For most scanned documents, PDF is the better format: it opens on every device, holds many pages in a widely supported way and can be made searchable with text recognition. TIFF remains useful for master copies of images, such as photos and artwork, and for systems that require it.
Below, the two formats are compared point by point, with advice for archiving, sharing and printing.
On this page
Key takeaways
- Both formats can store scans at full quality and hold several pages.
- PDF opens in every browser and phone; TIFF often needs extra software.
- PDF can carry a searchable text layer; plain TIFF scans cannot be searched.
- Use TIFF for image masters and legacy systems, PDF for documents you share or store.
Steps shown in the video
- Click Choose TIFF Files and select your TIFF images
- Each file is listed with a preview and its size
- Click Convert to PDF
- Download one PDF with every image
TIFF vs PDF at a glance
| TIFF | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Raster images | Documents |
| Multiple pages | Yes | Yes |
| Quality | Lossless options | Lossless or compressed, your choice |
| Opens in browsers | Mostly no (Safari is an exception) | Yes, all |
| Opens on phones | Often needs an app | Yes |
| Searchable text | No | Yes, after OCR |
| Archiving standard | Common in imaging | PDF/A is an ISO archiving standard |
| Typical file size | Large | Smaller for the same scan |
When is TIFF the better choice?
- Image masters of photos, artwork and maps that will be edited later.
- Fax and document-imaging systems that were built around TIFF.
- Print and publishing workflows that ask for TIFF files.
- Archives with an existing TIFF policy, where consistency matters.
When is PDF the better choice?
- Sharing scans by email or upload, because the recipient can open them anywhere.
- Multi-page documents such as contracts, statements and reports.
- Searchable archives, after running text recognition on the scan.
- Long-term storage, where the PDF/A variant was designed for archiving.
Moving scans from TIFF to PDF
If your scanner saved TIFF files, the TIFF to PDF converter combines them into one PDF, with every page of multi-page TIFFs included. The step-by-step guide covers the details, and if the PDF turns out large, see how to shrink a TIFF to PDF file.
Long-term archiving: TIFF, PDF or PDF/A?
Archives have used TIFF for decades because it is simple, well documented and lossless. PDF/A, an ISO-standardised version of PDF designed for preservation, now plays the same role for documents: it embeds everything needed to display the file in the future and forbids features that could break, such as external links to fonts.
For a small office or personal archive, a well-organised folder of PDFs is usually the practical choice: one file per document, readable on any device. Institutions with formal preservation rules should follow those rules, which may specify TIFF masters with PDF access copies.
TIFF vs PDF: FAQ
Is TIFF or PDF better for scanning documents?
PDF, in most cases. It is easier to share, holds many pages and can be made searchable. Use TIFF when a system or workflow specifically requires it.
Is TIFF higher quality than PDF?
Not inherently. A PDF can hold a scan without any quality loss; the quality depends on the scan resolution and compression used.
Can browsers open TIFF files?
Most cannot. Safari is the main exception. PDFs open in every modern browser.
Can I search a scanned PDF?
Only after text recognition (OCR) adds a text layer. A plain scan is an image.
How do I convert TIFF to PDF?
Use a TIFF to PDF converter; multi-page TIFFs become multi-page PDFs.
What is PDF/A?
A version of PDF standardised for long-term archiving. It embeds fonts and avoids features that could stop the file displaying correctly in the future.
PDF for documents, TIFF for image masters
Keep TIFF where an imaging workflow needs it, and use PDF for scanned documents you share, search or archive. Converting between them takes seconds.
