Free online TGA to TIF converter

Game textures, renders, and legacy graphics assets are often supplied as TGA files, while print, scanning, publishing, and document workflows may require TIFF files. Conversion repackages the same raster image for software that accepts .tif or .tiff files.

What TGA files contain

TGA, also called Truevision TARGA, is a raster format originally developed for TARGA graphics hardware. It remains common in game development, 3D rendering, video pipelines, and older graphics applications because it supports uncompressed or lossless RLE-compressed pixel data.

TGA commonly stores 24-bit RGB or 32-bit RGBA images; the fourth channel can carry transparency. The format also supports grayscale and color-mapped variants, although these are less common. Typical filenames include diffuse.tga, sprite.tga, and texture.tga.

What TIF and TIFF files contain

TIF and TIFF are filename extensions for the same Tagged Image File Format. TIFF is widely supported by image editors, scanners, publishing software, print workflows, archives, and GIS applications.

TIFF can store RGB, CMYK, grayscale, alpha channels, embedded ICC color profiles, metadata, multiple pages, and higher bit depths. It supports uncompressed data and several compression methods, including LZW, ZIP/Deflate, PackBits, and JPEG. LZW or ZIP/Deflate compression is lossless; JPEG-compressed TIFF is not.

Convert a TGA file to TIF

For a single file, upload the TGA image to the converter on 101convert.com, select TIFF/TIF as the output format, start the conversion, and download the result. Open the downloaded TIFF in the application that will receive it, particularly when transparency, printing, or a specific color profile is required.

For desktop conversion in Adobe Photoshop, open the source with File → Open, then use File → Save a Copy or File → Save As and select TIFF. Choose LZW or ZIP compression when the recipient accepts compressed TIFF, and preserve alpha channels when transparency must remain available.

In GIMP, use File → Open, then File → Export As. Name the output with a .tif extension, select TIFF, and choose LZW or Deflate compression in the export options.

ImageMagick is suitable for repeatable or batch jobs. A basic conversion uses magick input.tga output.tif; lossless LZW compression uses magick input.tga -compress LZW output.tif. In Windows Command Prompt, convert all TGA files in the current folder with for %f in (*.tga) do magick "%f" -compress LZW "%~nf.tif".

Quality and compatibility checks

Conversion does not increase resolution, restore discarded detail, or create genuine 16-bit image data from a typical 8-bit-per-channel TGA. Retain the original pixel dimensions unless the destination specification requires resizing.

A 24-bit TGA normally becomes an RGB TIFF. A 32-bit TGA normally contains RGB plus alpha; verify the TIFF in the receiving application because some older TIFF readers ignore alpha channels or display transparent areas against black.

Saving an RGB TGA as TIFF does not make it a usable CMYK print file. If a printer requires CMYK TIFF, convert the image to the printer's specified CMYK ICC profile in color-managed software, such as Photoshop through Edit → Convert to Profile, before saving.

Use LZW or ZIP/Deflate for lossless files with reduced size. Some legacy applications accept only uncompressed TIFF, and some production systems reject alpha channels, layered data, or non-RGB color spaces; confirm the recipient's TIFF requirements before delivery.