How to use it
- Add one or more TIFF files. Each page of a multi-page TIFF becomes a separate thumbnail.
- Reorder or remove pages if you need to.
- Choose page size and create the PDF.
TIFF and PDF do the same job differently
Both formats can hold several pages, which is why scanners and fax software have long offered either. TIFF is the older, image-first choice; PDF is the one people can actually open. Browsers other than Safari will not display a TIFF, many phones cannot, and email recipients often see an attachment they cannot preview. A PDF of the same pages works everywhere.
Multi-page files
When you add a multi-page TIFF, each page appears as its own thumbnail, labelled with its page number. That gives you a chance to drop blank pages, which document scanners are fond of producing, before building the PDF.
Size and quality
Scans are often stored uncompressed or losslessly in TIFF, so the PDF, which stores each page as a high-quality JPG, is usually much smaller. Text stays crisp at normal reading zoom. If you need black-and-white pages to be as small as possible, convert them with the black and white tool first.
TIFF and PDF compared
| TIFF | ||
|---|---|---|
| First released | 1986 | 1993 |
| Compression | None, lossless, or JPEG inside | Document container |
| Transparency | Yes | Not applicable |
| Animation or pages | Multiple pages | Multiple pages |
| Best for | Scanning, print and archives | Documents to send, print and keep |
| Support | Professional software; Safari is the only major browser | Universal |
Questions people ask
Does it keep all pages of a multi-page TIFF?
Yes. Each page becomes a page in the PDF, and you can reorder or remove them first.
Which TIFF compressions are supported?
Uncompressed, LZW, Deflate, PackBits and JPEG-compressed TIFFs, which covers nearly all scanner output.
Will the PDF have selectable text?
No. Pages are stored as images. Making text selectable needs OCR.