CONVERT
TIFF → TGA
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Fast, secure TIFF to TGA conversion. No registration required.
Setup: TIFF is the archival multi-page master format used in scanning, print and document pipelines. Goal: an interchangeable TGA. If you have ended up with a TIFF and need a TGA, the mismatch is almost always about where the image is going next rather than the picture itself. Our server reads the TIFF with ImageMagick, decodes each pixel, and re-writes it as a TGA using defaults tuned for fidelity first and file size second. Background. TIFF is the archival multi-page master format used in scanning, print and document pipelines. Destination side, TGA (Targa) is a legacy raster format still common in game asset pipelines.
TIFF Image
Source 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.
TGA Image
Target formatTGA (Targa) is a raster graphics format used in game development and video editing.
Why convert TIFF to TGA
Both TIFF and TGA describe a grid of pixels — the difference lies in how that grid is compressed, whether transparency is supported, and which software opens it natively. Moving from TIFF to TGA is worth it when the TGA ecosystem is broader for your use case, or when TGA compresses photographs more efficiently than TIFF.
HOW TO CONVERT
TIFF → TGA
Drop the TIFF file
Drag and drop or click to upload your TIFF. The image is transferred securely over HTTPS and queued for conversion.
Re-encode with ImageMagick
ImageMagick decodes every pixel of the TIFF and writes a matching TGA with sensible default quality settings.
Download the TGA
The converted TGA is ready to download as a single file; both files delete automatically within two hours.
Common Use Cases
Share across platforms
Send TGA files to anyone without worrying about whether they have the right software for TIFF.
Embed in documents
Drop TGA output into Word, Google Docs, PowerPoint, Notion or a website without conversion warnings.
Optimize size
TGA often produces smaller files than TIFF 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.
TIFF vs TGA — Strengths and limitations
What each format does best, and where it falls short.
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.
TGA Strengths
- Extremely simple — trivially easy to read and write.
- Lossless with optional RLE compression.
- Supports 8, 16, 24, and 32-bit color with alpha channel.
- Universal in legacy game development and 3D rendering pipelines.
Limitations
- No metadata, no color profile, no gamma correction.
- Aging — PNG and EXR cover its use cases with better compression.
- Bottom-up pixel order trips up newcomer parsers.
TIFF vs TGA — Technical specifications
Side-by-side comparison of the technical details.
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
TGA
- MIME type
- image/x-targa
- Extensions
- .tga, .icb, .vda, .vst
- Compression
- None or Run-Length Encoding (RLE)
- Bit depths
- 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel
- Byte order
- Little-endian
| Specification | TIFF | TGA |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | image/tiff | image/x-targa |
| Extensions | .tif, .tiff | .tga, .icb, .vda, .vst |
| 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 | — |
| Compression | — | None or Run-Length Encoding (RLE) |
| Bit depths | — | 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel |
| Byte order | — | Little-endian |
TIFF vs TGA — Typical file sizes
Approximate file sizes for common scenarios.
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
TGA
- 512×512 game texture (uncompressed) ~768 KB
- 2K render output (uncompressed) ~12 MB
- 4K render with alpha (RLE) 20-40 MB
Quality & Compatibility
If TGA is a lossless format (PNG, TIFF, BMP) the output keeps every pixel of the decoded TIFF exactly. If TGA is a lossy codec (JPEG, WebP, HEIC), the encoder re-compresses the image at the quality level you select — default 85 is transparent for photographs, quality 92+ for illustrations with hard edges.
Tips for Best Results
- Keep the original TIFF alongside the TGA output — re-encoding already-lossy images accumulates detail loss on each round.
- If the TGA will be uploaded to a CMS, check whether the platform has a max dimension and downscale once on export rather than letting the CMS resize automatically.
- For thumbnails and avatars, export the TGA at exactly the display size; browsers will otherwise resample and the image may look soft.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the codecs involved. If both TIFF and TGA are lossy, the pixels are re-encoded and a small amount of detail is discarded — invisible at default quality settings on photographs. If TGA is lossless (PNG, TIFF, BMP) the output keeps every pixel of the decoded TIFF exactly, but cannot recover detail that TIFF had already compressed away.
Often yes, especially when TGA is lossless. TIFF tuned for efficient web delivery will usually produce smaller files than TGA'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.
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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.