Format Showdown

TIFF VS PNG

The ultimate comparison guide. Understanding the technical differences between Tagged Image File Format and Portable Network Graphics.

TIFF

tiff

High-quality format used in professional photography and publishing.

Pros

Lossless compression
Layers support
CMYK support for print

Cons

Very large files
Not supported by web browsers

PNG

png

Lossless format supporting transparency, ideal for logos and digital art.

Pros

Lossless quality
Alpha channel transparency
Wide support

Cons

Larger file sizes than JPG
Not good for print (RGB only)

When TIFF wins

Stay with TIFF when you need professional printing or scanning. Its strengths center on lossless compression and a feature set native to Adobe.

When PNG wins

Choose PNG when your workflow prioritizes logos or screenshots. It delivers lossless quality plus modern compression perks.

Technical Specifications

Feature	TIFF	PNG
MIME Type	image/tiff	image/png
Developer	Adobe	PNG Development Group
Release Year	1986	1996
Best For	Professional printing, Scanning, Archiving	Logos, Screenshots, Graphics with transparent backgrounds

Need to switch?

Convert TIFF to PNG Convert PNG to TIFF

Opportunity map

Where TIFF still wins

Keep TIFF when you need lossless compression and workflows depend on professional printing / scanning. Link those teams directly to the converter above so they can ship PNG deliverables without leaving their browser.

• Reference the .tiff glossary from this page.
• Embed the conversion CTA in docs, wikis, and onboarding runbooks.
• Use PNG for logos while archiving originals as TIFF.

Internal linking plan

Keep crawlers in the conversion hub

Link this comparison to the relevant tool, glossary, and documentation pages so every crawl discovers a monetizable route.

TIFF to PNG converter PNG to TIFF converter Use case library Implementation docs