Free webp to jpg
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Image MIME Reference
TIFF

Tagged Image File Format (Legacy MIME)

image/x-tiff
VS

WebP Image

image/webp
WebP

A complete technical comparison of Tagged Image File Format (Legacy MIME) and WebP Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

WebP wins on browser support

Feature Support

Feature TIFF WebP
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support ✕ No Yes
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
EXIF Metadata Yes Yes
ICC Color Profile Yes Yes
Tagged Image File Format (Legacy MIME)
image/x-tiff
Extension
.tiff.tif
Container IFD (Image File Directory) Tag Structure
Compression Uncompressed / LZW (Lossless) / ZIP / Deflate (Lossless) / PackBits (Lossless RLE) / JPEG (Lossy) / CCITT Group 3/4 (Fax/Document)
Algorithm
NoneLZWDeflatePackBitsJPEGCCITT
Color Depth 1-bit (Monochrome), 8-bit (Grayscale or Indexed), 16-bit (Per Channel), 32-bit (Float Per Channel)
Developed by Aldus Corporation (Later acquired by Adobe Systems)
Released 1986
Magic Bytes
49 49 2A 00 (Little-endian) or 4D 4D 00 2A (Big-endian)
Full TIFF reference →
WebP Image
image/webp
Extension
.webp
Container RIFF
Compression Lossy / Lossless
Algorithm
VP8VP8L
Color Depth 8-bit
Developed by Google
Released 2010
Magic Bytes
52 49 46 46 XX XX XX XX 57 45 42 50
Full WebP reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser TIFF WebP
Chrome Chrome
✕
✓ 32+
Firefox Firefox
✕
✓ 65+
Safari Safari
✕
✓ 14+
Edge Edge
✕
✓ 18+
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
TIFF

TIFF Strengths

  • Universally accepted as the gold standard for high-fidelity archival and professional print workflows
  • Highly adaptable structure supports multiple pages (documents), layers, vast bit depths, and diverse compression algorithms within a single file
  • Unmatched support for rich metadata including EXIF, IPTC, XMP, and custom ICC color profiles
Limitations
  • Produces exceptionally large file sizes compared to modern web formats
  • The 'x-tiff' legacy MIME string forces developers to write extra validation logic to prevent strict security filters from rejecting valid uploads
  • The format's immense complexity means that many lightweight parsers only implement a subset of the specification, sometimes failing to read obscure compressions (like CCITT or old JPEG-in-TIFF)
WebP

WebP Strengths

  • Superior lossy compression — 25–35% smaller than JPEG at equivalent quality
  • Supports both animation and full alpha transparency
  • Lossless mode available with smaller file sizes than PNG
Limitations
  • Slower encoding than JPEG, especially for lossless
  • Not supported in Internet Explorer or very old browsers

When to choose which format

TIFF
Use TIFF when…
  • Professional Print and Desktop Publishing
  • High-Resolution Archival Scanning
  • Master Copies of Digital Photography
WebP
Use WebP when…
  • Websites
  • Ecommerce
  • Mobile Apps
  • CMS Images

More comparisons

TIFF vs ACES → WebP vs ACES → TIFF vs APNG → WebP vs APNG → TIFF vs AVCI → WebP vs AVCI → TIFF vs AVCS → WebP vs AVCS → TIFF vs AVIF → WebP vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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