How to convert TIFF to PDF (multi-page and fax scans)
Updated
Contents
To convert a TIFF file to PDF, open JPG to PDF, add the TIFF and press Create PDF. Every page of a multi-page TIFF becomes a page of the PDF, in the TIFF's own order, and you can add several TIFFs, or mix them with JPG and PNG images, in the same document. PNG to PDF takes the same files and works the same way.
The black-and-white pages that fax software and document scanners save (CCITT Group 3 and CCITT Group 4) are read as well as gray, colour and palette pages, and every page goes into the PDF without loss: a fax page stays a black-and-white image rather than becoming a JPEG.
The TIFF is read in your browser, so your files stay on your device. Each file can be up to 25 MB, with up to 500 pages, and each page up to 100 megapixels.
Step by step
- 1Open the JPG to PDF tool and drop your TIFF files on the box at the top of the page, or click it to pick them. Each TIFF is one entry in the list, and the line under its name says which pages of the PDF it becomes, such as Pages 3–4.
- 2Put the files in order with the up and down arrows on each one, and press the cross on a file to take it out. A TIFF's own pages stay together, in the order the TIFF has them.
- 3Choose Fit to image under Page size and None under Margin to give each page the size the scan had on paper, or pick a paper size. Set the Orientation, or keep the one shown.
- 4Under Output, keep One PDF, or choose One PDF per image (ZIP) to get a PDF for each file, which with more than one file arrives as a ZIP. A multi-page TIFF is still one PDF with all its pages.
- 5Press Create PDF, then Download PDF. With several files and a PDF per image, the button downloads them together as a ZIP instead.
Which TIFF files it reads
The tool reads uncompressed pages and pages compressed with CCITT Group 3, CCITT Group 4, LZW, JPEG, Deflate, and PackBits. That covers fax and document-scanner output as well as gray, colour and palette images, and a page with transparency keeps it, so the white page shows through.
A reduced-size preview that the scanning software saves beside a page is skipped rather than made a page of its own.
A TIFF the tool cannot read is turned away when you add it, with a note naming the page, for example: "fax.tif" page 2 uses JPEG 2000 compression, which this tool cannot read. The same happens to a page that is too large, such as "poster.tif" page 1 is 12,000 × 9,000 pixels, more than the 100 megapixels a page can have here. A BigTIFF is turned away as well. A page that turns out to be damaged stops Create PDF with a note naming it: "scan.tif" page 2 is damaged and could not be read.
Stored without loss
Each page goes into the PDF as its pixels are, compressed losslessly and never turned into a JPEG, so a one-bit fax page stays a one-bit image: sharp, and small. The one change is that a page with sixteen bits per sample is brought down to eight.
With Max file size left at No limit, nothing else happens to it. If you choose a Max file size and the PDF is over it, a TIFF page is saved as a JPEG only where that comes out smaller than the page kept without loss, so a black-and-white scan page usually stays as it is.
Page size and orientation
A TIFF records how large it was on paper, as its resolution in dots per inch, and each page is laid out at that size. With Fit to image under Page size and None under Margin, a scan of an A4 sheet becomes an A4 page. On a paper size, a page larger than the space inside the margin is shrunk to fit, and a smaller one keeps its size unless you choose Enlarge to fit under Small images. A page that records no usable resolution is laid out at one pixel per point. Under Fit to image, JPG and PNG images now follow the same rule, laid out at the resolution they record unless it is 72 or 96 dpi, which cameras and apps write when they do not know, or one under 50 or over 2,400 dpi.
A TIFF page's Orientation tag is read and applied, so a page saved sideways with that tag comes out upright, its pixels left as they are. If a page is still sideways, the scanner saved the wrong tag or none, and Rotate PDF can turn that page.
Making the scan searchable
A fax or scanned page is a picture of text, so the PDF has no text you can select or search. OCR PDF adds a searchable text layer to it. That step runs on our secure server rather than in your browser.
Common questions
How do I convert a multi-page TIFF to PDF?
Open JPG to PDF, drop the TIFF on the box, and press Create PDF. Each page of the TIFF becomes a page of the PDF, in the same order.
Will a fax TIFF lose quality?
No. The pages are stored without loss, and a black-and-white fax page stays a black-and-white image. Only a Max file size you choose can save a page again as a JPEG, and then only where that is smaller.
Why was my TIFF turned away?
It has more than 500 pages, a page over 100 megapixels, or a page stored in a way the tool cannot read, such as JPEG 2000. The note below the box says which, naming the page where there is one. A TIFF with too many pages can be split into smaller TIFFs first.
Are my files sent to a server?
No. The TIFF is read and the PDF is made in your browser tab; the files are not sent to pdf.xyz.