Free online TIF to MKV converter

A TIF image cannot be used directly in a video-only player or workflow; converting it to MKV makes it a timed video that those systems can handle. This is useful for sharing a slideshow or importing still images into software that accepts video but not TIFF files.

What the TIF format is

TIF, also written TIFF, is a raster image format commonly used for scans, print production, and scientific or archival images. Scanners and programs such as Adobe Photoshop and GIMP can create TIF files. Unlike a video format, a TIF image has no playback duration.

What the MKV format is

MKV is a Matroska multimedia container that can hold video, audio, subtitles, and other tracks. It is useful for storing and playing video with multiple tracks, but MKV is a container, not a video codec. To put TIF images in it, they must be encoded as video frames; several images can become a slideshow with a set display time for each.

How to convert TIF to MKV

Online on 101convert.com

1. Upload the TIF image or images to the converter on this page. Several files can be converted in one batch; the per-file size limit is shown on the page.
2. Set show each picture for to choose how long each image appears.
3. Start the conversion, then download the MKV file.

Offline with desktop software

FFmpeg is a free, open-source command-line program for Windows, macOS, and Linux. For a slideshow, rename the images in order as image-001.tif, image-002.tif, and so on, then run this command in their folder:

ffmpeg -framerate 1/5 -start_number 1 -i image-%03d.tif -vf "fps=30,pad=ceil(iw/2)*2:ceil(ih/2)*2" -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -pix_fmt yuv420p slideshow.mkv

This sets each image to five seconds, encodes H.264 video at 30 frames per second, and pads odd image dimensions to values compatible with the chosen pixel format. The images should have the same dimensions; change 1/5 to another duration, such as 1/3 for three seconds per image.

Quality and compatibility

H.264 with yuv420p is widely supported but is lossy and may reduce color detail or bit depth compared with the source TIF. For lossless video frames, use FFmpeg’s -c:v ffv1 instead; the MKV will usually be larger, and playback support may be narrower. A single TIF becomes a static video frame unless a duration is specified.