Convert SVG to TIFF
Your SVG goes in and a TIFF comes out. TIFF is what print shops, scanners and archives ask for when a picture has to stay pristine. Worth knowing: a TIFF will not open in a browser tab, so it is a file for software rather than for the web. Your file never leaves your computer.
How to convert SVG to TIFF
- 1 Drop your SVG .svg file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Enter how wide the TIFF should be. That is the one thing you cannot change afterwards.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the TIFF, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert SVG to TIFF
- Keeps every detail and every shade, with proper colour management.
- Multiple pages in a single file, useful for scanned documents.
- Print production, where the press needs exact colours.
- SVG: embedded scripts make untrusted SVG a security consideration.
SVG compared with TIFF
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | SVG | TIFF |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .svg | .tiff |
| Compression | Uncompressed | Lossy or lossless |
| Animation | Yes | No |
| Multiple pages | No | Yes |
| Colour depth | Vector, resolution independent | Up to 32 bits per channel, RGB, CMYK, Lab and greyscale |
| Typical file size | Largest | Depends on mode |
| Browser support | Every browser | No browser support |
| Introduced | 2001 | 1986 |
| Developed by | W3C | Aldus, now Adobe |
Quality and what changes
SVG has no inherent resolution, so this conversion is really a decision about one: the geometry is drawn once at the pixel size you choose and then it is fixed. Export at the largest size the image will ever be shown at, and at two times that for high density screens, because enlarging the TIFF afterwards only stretches pixels. Text inside the SVG becomes pixels too, so it stops being selectable and stops reflowing.
- SVG files can be read here but not created, so conversions run one way only.
- Only the first frame of an animated SVG is kept.
- Browsers will not display a TIFF, so it downloads rather than opening in a tab.
- Links and live text inside the SVG become part of the picture and stop working.
- One TIFF limitation to keep in mind: uncompressed TIFF files are very large.
Questions about SVG to TIFF
What happens to an animated SVG?
TIFF holds a single image, so only one frame survives, normally the first. If you need the motion, convert to a format that keeps it such as MP4, WebM or WebP rather than to TIFF.
What size should the TIFF be?
Whatever size it will actually be displayed at, doubled for high density screens. SVG is resolution independent and TIFF is not, so this is the one decision that cannot be revisited afterwards without re-exporting from the SVG.
Can I open a TIFF in a browser?
No. No mainstream browser renders TIFF natively, so it will download rather than display. That is fine when the file is heading into desktop software or an archive, and a problem if it is going on a web page.
Is my SVG file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your SVG is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a TIFF. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several SVG files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate TIFF downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.