TIFF Compressor
Initializing... drag & drop files here
Supports: TIFF, TIF
Advanced Options - Our defaults are optimized for the best results. We recommend you keeping the defaults unless you have a specific need.
Reset to defaults
Need help?How to Compress TIFF Files Online
- Upload Your TIFF Files: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to select TIF/TIFF files. Scanned multi-page documents, photo TIFFs from Photoshop, RAW exports, GIS rasters, and prepress masters all work. Batch is supported — drop in entire archival folders.
- Pick a Compression Type: Default is LZW (lossless, ~50% smaller, universal compatibility). Choose DEFLATE / ZSTD for modern lossless workflows (40-70% smaller), JPEG-in-TIFF for photo-heavy archives where size beats pixel-perfect fidelity (70-90% smaller, lossy), PackBits for legacy Mac systems, CCITT Fax 4 for 1-bit black-and-white scans, or None to strip compression for archival masters.
- Set Quality, Resolution, DPI, Bit Depth (Optional): Pick a Quality preset (Lowest / Low / Medium / High / Highest) for JPEG-in-TIFF mode, scale resolution by percentage, set custom width × height, or pick a resolution preset. Set DPI from 72 / 96 (screen) up to 300 / 600 / 1200 (print and archive). Reduce bit depth from 16-bit to 8-bit when full-precision color isn't needed, or to 1-bit for fax-style scans. Target an exact KB / MB file size with auto-scaling if you're capping for email or storage.
- Compress and Download: Click Compress. Files process in your browser session and download individually or as a ZIP — no sign-up, no watermark, no file count limits.
Why Compress TIFF Files?
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is the gold standard for print, prepress, archival, scientific imaging, and document scanning, but it's almost never small. A single 600 DPI letter-size scan can land at 80-100 MB uncompressed, and pro photo TIFFs from a 45-megapixel mirrorless body routinely exceed 250 MB each. Compression brings that down 30-90% without losing the format's professional credibility. Common reasons to compress:
- Email and share scanned documents — Government, legal, and insurance scans arrive uncompressed at tens of megabytes per page. LZW or DEFLATE shrinks a 100 MB scan to roughly 35-50 MB; CCITT Fax 4 takes a black-and-white text scan to under 5 MB while staying lossless.
- Archive multi-page TIFFs at scale — Document management systems (DocuWare, M-Files, FileNet) ingest millions of pages. Switching from None to LZW or DEFLATE roughly halves storage costs and speeds up indexing across the archive.
- Send photo TIFFs to print vendors with upload caps — Print shops and online photo labs often cap uploads at 100 MB or 500 MB per asset. JPEG-in-TIFF compression keeps the TIFF wrapper your printer expects while delivering a manageable file.
- Reduce GIS / satellite / microscopy raster files — Geospatial GeoTIFFs and microscopy scans are routinely multi-gigabyte. ZSTD and DEFLATE compress these efficiently while QGIS, ArcGIS, and ImageJ open them transparently.
- Cap iPhone / Photoshop TIFF exports for cloud sync — Lightroom Classic and Photoshop default to uncompressed TIFF. Enabling LZW shaves Dropbox / Google Drive / OneDrive sync time dramatically without re-saving in a different format.
- Send to clients who require TIFF but balk at size — Magazines, packaging designers, and book printers demand TIFF deliverables but reject 500 MB attachments. Quality-preset compression hits the sweet spot.
TIFF Compression Type Quick Guide
| Compression | Size Reduction | Lossless? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 0% (largest) | Yes | True archival masters, scientific raw data |
| LZW | 30-60% | Yes | General-purpose default — universal compatibility since 1985 |
| DEFLATE | 35-65% | Yes | Modern decoders (Photoshop, GIMP, libvips, ImageMagick) |
| ZSTD | 40-70% | Yes | Modern workflows, fastest decode of the lossless options |
| PackBits | 10-30% | Yes | Legacy Mac systems, simple low-detail images |
| CCITT Fax 4 | 90-99% (1-bit only) | Yes | Black-and-white scanned text, fax documents |
| JPEG-in-TIFF | 70-90% | No | Photo-heavy archives, print-vendor uploads |
| JP2K | 75-92% | No (or lossless mode) | High-end photo archives needing better-than-JPEG quality |
Lossless vs Lossy — Which Should You Pick?
