When is PNG better than TIFF?
PNG images are relatively smaller and highly compatible with or supported by most programs and browsers. TIFF images are larger, high-quality, and losslessly compressed images that lower web responsiveness and are incompatible with most web browsers and software.
PNG's ability to balance compatibility, file size, and quality makes it an ideal format for online web-based images. Researching more on PNG files shows that PNG is best suited for web-based projects, as it upholds high quality for smaller files than TIFF.
When is TIFF better than PNG?
TIFF images are ideal for professional printing and publishing since they support all color spaces, including CMYK. In contrast, PNG images are unsuitable for professional editing and printing because they hardly support CMYK, which is commonly used for image printing.
The pros of TIFF images include suitability for specialized publishing settings as they support all color spaces, namely LAB, CMYK, and RGB; they are easily edited in photo editing programs and store multilayers, making them compatible with software, including Photoshop.
TIFF versus PNG Table Comparison
| Aspect/Factor | TIFF | PNG |
| Transparency | Supports alpha channel transparency. | Supports alpha channel transparency |
| File Size | Larger files than PNG. | Has no file size limit but is smaller than TIFF. |
| Image Quality | High-quality with more layer and color support than PNG. | High-quality, but with minimal layer support and color support than TIFF. |
| Performance | Longer loading times compared to PNG. | Shorter loading time compared to TIFF. |
| Structure | A raster graphics with three sections: The Image File Header (IFH), the image file directory (IFD), and the bitmap data. | A raster-based format with an 8-byte signature header. |
| Animation | Does not support animation | Does not support animation |
| Storage | Requires more storage space than PNG. | Requires less storage space compared to TIFF. |
| Compression | Supports lossless with LZW and PackBits/ZIP and lossy JPEG compression. | Supports lossless compression with LZ77 algorithms and Huffman coding. |
| Browser Support | Limited browser support compared to PNG. | Widely supported by almost all browsers. |
Differences and similarities between PNG and TIFF images
PNG and TIFF are raster-based formats similar in transparency, animation support, and lossless compression.
PNG and TIFF are dissimilar in file size, browser support, structure, web performance, storage space, image quality, and lossy compression. Eventually, PNG versus TIF is merely a matter of comprehending the notable differences and similarities between the two file formats, as highlighted in the following table.
Transparency
Both PNG and TIFF images or files support alpha channel transparency. PNG files permit fractional transparency on their images as they strive to uphold smaller file sizes than TIFF.
PNG further supports 24-bit color depth, which permits a wide color range, and transparency, which appears visually effective online. Thus, it is more effective for online graphics, including logos and images, where smaller file sizes are achieved at higher quality and transparency alternatives are preferred.
In contrast, TIFF's support for transparency is less effective than that of PNG. The file format (TIFF) supports transparency, but the supported alpha channels hardly work in design. It is only supported by design programs offering full support to TIFF files.
File Size
TIFF files are comparatively larger than PNG files. The TIFF file format was created to store editable scanned images or photos meant for publishing or printing, while PNG was meant to create lighter web graphics. The detailed information in TIFF files makes them larger than PNG files.
Image Quality
Both PNG and TIFF formats are high-quality and high-resolution image formats. Nevertheless, TIFF has the most significant visual accuracy after compression compared to PNG. Lossy TIFFs are more prone to compression artifacts than lossless PNGs.
PNGs provide high-quality images with smaller file sizes than high-quality TIFF images. While TIFF and PNG use lossless compression to preserve image quality while shrinking their file sizes, lossy TIFFs are prone to compression artifacts that result in loss of image quality.
PNG can preserve transparency information, making it a versatile format for creating web graphics, icons, and logos. Conversely, TIFF supports high-res images and preserves image sharpness, color saturation, and edge details, making it ideal for professional photographers to keep larger, high-quality images.
Performance
Due to their larger size, TIFF files consume more bytes than PNG files. Thus, TIFF's file sizes slow down web performance more than PNG files, which provides a remarkable user experience. PNG files are smaller, load faster online, and enhance a better user experience than TIFF files.
