CONVERT
BMP → TIFF
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Fast, secure BMP to TIFF conversion. No registration required.
BMP stores every pixel as raw, uncompressed RGB or RGBA data — a 24-bit 3000 x 2000 pixel image occupies roughly 17 MB on disk regardless of its visual content. That predictability is useful in controlled environments like Windows GDI pipelines, but it becomes a liability the moment a file needs to move into a professional workflow. TIFF was designed from the ground up for exactly that transition: it supports the same lossless representation of pixel data as BMP, but adds LZW or Deflate compression (cutting file size by 40 to 70 percent on typical photographic content without discarding a single bit), multi-layer storage, ICC color profile embedding, and rich EXIF or XMP metadata blocks. Converting BMP to TIFF is therefore not a format upgrade in the lossy sense — no pixels are resampled, no color values are quantized — but rather a re-encapsulation of the same raw image data inside a container that scanners, prepress operators, archivists, and document management systems can actually process at a professional level.
BMP Image
Source formatBMP is an uncompressed raster image format native to Windows. Files are large but preserve exact pixel data with no compression artifacts. Rarely used on the web due to file size.
TIFF Image
Target formatTIFF is a flexible, high-quality image format widely used in publishing, printing, and professional photography. It supports multiple compression methods and color spaces including CMYK.
Why convert BMP to TIFF
The most common trigger is interoperability with professional imaging software. Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Affinity Photo, and virtually every scanner driver treat TIFF as the native archival interchange format; BMP support exists but carries limitations, particularly around color profiles and metadata. Print shops and prepress workflows almost universally require TIFF because it supports CMYK color space natively — BMP is locked to RGB. Archivists favor TIFF because its baseline and extended specifications are ISO-standardized and openly documented, while BMP, though simple, lacks a standards body and carries no provision for embedded profiles or descriptive metadata. If the source BMP came from a scanner or screen-capture tool and needs to enter any managed production pipeline, TIFF is the expected handoff format.
HOW TO CONVERT
BMP → TIFF
Provide the BMP
Click or drag to upload. We accept a single BMP file per job, with an optional queue of additional images for batch mode.
Encode to TIFF
The conversion decodes the BMP, resolves the colour space to sRGB and writes the TIFF container around the pixel data.
Save the TIFF
The download is streamed back over HTTPS. If you uploaded multiple files, a ZIP with all TIFF outputs is produced instead.
Common Use Cases
Share across platforms
Send TIFF files to anyone without worrying about whether they have the right software for BMP.
Embed in documents
Drop TIFF output into Word, Google Docs, PowerPoint, Notion or a website without conversion warnings.
Optimize size
TIFF often produces smaller files than BMP for web, email and storage.
Archive & future-proof
Store in a widely-supported format that will still open on future operating systems without legacy plugins.
BMP vs TIFF — Strengths and limitations
What each format does best, and where it falls short.
BMP Strengths
- Dead-simple format — trivially easy to read and write.
- Lossless and uncompressed — perfect bit-exact pixel storage.
- Universally supported in Windows applications since 1985.
- Supports 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32-bit color depths.
Limitations
- Enormous file sizes — no meaningful compression in typical use.
- Not a web format — browsers support it but nobody serves BMPs over HTTP.
- No metadata support (no EXIF, no ICC profile in practice).
TIFF Strengths
- Lossless by default — no generation loss on successive edits and saves.
- Supports any bit depth (1 to 32 bits per channel), any color model, any number of channels.
- Extensible tag system means vendor-specific data survives alongside standard tags.
- Multi-page containers are perfect for scanned documents, faxes, and DICOM-like stacks.
- Industry-standard for archival, museums, scientific imaging, and high-end print prepress.
Limitations
- File sizes are huge compared to JPEG/WebP/AVIF — often 10-30× larger.
- Not a web format — no browser displays TIFF natively.
- Ambiguous spec areas mean some TIFFs only open correctly in the tool that created them.
BMP vs TIFF — Technical specifications
Side-by-side comparison of the technical details.
