How to Convert TIFF to JPG: Shrink Large Scan Files Without Losing Quality

You have a TIFF file from a scanner, a photographer, or a design tool. It's 40 MB. You need to email it, post it online, or upload it somewhere.

Good luck. Most platforms reject TIFF files. Email attachments have size limits. Social media won't touch them.

JPG solves this instantly. It shrinks that 40 MB TIFF down to 1-2 MB while keeping the photo looking great. Here's how to do it right.

Why Are TIFF Files So Large?

TIFF stores images without throwing away any data. Every pixel is preserved at full quality. This is perfect for printing and archiving, but it creates massive files.

A single TIFF photo from a modern camera can easily be 30-60 MB. A scanned document at 300 DPI might be 10-20 MB. A batch of 50 TIFF files can fill a USB drive fast.

TIFF also supports features that add to file size. Multiple layers. 16-bit color depth. Embedded color profiles. These features matter in professional workflows. They don't matter when you're trying to share a photo.

JPG strips all of that down. It keeps the visual content, applies smart compression, and produces a file that's 90-95% smaller. The trade-off is a tiny quality reduction that most people can't see.

Where Do TIFF Files Come From?

You might wonder how you ended up with TIFF files in the first place. There are a few common sources.

Scanners. Many scanners default to TIFF output. Office scanners, flatbed scanners, and document scanning apps often save as TIFF because it captures every detail of the scan. If you've ever scanned a document and wondered why the file was 15 MB, TIFF is the reason.

Professional photographers. Photographers export their final edited images as TIFF for maximum quality. If a photographer delivers files to you, there's a good chance they're TIFF.

Design and publishing software. InDesign, Illustrator, and QuarkXPress all work with TIFF files. If you're receiving assets from a design team, you'll see plenty of TIFFs.

Medical and scientific imaging. X-rays, microscope images, and satellite photos are often stored as TIFF because accuracy matters more than file size in these fields.

Government and archival systems. Many government agencies and libraries archive documents as TIFF. If you're downloading files from a public records database, they might be TIFF.

How Do You Convert TIFF to JPG?

ConvertIMG converts TIFF to JPG right in your browser. Drop your files in, select JPG, pick your quality level, and download. No software to install. No files uploaded to a server. Everything runs on your device.

Batch conversion is supported. Drop 30 TIFF files at once and download them all as JPGs.

Quality settings matter here. TIFF files start at perfect quality, so you have full control over the JPG output:

Use case	JPG quality	Expected file size (from 30 MB TIFF)
Email and sharing	80-85%	1-2 MB
Website and blog	75-85%	500 KB - 1.5 MB
Social media	80%	800 KB - 1.5 MB
Print-ready backup	95%	3-5 MB

Since you're converting from a lossless source, the JPG will be as clean as possible. No double-compression artifacts. This is the ideal scenario for creating a JPG.

What Do You Lose When Converting TIFF to JPG?

A few things change during the conversion. Most won't matter to you. Some might.

Quality (slightly). JPG compression removes data that your eye probably won't miss. At 85% quality, the difference from the original TIFF is invisible to most people. At 60%, you'll start noticing softer details and slight color shifts.

Transparency. If your TIFF has transparent areas, JPG fills them with solid white. JPG doesn't support transparency. If you need it, convert to PNG instead.

Layers. TIFF can store multiple layers (like a Photoshop file). JPG flattens everything into one layer. If you might need to edit layers later, keep the TIFF original.

16-bit color depth. TIFF supports 16 bits per channel. JPG only supports 8 bits. For most photos, this doesn't matter. For fine art prints and gradient-heavy images, you might notice banding in smooth color transitions.

EXIF and metadata. Most converters preserve basic metadata like camera settings and dates. But some TIFF-specific metadata (like layer information) doesn't carry over to JPG.

Should You Keep Your TIFF Files After Converting?

Yes. Always keep the originals. Here's why.

TIFF is your master copy. It holds the highest quality version of your image. If you ever need to make a different version (different size, different format, different quality), you want to start from the TIFF.

Converting JPG back to TIFF doesn't restore what was lost. The quality reduction from JPG compression is permanent. You can't undo it by changing formats.

Storage is cheap. A folder of TIFF originals on an external drive costs almost nothing to maintain. But losing the originals when you need them later costs time and headaches.

Simple workflow: keep TIFFs in an archive folder. Convert to JPG for sharing and everyday use. For web delivery, convert to WebP for even smaller files. You get both quality and convenience.

For more on choosing the right format for every situation, see our image format guide.

Ready to Convert Your TIFF Files?

Stop wrestling with oversized TIFF files. ConvertIMG converts TIFF to JPG in seconds. Free, private, batch support included. Drop your files in and download.