The short answer
Archive and print in TIFF; share and publish in PNG. Convert TIFF to PNG for anything that will be viewed on a screen, and PNG to TIFF only when a print or prepress workflow requires it.
TIFF vs PNG at a glance
| TIFF | PNG | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless: always | Lossless: always |
| Transparency | Yes | Yes |
| Animation | No | No |
| Keeps EXIF in ConvertX | No | Yes |
| ConvertX reads it | Yes | Yes |
| ConvertX writes it | Yes | Yes |
| Extensions | .tif, .tiff | .png |
TIFF: The professional container for scans and print masters. Flexible, lossless, large. PNG: Lossless with transparency. Perfect for graphics, wasteful for photos.
Choose TIFF when
- Scanning and archiving masters.
- Print and prepress hand-offs.
- 16-bit channels, layers or multiple pages in one file.
Choose PNG when
- Anything viewed in a browser, document or phone.
- Transparent graphics for the web.
- A format every tool opens without plug-ins.
File size
An uncompressed TIFF is width × height × 3 bytes (36 MB for 12 MP). PNG of the same image is typically 40–70 % smaller; LZW or ZIP-compressed TIFF lands closer to PNG.
Converting between them, offline
ConvertX converts on your device with no upload, in batches, and strips location data by default.
Frequently asked questions
Is TIFF better quality than PNG?
Not for 8-bit images: both are lossless. TIFF can hold 16-bit channels, which PNG in ConvertX does not preserve.
Does ConvertX keep every page of a multi-page TIFF?
No, the first page only. Split multi-page TIFFs in a scanning tool first.
Can browsers open TIFF?
Generally no. Convert to PNG or JPG for the web.