What happens when you convert PDF to TIFF
- Each page of the PDF becomes its own TIFF file, rendered at 150 dpi by default. Choose 300 dpi for print-quality text.
How to convert PDF to TIFF online
- Press "Choose PDF files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. You can add files of any size your device can hold in memory.
- Adjust the settings if you need to. The output is lossless, so there is no quality setting to worry about.
- Press "Convert to TIFF". Images convert in a second or two each.
- Save each TIFF with its download button. Close the tab and every trace of the files is gone from memory.
Why convert PDF to TIFF?
PDF files usually come from documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files. People convert them to TIFF because TIFF is the format printers, scanners and archives trust for lossless images.
In short, PDF is good at what it was made for, and TIFF is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer, while Safari shows TIFF; Chrome, Edge and Firefox download it instead of displaying it.
How to convert PDF to TIFF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your PDF files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each TIFF is saved to your Downloads folder. Paint can also re-save an image as TIFF with Save as, provided Windows can open the PDF in the first place.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the PDF files from Finder onto the drop zone and the TIFF files land in Downloads. Preview can do single images too: open the file, choose File, then Export, and pick TIFF.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose PDF files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted TIFF appears in Files, in the Downloads folder; to put it in your photo library, open it there, tap Share and choose Save Image.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose PDF files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The TIFF is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for PDF to TIFF
The TIFF is written uncompressed with an alpha channel, four bytes per pixel, which every TIFF reader can open. A 12 megapixel image is about 48 MB. That is normal for print and archive work, where no loss is the point.
PDF vs TIFF: the differences
| TIFF | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Portable Document Format | Tagged Image File Format |
| Type | document | image |
| Created by | Adobe | Aldus Corporation |
| First released | 1993 | 1986 |
| Compression | Lossy or lossless | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | No | Yes |
| Animation | No | No |
| Vector or raster | Vector | Raster |
| Colour | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images | up to 32 bits per channel, including CMYK |
| In a browser | opens in every browser's built-in viewer | Safari shows it; Chrome, Edge and Firefox download it instead of displaying it |
| Common uses | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files | print production, scanning, archiving and medical imaging |
| MIME type | application/pdf | image/tiff |
About PDF and TIFF files
What is a PDF file?
A PDF fixes the layout of every page so it looks the same on any device. Converting a PDF to an image renders each page to pixels; converting an image to PDF wraps it as a page.
What is a TIFF file?
TIFF is the format printers and archives trust because it can store uncompressed or losslessly compressed pixels, CMYK colour and several pages in one file. It is also why a single scan can run to 100 MB.
PDF to TIFF not working? Common problems
- Colours look slightly different. Browsers convert images to the standard sRGB colour space when they decode them, so wide-gamut and CMYK images can shift a little.
- A phone photo comes out upright even though it looked sideways elsewhere. That is correct: the rotation stored in the photo is applied during conversion, so the TIFF is always the right way up.
- The file is bigger than expected. A PDF is a short list of drawing instructions, while the TIFF stores every pixel, so the output is normally larger and grows with the width you choose.
Convert PDF to TIFF from the command line
If you work in a terminal, ImageMagick converts PDF to TIFF in one line:
magick input.pdf output.tiffTo convert every PDF in a folder at once, use magick mogrify -format tiff *.pdf. ImageMagick needs Ghostscript installed to read PDF files. The converter on this page does the same job without installing anything.
PDF to TIFF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting PDF to TIFF?
No. TIFF is written losslessly, so the result matches the PDF exactly at the size you choose.
Why is the TIFF a different size from the PDF?
A PDF is a short list of drawing instructions, while the TIFF stores every pixel, so the output is normally larger and grows with the width you choose.
Are my PDF files uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion runs inside this browser tab using your browser's own image decoder, so your files stay on your device. You can disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded and it still works.
Can I convert several PDF files to TIFF at once?
Yes. Select or drop as many files as you like; they are converted one after another and each gets its own download button.
How do I open a TIFF file?
Safari shows TIFF; Chrome, Edge and Firefox download it instead of displaying it. TIFF is common for print production, scanning, archiving and medical imaging.
Is this PDF to TIFF converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many files you convert. The site is paid for by advertising, and because conversions run on your device there is no server cost per file.
Can I convert PDF to TIFF on my phone?
Yes. The converter works in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome on Android. Converted files are saved to the Downloads folder.