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Images to PDF

What is a multi-page TIFF? Frames and PDF pages explained

By DeckleUpdated

A multi-page TIFF is a single .tif or .tiff file that holds several images, called frames or pages, one after another. Scanners and fax software use it to keep a whole document in one file. When you convert one in TIFF to PDF, each frame becomes its own PDF page, in the order the frames are stored.

TIFF to PDF

One file can hold several frames

Frame 1

Cover

Frame 2

Table

Frame 3

Signed page

3 included frames → 3 planned PDF pages

Example · count included decoded frames, not TIFF filenames.

How a TIFF holds several pages

Inside a TIFF, each image has its own directory: a block of tags describing its width, height, colour and compression, plus a pointer to the next directory. A single-page TIFF has one directory. A multi-page TIFF chains several together. The TIFF-F profile used by fax systems describes exactly this structure, with a separate directory for each page of a document (RFC 2306).

Different apps use different words for the same thing:

App calls it Means
Frame One image in the chain
Page The same, in document and fax software
Image or subfile The same, in technical tools

The file name tells you nothing about how many there are. contract.tif might hold one page or forty.

How to convert the frames with Deckle

  1. Open TIFF to PDF and choose Select files, or drop the TIFF onto the page.
  2. Check the row under Images to include. The whole TIFF is one row. Its frames are counted as soon as you add it, so the row shows how many pages it will make before you convert.
  3. Choose Fit inside A4 for paper documents, so each frame lands on an A4 page.
  4. Choose Create PDF and check that the page count matches the pages of the paper document.

The result screen says how many pages were created and from how many images, so one 12-frame TIFF reads as 12 pages from one image.

Frames versus files

Page counts add up across files and frames together:

  • One TIFF with 12 frames gives 12 pages.
  • Twelve single-frame TIFFs give 12 pages.
  • Three TIFFs with four frames each give 12 pages: frames 1–4 of the first file, then the second file's, then the third's.

In TIFF to PDF a multi-page TIFF moves as one block in the list, and rotating it turns every frame. You cannot reorder or drop individual frames before converting; do that afterwards in Organize PDF pages. How to convert a multi-page TIFF to PDF walks through the whole process.

Frames can differ in size

Each frame has its own directory, so each can have its own size. A scanner that saved a mix of letter pages and a wide fold-out map can produce frames of different shapes in one file.

How that comes out depends on the page size you choose:

Page size Result
Match each image Each page is the size of its own frame, so page sizes vary through the PDF
Fit inside A4 Every page is A4; each frame shrinks to fit and is centred

With Match each image, one pixel becomes one point, so a 300 DPI scan of A4 gives a page about 34 × 49 inches. Image DPI and PDF page size explains why the scanner's DPI tag does not set the page size.

What a PDF does differently

A PDF is built for pages: every reader shows page thumbnails, page numbers and printing by page range, and PDFs can be merged, split and searched once they have a text layer. Some image viewers show only the first frame of a multi-page TIFF, which is a common reason people think pages are missing. Converting to PDF makes every page visible in any PDF reader.

In TIFF to PDF, each frame is saved as a quality-90 JPEG on a white background. Colour and greyscale scans look the same at normal zoom; crisp black-and-white text can soften slightly when zoomed right in. TIFF tags such as scanner resolution, author and date are not carried into the PDF. TIFF vs PDF for scanned archives compares the two formats for long-term storage.

What TIFF to PDF can read

  • Compression: uncompressed, LZW and Deflate. Fax (CCITT), PackBits and JPEG compression are refused.
  • Colour: greyscale, RGB and palette colour at 1, 8 or 16 bits. CMYK is refused. 16-bit frames are reduced to 8 bits.
  • Orientation: frames stored with an orientation tag that rotates or flips them are refused.
  • Size: each frame keeps up to 16 megapixels on a computer or Android device, and 4 megapixels on iPhone and iPad; a larger frame is scaled down to fit. Frames above 64 megapixels, or 25 megapixels on iPhone and iPad, are refused before you start.

If any frame cannot be read, the run stops and names the frame rather than leaving a page out.

Frequently asked questions

Is a multi-page TIFF the same as a PDF?

No. Both can hold several pages, but a TIFF holds only images, while a PDF can also hold text, links and form fields, and every PDF reader shows all its pages.

Why does my image viewer show only one page of my TIFF?

Some image viewers show only the first frame. Convert the TIFF with TIFF to PDF: the result screen states how many pages were created, one per frame.

Can one TIFF frame become two PDF pages?

No. Each frame becomes exactly one page.

Can I choose which frames to convert?

Not in TIFF to PDF. Convert the whole file, then remove the pages you do not need in Organize PDF pages.

Related tools

Sources