Free online BMP to TIF converter

A scanner, publishing application, document-management system, or print service may require TIFF instead of BMP. Converting can also reduce the size of many uncompressed BMP files while preserving their pixel dimensions.

What the BMP format is

BMP, or bitmap, stores raster image data and is associated with Windows graphics software such as Paint and older Windows utilities. BMP files also occur in legacy applications, screenshots, hardware documentation, and exported Windows graphics. The format supports common RGB color depths, including 24-bit color, but many BMP files are uncompressed and therefore large. BMP is less suitable than TIFF for multipage documents, print production, and metadata-oriented archiving.

What the TIF format is

TIF and TIFF are filename extensions for Tagged Image File Format. TIFF can store uncompressed data or lossless LZW and ZIP compression, embedded metadata, grayscale and RGB images, CMYK print data, higher bit depths, and multiple pages in one file. TIFF is used in scanning, publishing, printing, document management, and archival workflows because it accommodates image and document requirements that basic BMP files generally do not.

TIFF is not automatically smaller: photographic noise can reduce compression efficiency, and uncompressed or high-bit-depth TIFF files can be very large. A BMP-to-TIFF conversion normally produces one TIFF image; it does not create additional pages or recover metadata that was never present in the source.

How to convert a file

Using 101convert

1. Open the BMP-to-TIF converter on 101convert.com; it can be used free without installing software.
2. Select or drag the .bmp file into the converter.
3. Choose TIFF or TIF as the output format. If a compression option is available, choose LZW or ZIP for lossless compression; choose uncompressed TIFF only when the receiving application requires it.
4. Start the conversion and download the resulting .tif file.

Using GIMP or Photoshop

1. In GIMP, open the file with File → Open. In Photoshop, use File → Open.
2. In GIMP, select File → Export As, enter a filename ending in .tif, and choose TIFF in the export dialog. In Photoshop, select File → Save As or File → Save a Copy, then choose TIFF.
3. Choose LZW or ZIP compression for lossless output, or no compression when specified by the destination system.
4. Confirm the export and open the TIFF to check its dimensions, color, orientation, and metadata.

Using ImageMagick

ImageMagick converts one file from a terminal with:

magick input.bmp -compress LZW output.tif

For ZIP compression, use:

magick input.bmp -compress Zip output.tif

To convert all BMP files matched by a shell wildcard into a separate directory, create the directory first and run:

magick mogrify -path converted -format tif -compress LZW *.bmp

The wildcard syntax depends on the command shell. Check the generated files before deleting the originals, particularly when converting a batch.

Quality and compatibility limits

Changing the container format does not restore detail missing from the BMP. The source determines the available pixel dimensions, sharpness, color depth, and color information. Saving an RGB BMP as TIFF does not create genuine CMYK or higher-bit-depth source data; those changes require an intentional color conversion or bit-depth workflow in an image editor.

LZW and ZIP compression preserve source pixels. JPEG compression inside a TIFF is lossy and is unsuitable for archival storage or repeated editing when exact pixel preservation is required.

Check the recipient's requirements for color space, bit depth, compression, resolution, and single-page versus multipage output before converting. Some web applications and basic image viewers do not support TIFF, and older software may fail to open multipage, CMYK, or 16-bit TIFF files. TIFF metadata support also varies by application, so verify that required tags such as resolution, color profile, and page information were retained.