How to Convert TIFF to JPG (Free, No Software Needed)

TIFF files are great for archiving and print work — and terrible for everything else. A single TIFF can hit 50MB, won't display in most browsers, and will bounce right back from any email attachment limit. JPG fixes all of that.

Here's how to convert TIFF to JPG using Pixotter (free, browser-based, no install), plus native tools on Windows and Mac, and batch CLI commands for when you have more than a handful of files.

Convert TIFF to JPG in Your Browser

Pixotter's converter handles TIFF to JPG entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. Your files never leave your machine — no upload, no waiting, no size limits imposed by a server.

Step-by-step:

1. Go to pixotter.com/convert/
2. Drag and drop your TIFF file (or click to browse)
3. Select JPG as the output format
4. Adjust the quality slider (85 is a good default — more on this below)
5. Click Convert and download your JPG

Batch conversion: Drop multiple TIFF files at once. Pixotter processes them in parallel and lets you download a ZIP with all converted files. No per-file limit.

The quality slider controls JPG compression. Higher = larger file, better detail. Lower = smaller file, more compression artifacts. For web use, 75–85 is the sweet spot. For print-quality output from a scanned TIFF, push it to 90–95.

Why Convert TIFF to JPG?

TIFF was designed for print workflows and archival storage. It does those jobs well. For anything web-facing, it's the wrong tool:

• File size: A single TIFF scan can be 20–100MB. The same image as JPG at 85 quality is typically 1–5MB.
• Browser support: No browser displays TIFF natively. Sending a TIFF to a client or embedding it in a webpage just produces a broken image.
• Email: Gmail, Outlook, and most clients reject attachments over 25MB. Most TIFFs exceed that.
• CMS compatibility: WordPress, Shopify, and most platforms either reject TIFF uploads or convert them silently — often with worse settings than you'd choose yourself.

If you're working with TIFFs from a scanner, camera RAW pipeline, or design handoff, converting to JPG for distribution is the right call. Keep the TIFF as your archive; share the JPG.

To understand the full TIFF format, see what is a TIFF file and for JPG specifics, what is a JPEG.

TIFF vs JPG: Key Differences

The key tradeoff: TIFF preserves every bit of data; JPG trades some of that data for dramatically smaller files. For display purposes, a well-compressed JPG at 85 quality is visually indistinguishable from the source TIFF.

How to Convert TIFF to JPG on Windows

Option 1 — Pixotter (browser): The fastest option. Open pixotter.com/convert/, drop your file, download the JPG. Works on any Windows version with a modern browser.

Option 2 — Paint:

1. Open the TIFF in Paint (right-click → Open with → Paint)
2. File → Save as → JPEG picture
3. Choose your save location

Paint doesn't give you quality control — it picks a default setting. Fine for casual use, not ideal for precise output.

Option 3 — Photos app:

1. Open the TIFF in the Windows Photos app
2. Click the three-dot menu → Save a copy
3. Choose JPEG as the file type

Same caveat as Paint — no quality slider.

Option 4 — ffmpeg 7.1 (LGPL 2.1+):

ffmpeg -i input.tiff -q:v 2 output.jpg

The -q:v flag controls quality. Range is 1 (best) to 31 (worst). For most use cases, 2–5 is the right range.

Download ffmpeg 7.1 for Windows from ffmpeg.org/download.html.

How to Convert TIFF to JPG on Mac

Option 1 — Pixotter (browser): Same as Windows — pixotter.com/convert/, drop, download.

Option 2 — Preview:

1. Open the TIFF in Preview
2. File → Export
3. Set Format to JPEG
4. Adjust the Quality slider
5. Save

Preview gives you a quality slider, which is more than you get from most native tools. This is the easiest Mac option if you prefer a GUI.

Option 3 — sips (built-in CLI):

sips ships with macOS — no installation needed.

sips -s format jpeg input.tiff --out output.jpg

For a specific quality level:

sips -s format jpeg -s formatOptions 85 input.tiff --out output.jpg

The formatOptions value is 0–100. 85 is a solid default.

Option 4 — ffmpeg 7.1 (LGPL 2.1+):

ffmpeg -i input.tiff -q:v 2 output.jpg

Install via Homebrew: brew install ffmpeg

Batch Convert TIFF to JPG

Pixotter: Drop all your TIFFs at once on pixotter.com/convert/. Pixotter processes them in parallel and bundles the output as a ZIP download. No scripting required.

ffmpeg — macOS/Linux:

for f in *.tiff; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -q:v 2 "${f%.tiff}.jpg"; done

This loops through every .tiff in the current directory and outputs a .jpg with the same base name.

ffmpeg — Windows (Command Prompt):

for %f in (*.tiff) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -q:v 2 "%~nf.jpg"

sips — macOS batch:

sips -s format jpeg -s formatOptions 85 *.tiff --out ./jpg-output/

Make sure the output directory (./jpg-output/) exists first: mkdir -p ./jpg-output

Quality Settings: Finding the Right JPG Compression Level

JPG quality isn't linear — the perceptible difference between 85 and 95 is much smaller than the file size difference suggests.

For most web use cases, 85 is the right default. If you're delivering to a client who will use the image for print, go to 95. If you're generating thumbnails at scale, 75 gives you nearly imperceptible quality loss with better bandwidth.

After converting, consider compressing your JPG further — a good JPEG compressor can often squeeze another 10–20% out without visible quality loss.

Also worth reading: the difference between JPEG and JPG (spoiler: there is none) and how to compress a JPEG to reduce file size after conversion.

FAQ

Does converting TIFF to JPG lose quality? Yes — JPG is a lossy format. At quality 85+, the loss is negligible for screen viewing. If you need to preserve every detail (16-bit color, scanner data), keep the TIFF as your archive and convert a copy to JPG for distribution.

Can I convert a multi-page TIFF to JPG? A multi-page TIFF (common in fax and document scanning workflows) contains multiple frames. Pixotter extracts the first frame. With ffmpeg, use -vf select='eq(n,0)' to extract a specific frame, or omit the filter to get the first by default.

Will JPG preserve transparency from my TIFF? No. JPG does not support transparency. Any transparent areas in your TIFF will be filled with white (the default background color) during conversion. If you need transparency, convert to PNG instead.

Is TIFF to JPG conversion reversible? Not cleanly. Once you convert to JPG, the compression artifacts are baked in. You can open that JPG and save it as a TIFF, but you'll have a large file with JPG-quality data inside it — not the original. Always keep your source TIFF if it matters.

What's the maximum TIFF file size Pixotter handles? Processing happens entirely in your browser using WebAssembly, so the practical limit is your device's available RAM. Most modern laptops handle TIFFs up to several hundred MB without issues.

Why does my converted JPG look different from the TIFF? A few common causes: color profile mismatch (TIFF may use CMYK, JPG output is sRGB), transparency filled with white, or HDR/16-bit data being tone-mapped to 8-bit. Check your source TIFF's color mode before converting.

Is ffmpeg free to use commercially? ffmpeg 7.1 is released under the LGPL 2.1+ license (with some components under GPL). For most use cases — running it as a standalone tool to convert your own files — there are no restrictions. Check ffmpeg.org/legal.html if you're embedding it in a commercial application.

What if I need to convert hundreds of TIFFs? Use the batch commands in the Batch Convert section above. ffmpeg handles thousands of files with a single shell loop. Pixotter's batch mode is faster for one-off jobs where you don't want to open a terminal.