| Decision factor | Lossless (LZW / DEFLATE / ZSTD) | Lossy (JPEG-in-TIFF) |
|---|---|---|
| Pixel fidelity | Bit-identical to original | Visible artifacts at low quality |
| Typical reduction | 30-70% | 70-90% |
| Re-editing safe? | Yes — re-save freely | No — quality degrades each save |
| Archival / legal use | Yes | No (industries require lossless) |
| Email a 200 MB scan | Often enough | Almost always enough |
| Print master | Yes | No — print needs lossless |
Frequently Asked Questions
Will LZW or DEFLATE change a single pixel of my TIFF?
No. LZW, DEFLATE, ZSTD, PackBits, and CCITT Fax 4 are all mathematically lossless — the decompressed pixels are bit-identical to the original. Open the compressed TIFF in Photoshop, save uncompressed, and the file will hash-match the original pixel data. Only JPEG-in-TIFF and standard JP2K modes introduce loss.
Why is the file size reduction smaller than I expected?
Lossless TIFF compression performance depends on image content. Solid colors, scanned text, line art, and synthetic graphics compress dramatically (often 60-80%). Photographic TIFFs with continuous-tone gradients and noise don't compress as well — 30-50% is more realistic. If you need bigger reductions on photo content, switch to JPEG-in-TIFF or use the Quality preset to trade fidelity for size.
Can I keep multi-page TIFFs intact after compression?
Yes. Multi-page TIFFs (commonly produced by document scanners and fax systems) stay as a single multi-page file after compression. Each page receives the chosen compression independently, and document viewers like Windows Photos, Preview, IrfanView, and PDF management tools open the compressed multi-page TIFF the same way as the original.
Should I drop bit depth from 16-bit to 8-bit?
Only if you're sure you don't need the extra precision. 16-bit TIFF stores 65,536 levels per channel — vital for color grading, raw conversion, scientific imaging, and HDR pipelines. 8-bit (256 levels per channel) halves the storage and is fine for final delivery, web preview, and most office document workflows. Reducing bit depth is a one-way conversion — compress a 16-bit copy and keep the master.
Will the output still open in Photoshop, ArcGIS, and my document management system?
Yes — LZW, DEFLATE, JPEG-in-TIFF, and PackBits are part of the baseline TIFF 6.0 spec and have been universally supported in pro software since the 1990s. ZSTD and JP2K are newer extensions; modern Photoshop (CC 2021+), GIMP, libvips-based pipelines, and ArcGIS Pro handle them, but a few legacy archive viewers may not. Stick to LZW or DEFLATE for guaranteed compatibility.
Can I cap the output to a specific file size like 5 MB or 25 MB?
Yes. Use the Target File Size option to enter an exact size in KB or MB and let the auto-scale fit the image into that budget by adjusting quality and resolution together. Useful when you're hitting Gmail's 25 MB attachment cap, a CMS upload limit, or a print vendor's per-asset ceiling.
Does compression strip EXIF, XMP, or GeoTIFF metadata?
No. The compressor preserves embedded metadata — EXIF camera data, XMP / IPTC keywords and copyright, ICC color profiles, and GeoTIFF georeferencing tags survive the round-trip. This matters for press archives, legal e-discovery, and GIS workflows where metadata is part of the asset's value.
What if I want a non-TIFF output instead?
If a smaller, web-friendly format is acceptable, convert to JPEG, WebP, or AVIF — see TIFF to JPG, TIFF to WebP, or TIFF to PNG for those flows. To keep the TIFF wrapper but compress incoming PNGs into smaller TIFFs, see PNG to TIFF.
Is there a file size limit?
No fixed cap on file count or per-file size — files process in your browser session, so practical limits depend on available device RAM. Modern desktops handle 200-500 MB TIFFs comfortably; 1+ GB GIS rasters work on machines with adequate memory. Batch processing runs in parallel within the session.