TIFF to PDF Converter
Turn TIFF scans, faxes and print-ready images into a PDF that anyone can open in a browser, at the full resolution the scanner produced.
Image to PDF
or drag JPG, JPEG, JFIF … files here ·
Up to 95 MB each· 50 files at once· Removed after 30 min
Your files are removed from our servers 30 minutes after processing.
White space around each image: small is 5 mm, medium 10 mm, large 20 mm. Ignored when page size is the same as the image.
Fit shows the whole image with white space if the shapes differ; fill covers the page and crops the edges; actual size places it at its print size from DPI.
Put 2 or 4 images on each page in a grid, for ID cards front and back or contact sheets.
Custom page width in millimetres (A4 is 210 mm).
Custom page height in millimetres (A4 is 297 mm).
One PDF with a page per image, or a separate PDF for every image downloaded as a ZIP.
The order you added the files (drag to rearrange), alphabetical by file name, or by the date the photo was taken.
JPEG quality of photos inside the PDF. 85 keeps them sharp; with a target size this is the starting point.
Files are deleted 30 minutes after processingPrivacy policy
In short
- 1TIFF is a scanning and print format that most browsers cannot display.
- 2The PDF keeps the scanned pixels at full resolution by default.
- 3Turn on PDF/A when the document goes into an archive or records system.
- 4Use a target size only when an email or portal limit forces it.
Where TIFF files come from
TIFF is a workhorse of offices, libraries and print shops. Flatbed and document scanners offer it as their highest-quality option, fax software has stored received pages in it for decades, and printers and publishers use it for images that must not lose any detail. Digitization projects choose it for master copies because a TIFF can be stored without any lossy compression at all.
That reliability comes at a cost. TIFF files are large, and the format is rarely displayed outside specialist software. Send a folder of scans to a colleague and they may not be able to preview them; upload one to a portal and it may be rejected outright. A PDF carries the same pages in a form every device opens.
TIFF
TIFF image
A tag-based image format Aldus introduced in 1986 and Adobe now maintains. It can store uncompressed, lossless or lossy data, keeps transparency and can hold several pages in one file. Print shops, scanners and archives rely on it, while browsers generally do not display it.
- Lossy or lossless
- Transparency
- Still images only
PDF document
Adobe's Portable Document Format from 1993, now an open ISO standard. It fixes text, images and layout so a page looks the same on every screen and printer, and it can carry forms, links and transparency. Every operating system and browser can open it, though editing the content is harder than in a word processor.
- Transparency
- Still images only
- Open standard
Why convertYou keep the scan's full detail and change its wrapper: from an image format meant for scanners and print workflows to a page format meant for reading, sharing and filing. Use this direction to deliver scans; to edit a page as a picture again, PDF to PNG gives you a lossless image back.
An old format with a stable specification
TIFF milestones
Aldus published TIFF Revision 6.0 in 1992, and the format has barely changed since; the Library of Congress format description documents the revision and its many variants in detail. Inside a TIFF, pictures can be uncompressed, compressed without loss, or compressed with JPEG, and black-and-white fax pages use their own very compact schemes.
PDF can hold all of those image types, so the converter does not have to force them into one style. A crisp black-and-white document stays crisp, and a color photograph keeps its tones.
Good to know before you convert
Large scans are the usual reason for slow uploads. A single 600 dpi color page can be dozens of megabytes, so for a long document it pays to scan at 300 dpi unless the fine detail really matters. Each file in the batch can be up to 95 MB.
Color mode matters too. A scan of a typed letter saved in full color carries three times the data of the same page in grayscale, with no benefit for reading. If you control the scanner, choose grayscale or black and white for text documents and keep color for photos, stamps and signatures that must show their ink. The PDF follows whatever the TIFF contains.
What page size should a scanned TIFF use?
Keep Same as image to reproduce the scan exactly. Choose A4 or Letter if the PDF will be printed on standard paper and the scan has extra border around the page.
What about TIFF files with several pages?
Scanners and fax programs sometimes store a whole document in one TIFF. Check the page count of the finished PDF; if a page is missing, export the pages from the scanner software as separate files and add them all.
Does the PDF keep transparency or layers from a TIFF?
The PDF holds the flattened image. Layers saved by photo editors are combined into one picture, which is what a reader or printer would see anyway.
How do I keep scanned pages in order?
Name the files with numbers and set Page order to File name, or drag them in the list before converting.
Archiving and sending scans
For long-term storage, turn on PDF/A. It creates a PDF/A-2b file, an ISO profile designed so that a document opens the same way decades from now, which is why some court, government and archive systems require it. It is slightly larger than a regular PDF.
For email or upload limits, switch PDF file size to Target size and enter the limit; scans are recompressed until the PDF fits, at some cost in fine detail. To combine the new PDF with other documents, use Merge PDF, and for other image types see the main Image to PDF tool.
Turn TIFF files into a PDF
Add the TIFF files
Drop .tif or .tiff files on the box above, or press Choose Files. Up to 50 images of up to 95 MB each fit in one batch.
Choose page size and archive option
Pages follow each image's size by default. Pick A4 or Letter for print, and turn on PDF/A under Quality & metadata for long-term storage.
Convert and save
Press Convert to PDF and download the document. The TIFFs and the PDF are deleted from the server afterwards.
TIFF to PDF questions
Why can't my browser open TIFF files?
Chrome, Edge and Firefox do not display TIFF images; among the major desktop browsers only Safari does. A PDF made from the TIFF opens in all of them through the built-in PDF viewer.
Does TIFF to PDF keep the scan resolution?
Yes, by default. With PDF file size on Best quality, the scanned pixels are placed in the PDF at their full size, so a 300 or 600 dpi scan stays just as detailed. Only a target size makes the images smaller.
Can I make a searchable PDF from a TIFF scan?
Not in this step: the PDF holds a picture of the page. To get the words as text, run the scan through Image to Text, which reads the characters and gives you something you can copy or search.
Should I turn on PDF/A for scanned records?
If the PDF goes into an archive, a court filing system or a records portal that asks for it, yes. PDF/A embeds everything needed to display the file in the future. For a quick email, the regular PDF is fine and slightly smaller.
My TIFF is 80 MB. Will it upload?
Yes. Each file can be up to 95 MB, which covers most large scans and print files. If the resulting PDF is too heavy to send, set a target size in KB or MB.
Do I need to convert TIFF to JPG before making a PDF?
No, and it is better not to. A JPG step adds lossy compression to a scan that may have been stored without loss, which shows as noise around text. Converting directly keeps the original data as long as no size target is set.
| Other ways to get PDF | |
|---|---|
| Other HEIC conversions | |
| Other JFIF conversions | |
| Other JPG conversions | |
| Other PNG conversions | |
| Related conversions |
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