What happens when you convert TIF to PDF
- The TIF is placed on a PDF page the same size as the image, stored losslessly.
- A small TIFF decoder is fetched when you press Convert. For multi-page TIF files, the first page is converted.
How to convert TIF to PDF online
- Press "Choose TIF 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 PDF". Images convert in a second or two each.
- Save each PDF with its download button. Close the tab and every trace of the files is gone from memory.
Why convert TIF to PDF?
TIF files usually come from scanners, fax software and print shops. People convert them to PDF because a PDF looks the same on every device and is what forms, portals and printers ask for.
In short, TIF is good at what it was made for, and PDF is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. Safari shows TIF; Chrome, Edge and Firefox download it instead of displaying it, while PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer.
How to convert TIF to PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your TIF files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each PDF is saved to your Downloads folder.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the TIF files from Finder onto the drop zone and the PDF files land in Downloads. Preview can do single images too: open the file, choose File, then Export, and pick PDF.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose TIF files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted PDF appears in Files, in the Downloads folder.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose TIF files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The PDF is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for TIF to PDF
Each image becomes one page sized to the image at 96 pixels per inch, so a 1200 pixel wide image makes a page 12.5 inches wide. PDF viewers and printers scale pages to fit, so the page size rarely matters on screen.
The TIF is stored with lossless compression inside the PDF, so it is exactly as sharp as the original. Transparent areas are placed on a white page.
TIF vs PDF: the differences
| TIF | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tagged Image File Format | Portable Document Format |
| Type | image | document |
| Created by | Aldus Corporation | Adobe |
| First released | 1986 | 1993 |
| Compression | Lossy or lossless | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Animation | No | No |
| Vector or raster | Raster | Vector |
| Colour | up to 32 bits per channel, including CMYK | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| In a browser | Safari shows it; Chrome, Edge and Firefox download it instead of displaying it | opens in every browser's built-in viewer |
| Common uses | scanners, fax software and print shops | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files |
| MIME type | image/tiff | application/pdf |
About TIF and PDF files
What is a TIF file?
TIF and TIFF are the same format; scanners and fax software tend to write the three-letter extension. Many TIF files hold several pages, which is common with faxes and multi-page scans.
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.
TIF to PDF 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 PDF is always the right way up.
- Transparent areas turned white. PDF cannot store transparency; convert to PNG or WebP instead if you need it.
Convert TIF to PDF from the command line
If you work in a terminal, ImageMagick converts TIF to PDF in one line:
magick input.tif output.pdfTo convert every TIF in a folder at once, use magick mogrify -format pdf *.tif. The converter on this page does the same job without installing anything.
TIF to PDF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting TIF to PDF?
No further quality is lost, because PDF is written losslessly. Detail the TIF compression already removed does not come back.
Why is the PDF a different size from the TIF?
The PDF is usually larger, because it stores every pixel without compression losses, while the TIF was compressed lossily.
Are my TIF 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 TIF files to PDF 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 PDF file?
PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer. PDF is common for documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files.
Is this TIF to PDF 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 TIF to PDF 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.