# .tiff MIME Type: image/tiff

> High-fidelity images used in print, scanning and GIS. Most browsers can't display TIFF.

- MIME type: `image/tiff`
- Extensions: .tiff, .tif
- Content-Type header: `image/tiff`
- Compress in transit: no (already compressed)
- File signature: `49 49 2A 00` (little-endian; big-endian files start 4D 4D 00 2A (MM.*))

## Good to know

- Convert to PNG or JPEG for the web; only Safari displays TIFF natively.

## Server configuration

### nginx (inside the types block in mime.types)

```
image/tiff tiff tif;
```

### Apache (.htaccess or server config)

```
AddType image/tiff .tiff .tif
```

### Express

```
res.set("Content-Type", "image/tiff");
```

### Python

```
import mimetypes

mimetypes.add_type("image/tiff", ".tiff")
mimetypes.add_type("image/tiff", ".tif")
```

### HTML file input

```
<input type="file" accept=".tiff,.tif,image/tiff">
```

## FAQ

### What is the MIME type for .tiff files?

`image/tiff`. The same type covers .tif.

### What Content-Type header should a .tiff file be served with?

`Content-Type: image/tiff`. It's already compressed, so servers shouldn't gzip it.

### How can I tell if a file is really a .tiff?

Check its bytes rather than the extension: TIFF files start with `49 49 2A 00` (`II*.`) — little-endian; big-endian files start 4D 4D 00 2A (MM.*). On the command line, `file --mime-type name.tiff` does this for you.

## Related types

- [.png — image/png](https://www.devkult.com/mime/png.md)
- [.jpg — image/jpeg](https://www.devkult.com/mime/jpg.md)
- [.pdf — application/pdf](https://www.devkult.com/mime/pdf.md)

Open the interactive page: https://www.devkult.com/mime/tiff