the image needs to live on a website, a CMS, or a Slack thread, it has to be JPG/PNG/WebP.
• Compatibility with non-technical recipients. Windows Photos opens TIFF; Preview opens TIFF; most phones don't. Asking someone to install a viewer is a worse experience than just sending the JPG.

If none of those apply — the file is staying in print, or being edited further, or going into an archival repository — leave it as TIFF. The transcode is irreversible loss.

TIFF vs JPG — real file sizes on the same photo

A 3000×2000 photograph, saved losslessly as TIFF-LZW, then re-encoded to JPG at various qualities. Numbers are averages from a 20-image test set we keep for this kind of comparison.

The chart says it plainly: at q=90 you get a visually identical image to the TIFF for ~5% of the bytes. That's the whole pitch for converting. The cost is irreversible loss — once you transcode, you can't recover the TIFF from the JPG.

Multi-page TIFFs — the part most converters handle badly

Scanners, fax software, and archival tools routinely produce multi-page TIFFs. A 20-page document scan is one .tif file containing 20 image frames. JPG has no concept of pages — one JPG is one image, full stop.

You have two sensible targets:

• Per-page JPGs in a ZIP. Our default. scan.tif with 20 pages becomes scan_001.jpg through scan_020.jpg, zipped. Works for anyone re-scanning or picking individual pages.
• Combined to a single PDF. One .pdf with each TIFF page as a JPG-compressed page. Better for emailing the full document. Use our JPG to PDF tool as a second pass if you already have per-page output, or pick "Combine to PDF" in our converter's advanced settings.

What you don't want: a silent default that only keeps the first page and drops the other 19. Some generic converters still do this. We warn on multi-page input and require a choice.

The compression modes — what's in the TIFF

Knowing what's inside the TIFF changes how you treat it:

LZW or ZIP/Deflate TIFF (lossless)

The normal case. Lossless compression, re-encodes cleanly. Drop it on the converter, get the JPG.

JPEG-in-TIFF

A TIFF wrapping a JPEG payload. When you convert to "real" JPG, we decode the embedded JPEG and re-encode — which adds a second generation of JPEG loss. If the source is already JPEG-in-TIFF, your best move is often to extract the JPEG payload directly rather than re-encode. Our converter detects this and offers a "passthrough" option that skips re-encoding entirely, preserving the original bytes.

Uncompressed TIFF

Big. A 24-bit 3000×2000 uncompressed TIFF is 18 MB. Decodes trivially because there's no compression to undo. The output JPG is the same size as from any other mode at the same quality setting.

CCITT Group 4 fax TIFF

Black-and-white 1-bit scanned documents. Converts to JPG fine, but JPG is the wrong target — 1-bit content looks awful as lossy JPEG (blocky text edges). For these, convert to PNG instead, or keep the TIFF. If you specifically need JPG for a form upload, use q=95 and expect soft edges.

Quality setting — why 90 not 85

For most JPEG conversions from lossy sources, q=85 is the canonical sweet spot. TIFF sources are different: they're usually the master file, lossless, often 16-bit per channel. Re-encoding at q=85 adds the full JPEG generation loss on top of losing 16-bit precision. q=90 is our default because you still get a 5–10× size reduction against the TIFF but keep visually-indistinguishable fidelity for archival review or print proof.

• q=95 — if the JPG will be re-edited or sent to print.
• q=90 (our default) — visually lossless vs the TIFF master.
• q=85 — for email or web where size matters. Small softening on close inspection of gradients.
• q=75 — only for thumbnails or quick previews.

16-bit, CMYK, Lab — the edge cases

TIFF carries 16-bit-per-channel data and CMYK or Lab colour spaces for prepress. JPG is 8-bit sRGB in practice. If your TIFF is 16-bit or CMYK, the conversion has to flatten:

• 16-bit → 8-bit. We dither during downconversion so gradients don't posterise. Invisible on normal viewing; detectable on wide gradients at 200% zoom.
• CMYK → sRGB. We use a Bradford chromatic adaptation through a standard prepress profile (SWOP or FOGRA). Colours shift slightly — unavoidable, that's what CMYK→sRGB means.
• Lab → sRGB. Direct conversion through D50→D65 adaptation. Cleaner than CMYK.

If you're doing prepress, don't convert through a browser tool. Open the TIFF in Photoshop, convert to Profile, then Save for Web. The difference matters on print jobs where colour fidelity is contractual.

