Tagged Image File (.tif)

The non-standard standard; TIF (or TIFF) is a popular image format, particularly in publishing. It usually uses the CMYK color set which requires no translation when printing.

There are many variations in the compression and color coding. Usually TIFF files are lossless, but one variation uses a variation of JPEG. For the most part, one can count on TIFF files to be lossless and compatible.

Don't be surprised with the occasional TIFF that doesn't open or work a particular application (usually older files or files created on systems with different operating systems). If that happens, find an editor that will open the file and re-save it—it may be necessary to save in another format (not jpeg!), close, re-open, then re-save as TIFF.