Structure
PNG and TIFF are raster-based file formats but cannot be compared in terms of structural design. For instance, a PNG file consists of an 8-byte signature header trailed by many chunks containing image data, control data, and metadata. All PNG chunks have three standard fields: a 4-byte CRC, type code, and length.
The file format further has different inner fields based on the chunk type. Most IDAT chunks within a PNG file efficiently hold the compressed image data. The PNG chunks contain identifications following their inner formats, sequentially read from the beginning to the end of each data stream. The file format also has essential chunks supported by the reader and writer files.
On the other hand, TIFF supports a multilayer structure. The tag recognizes all file values within every TIFF image, indicating the kind of image information contained, including the image height and width and the type of data storage format. The length of numerous values allocated to a certain tag follows the TIFF's types and tags. The structural design means that all TIFF properties, such as the single-value properties, must be stored in groups or multilayers.
Animation
Both PNG and TIFF images or files hardly support animation. Nonetheless, TIFF supports multiple pages, which is necessary when storing specific image frames to generate animation sequences. As such, TIFF files are used in particular animation programs when producing high-quality animated content.
While PNG hardly supports animation, APNG extends its specifications to support animation by integrating an animation control chunk. The control chunk can be used to generate lively web content. APNG surpasses still images' confines and boasts more support for animations than TIFF.
Storage
When handled properly, the stored TIFF and PNG files can last indefinitely, and the correct storage mediums are used for each file format. Harsh conditions, including destruction of the storage mediums, can lead to image data loss, deletion, or mislaying.
TIFF files are larger than PNG files, necessitating more storage space and more bytes or bandwidth to be saved online than PNGs. TIFF can be stored in compressed or uncompressed formats, such as text and vector information, in content delivery networks, hard drives, cloud services, floppy drives, DVDs, CDs, and file systems. PNG images can be stored in the cloud, Base64, hard drives, file systems, and Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Compression
Both PNG and TIFF use lossless compression techniques. However, TIFF further supports lossy JPEG compression. TIFF uses lossless PackBits/ZIP and Lempel Ziv Welch (LZW) compression, while PNG uses lossless compression with Huffman coding and LZW algorithms.
Lossless TIFF files can be uncompressed or use lossless compression methods like LZW, ZIP, or PackBits, while PNG files are always compressed using lossless DEFLATE compression. As a result, uncompressed TIFF files are larger than lossy TIFF files, which use methods such as JPEG compression. When using TIFF's LZW lossless compression, file sizes can decrease significantly, but the exact amount of reduction varies depending on the image content.
The lossless PNG compression method with Huffman coding and LZ77 algorithms ensures that image data is preserved without compromise. Huffman compression algorithm efficiently represents comparable image information to generate an identical image similar to the original PNG file before compression.
While PNG and TIFF use lossless compression, TIFF images are larger and of higher quality than PNG images. However, lossy TIFFs hardly retain all image data, as unnecessary image information is deleted, leading to compression artifacts.
Browser Support
PNG is supported by Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Opera Mini, Vivaldi, and Discord, among other older and new web browsers. It is only unsupported by Internet Explorer, which needs an additional extension or plug-in to support PNGs.
While PNG enjoys universal support across web browsers, only Apple Safari supports TIFFs. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera Mini, Brave, Discord, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge do not.
Converting PNG to TIFF or TIFF to PNG
Use Convertjack to convert PNG to TIFF files easily. TIFF allows for professional publishing, editing, and printing because it supports more color spaces, allows lossless compression, and produces high-quality images. TIFF's lossy compression provides flexibility with its file size.
Convert TIFF to PNG to enjoy the best balance between compatibility, image size, and high quality. Lossless PNG ensures the file size is reduced, quality preserved, and the compressed images are widely compatible with modern and older browsers. Use TIFF to PNG converter such as Convertjack to enjoy crispy, high-quality, and effortlessly generated PNG images.