Tagged Image File Format

(tiff)

A file format for bitmapped images often used to exchange such files between dissimilar computers and by scanners when converting pictures to computer form. The name comes from the specification when describes how to store information in blocks called tags. Because of the tags, a TIFF image can span multiple files or have multiple images in a single file.

Different encodings can be applied to the data in a TIFF file accounting for the number of different TIFF variations (see the Unofficial TIFF Home Page link below): GeoTIFF, Adobe Extensions for PageMaker, JPEG-in-TIFF, Zip-in-TIFF, TIFF Class F Revised Specification, TIFF/IT Prepress Interchange Standard, TIFF enhancements for Adobe PageMaker 6.0, RichTIFF, Wang TIFF Image-Annotation extensions, and Kodak TIFF extensions.

There is an issue relating to the Microsoft Thumbnailer and Viewer version 1.0 and TIFF files that is described in the Microsoft knowledgebase.

You can find different viewers and other TIFF related items at the TIFF Viewer Download Resource Center.

More Information

• The Unofficial TIFF Home Page
• TIFF File Resource Site
• File Locking Issue with Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer version 1.0
• TIFF Viewer Download Resource Center