BMP
- MIME type
- image/bmp
- Extensions
- .bmp, .dib
- Compression
- None (typical); RLE 4/8 bit (rare)
- Color depths
- 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel
- Byte order
- Little-endian
TIFF
- MIME type
- image/tiff
- Extensions
- .tif, .tiff
- Standard
- TIFF 6.0 (1992); BigTIFF extension for 64-bit offsets
- Max file size
- 4 GB (TIFF); 2^64 bytes (BigTIFF)
- Compression options
- None, LZW, Deflate, JPEG, CCITT G3/G4, PackBits, JBIG
| Specification | BMP | TIFF |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | image/bmp | image/tiff |
| Extensions | .bmp, .dib | .tif, .tiff |
| Compression | None (typical); RLE 4/8 bit (rare) | — |
| Color depths | 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel | — |
| Byte order | Little-endian | — |
| Standard | — | TIFF 6.0 (1992); BigTIFF extension for 64-bit offsets |
| Max file size | — | 4 GB (TIFF); 2^64 bytes (BigTIFF) |
| Compression options | — | None, LZW, Deflate, JPEG, CCITT G3/G4, PackBits, JBIG |
BMP vs TIFF — Typical file sizes
Approximate file sizes for common scenarios.
BMP
- Small icon (32×32) 4 KB
- Screenshot (1920×1080) ~6 MB
- 4K image (3840×2160) ~25 MB
- Scanned A4 at 300 dpi ~25 MB
TIFF
- Scanned A4 page (300 dpi, B&W) 100-300 KB
- Scanned A4 page (600 dpi, color) 15-40 MB
- Print-quality magazine photo 30-150 MB
- Satellite GeoTIFF tile 50 MB - 5 GB
Quality & Compatibility
Because both BMP and TIFF can store pixel data without loss, a BMP-to-TIFF conversion with lossless compression (LZW or Deflate, both standard options in libtiff and ImageMagick) preserves every original pixel value exactly. Bit depth is retained: a 24-bit BMP (8 bits per channel, sRGB) becomes a 24-bit TIFF; if the BMP carries a 32-bit structure with an alpha channel (a less common but valid DIB variant), that alpha is carried through and TIFF's alpha-channel semantics will store it correctly as an associated or unassociated alpha layer. What BMP does not carry — and therefore cannot be recovered in the TIFF — is any ICC color profile or embedded metadata. The output TIFF will contain the pixel data faithfully but will have no embedded profile unless one is explicitly assigned during conversion; software will typically assume sRGB. No resampling, no chroma subsampling, no DCT artifacts — the pixel grid is identical.
Tips for Best Results
- If your target application is a print service or prepress workflow that requires CMYK, do not stop at this conversion — BMP has no CMYK representation, so the TIFF will arrive in RGB. You will need a color-managed conversion to CMYK in Photoshop or a dedicated ICC-aware tool after the BMP-to-TIFF step.
- Choose LZW compression when saving the TIFF if your downstream software is older (scanner archives, legacy document systems) — LZW has been part of the TIFF 6.0 spec since 1992 and is universally supported. Deflate (ZIP) yields marginally better compression on photographic content but may confuse very old TIFF readers.
- If the source BMP was captured at a known display resolution (96 DPI for Windows screen captures, 72 DPI for some older tools), set the TIFF resolution tag explicitly to that value before sending to print — TIFF stores DPI in its header and print drivers use it to determine physical output size, whereas BMP resolution metadata is often ignored or absent.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the codecs involved. If both BMP and TIFF are lossy, the pixels are re-encoded and a small amount of detail is discarded — invisible at default quality settings on photographs. If TIFF is lossless (PNG, TIFF, BMP) the output keeps every pixel of the decoded BMP exactly, but cannot recover detail that BMP had already compressed away.
Often yes, especially when TIFF is lossless. BMP tuned for efficient web delivery will usually produce smaller files than TIFF's default settings. If file size matters, drop the quality in Advanced or pick a more compressed target format instead.
KaijuConverter uploads over HTTPS, processes the image in an isolated container and deletes both the source and the output within two hours. No account is required, file contents are never logged, and we do not use uploads to train any model. For confidential material, the paid plan includes a data-processing agreement.
RELATED CONVERSIONS
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Related comparisons
See these formats side by side to understand which fits your use case best.
Related Guides
TIFF/TIF Format: The Professional Imaging Standard
Complete guide to TIFF format: tag-based IFD architecture, 8/16/32-bit depth, CMYK print support, LZW compression, multi-page TIFF, BigTIFF, and professional workflow commands.
Read guideBMP Bitmap Format: The Complete Technical Guide
Everything about the BMP format: DIB header variants, pixel storage, color depths (1 to 32-bit), RLE compression, alpha channels, and BMP vs PNG vs TIFF.
Read guideTIFF Format: The Complete Guide to Tagged Image File Format
Everything about TIFF: IFD tag structure, compression types (LZW, ZIP, JPEG), colour spaces, multi-page TIFF, BigTIFF, TIFF vs PNG vs PSD vs RAW, and when to use TIFF.
Read guideSecure & Private Conversion
Your files are encrypted during transfer, processed in isolated containers, and automatically deleted within 60 minutes. We never read, share, or store your data.