What does TIFF stand for?

• A. True Image File Format
• B. Type Image File Format
• C. Tagged Image File Format
• D. Tagged Internal File Format

Answer: (C)

TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format. The word "tagged" reflects how the file stores information about the image using a set of tags in an Image File Directory, describing attributes like width, height, color depth, compression, and color space. This tagging system gives TIFF exceptional flexibility: it can hold high-bit-depth images, support various lossless or uncompressed options, and even multi-page or layered content in some cases. Because of this versatility, TIFF is widely used in professional photography, scanning, and archival work where preserving image quality and data is crucial.

Other proposed expansions aren’t standard names used for this format, so they don’t align with how the format is described in software and documentation.