Batch workflow

A folder of TIFFs is the normal shape of this task (scan archives, press assets). Our tool:

1. Drop the whole folder. Up to 200 TIFFs per session (browser memory permitting — TIFFs are big).
2. Pick single-page or multi-page behaviour. If any file is multi-page, we apply the rule to all of them.
3. Leave quality at 90 unless you have a reason.
4. Export ZIP. Original filenames preserved, .tif/.tiff swapped for .jpg.

For recurring pipelines, ImageMagick or libvips handle TIFF→JPG with more control.

How our converter compares

Summary: Photoshop if you're doing prepress. IrfanView if you're on Windows and want offline. For everyone else — a folder of TIFFs and JPGs back in a zip — our converter is the shortest path.

Works well / doesn't work

Works well

• Scanned documents (multi-page TIFF → per-page JPG or one combined PDF)
• Lossless photo TIFFs with LZW or ZIP compression
• 16-bit TIFFs (auto-dithered to 8-bit)
• JPEG-in-TIFF (passthrough without re-encoding)
• Batches up to 200 files per session

Doesn't work (well) yet

• Prepress-grade CMYK with custom ICC profile (use Photoshop)
• Layered TIFFs (we flatten to composite; use Photoshop if you need layers preserved)
• 32-bit float HDR TIFFs (we tone-map; detail loss expected)
• TIFFs over ~500 MB (browser memory ceiling)

Tips for the best result

• Keep the TIFF source. The JPG is for delivery; the TIFF is the master. If you ever need a different quality or target, re-transcode from the TIFF, not from the JPG.
• For scanned documents, consider PDF as the destination. A multi-page scanned TIFF is nearly always better served as a PDF than 20 loose JPGs. See our JPG to PDF guide.
• If the TIFF is 1-bit fax content, convert to PNG instead of JPG. JPG ruins sharp black-white edges. PNG vs JPG decision tree.
• If size is the whole problem, try compressing the TIFF in place. Convert lossless→LZW-TIFF or ZIP-TIFF, which often halves the file without any quality loss. Most pro tools do this.
• For web delivery, don't stop at JPG. If the destination accepts modern formats, AVIF or WebP compress ~30–50% smaller than JPG at the same quality.

Common questions

Will I lose quality converting TIFF to JPG?

Yes — JPEG is lossy by definition. At q=90 the loss is invisible on any normal monitor. At q=85 it's detectable on close inspection. Below q=75 it's obvious. Since TIFF is lossless master data, every conversion is a one-way ticket; keep the TIFF source if you might need it later.

My TIFF has 20 pages. What happens?

By default, 20 JPGs in a ZIP, named file_001.jpg through file_020.jpg. Or pick "Combine to PDF" in advanced settings for a single PDF output. Some generic converters silently drop pages 2–20; we warn and require a choice.

Why is my TIFF so big?

Because TIFF is typically uncompressed or lightly compressed. A 300 DPI A4 colour scan is ~25 MB as uncompressed TIFF, ~12 MB as LZW-TIFF, ~800 KB as JPG at q=85. The size gap is the entire reason people convert.

Does Windows open TIFF?

Windows Photos opens single-page TIFFs fine. Multi-page TIFFs show only page 1 in Photos — you need the Windows Fax Viewer (still shipped) or a third-party tool like IrfanView for the other pages. If you're going to view or share more than once, convert to PDF or per-page JPGs and move on.

Is this tool really free?

Yes — unlimited conversions per day, no watermark, no sign-up. Paid tiers raise the per-file cap for files larger than ~100 MB and lift the batch size. Quality and speed are identical across tiers.

Are my files uploaded?

TIFFs under ~40 MB are decoded and re-encoded entirely in your browser — the bytes never leave your machine. Larger files use direct-to-storage upload, get processed in memory, and auto-delete within the hour. No database, no analytics on contents.

Can I convert JPG back to TIFF?

Yes, but it doesn't recover quality — it just wraps the already-lossy JPG in a TIFF container. Useful only for handing off to software that refuses JPG (rare in 2026; some old prepress workflows still require TIFF inputs).

Ready?

TIFF to JPG converter →. Drop the file, pick per-page or combined-PDF for multi-page sources, leave quality at 90, download. Free, in your browser, no upload. For the reverse direction or broader format needs, try our format converter; for scanned document workflows, JPG to PDF pairs well.