Tagged Image File Format

file format, graphics (TIFF) A file format used for

still-image bitmaps, stored in tagged fields. Applicationprograms can use the tags to accept or ignore fields,

depending on their capabilities.

While TIFF was designed to be extensible, it lacked a core of

useful functionality, so that most useful functions (e.g.

lossless 24-bit colour) requires nonstandard, often

redundant, extensions. The incompatibility of extensions has

led some to expand "TIFF" as "Thousands of Incompatible File

Formats".

Compare GIF, PNG, JPEG.

(1997-10-11)