The TIFF-F File Format

The TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) was developed by Aldus and Microsoft as an extensible common file format for the exchange of image files.

Copies of the standard are available through Aldus.

In order to increase the portability of TIFF files, various classes of TIFF files have been defined in order to clarify the requirements of readers and writers to ensure compatibility.

Class F TIFF files are used for the exchange of fax images and are a subset of Class B (bilevel or black & white) TIFF images.

Class F TIFF files may optionally use (and Faximum uses by default) a form of lossless image compression technique, meaning that the image will not lose any detail in the compression/decompression process.

Note that many word-processing programs can import TIFF-F files. Sometimes, however, the compression used in a TIFF-F file may not be supported by the word-processing program. In this case, the Faximum software includes a utility called tiffcompress which may be used to change the compression of a TIFF-F file.