What's the difference between the JPEG and TIFF formats?

Emma Davis
Emma Davis Content Strategist at 4OVER4.COM
May 8, 2025

JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group TIFF: Tagged Image File Format JPEG is a file format developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group from which it got its name. JPEG, unlike TIFF, is a lossy compression, as information that is deemed unnecessary is eliminated. The losses can be very slight, or large, depending upon the specific file and image quality settings picked by the user. All JPEG files sent to 4OVER4.COM should be created at 300dpi and saved with maximum quality. (Please review our digital guidelines for more important information). JPEG files tend to be MUCH SMALLER in size than TIFF files. The trade-off is that JPEG files contain losses in image quality but can be uploaded or emailed much faster than TIFF files. However, for those preferring JPEG files, as long as they were created at 300dpi and saved as maximum quality, the losses are generally very slight and unnoticeable in the final printed piece.

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