How to Check TIFF Compression Type — Identify Compression in TIFF Files

You receive a folder with 500 scanned TIFF files. Some are compressed with LZW, some with CCITT Group 4, some are uncompressed. Your archiving system requires a specific compression method — but which files need to be recompressed? Opening each file in Photoshop or IrfanView and digging through properties is not an option.

Tiff Teller reads every TIFF file in a folder and shows its compression type in a table. You see all files at once — no need to open them individually. The report can be exported to Excel, CSV, PDF, or other formats for further processing.

TIFF Compression Methods Explained

TIFF files support multiple compression algorithms, each designed for different types of images:

• No compression — raw pixel data. Largest file size but fastest to read. Common for high-quality master images.
• LZW — lossless compression. Works well for color images, graphics, and screenshots. Widely supported.
• ZIP (Deflate) — lossless compression. Similar compression ratio to LZW, used in modern workflows.
• CCITT Group 3 — designed for fax machines. Works only with 1-bit (black and white) images.
• CCITT Group 4 — improved version of Group 3. Best compression for scanned documents and B&W images.
• PackBits — simple run-length encoding. Fast but low compression ratio.
• JPEG — lossy compression inside a TIFF container. Used when smaller file size matters more than pixel-perfect quality.
• JPEG 2000 — wavelet-based compression. Used in medical imaging and geospatial data.

How to Check TIFF Compression with Tiff Teller

Follow these steps to identify the compression type of your TIFF files:

• Step 1. Launch Tiff Teller. Open the program. You will see a folder tree on the left side, similar to Windows Explorer.
• Step 2. Navigate to your folder. Click on the folder containing your TIFF files. Tiff Teller scans the folder and lists all TIFF and PDF files in the main table.
• Step 3. Filter by file type. If the folder contains both TIFF and PDF files, use the toolbar filter to show only TIFF files.
• Step 4. Read the compression column. The "Compression" column shows the exact algorithm used for each file — LZW, CCITT Group 4, PackBits, None, or any other method.
• Step 5. Sort and analyze. Click the "Compression" column header to sort files by compression type. This groups all LZW files together, all uncompressed files together, and so on.
• Step 6. Export the report. Click "Save" to export the table as CSV, XLS, PDF, DOC, or TXT. Use this report to identify which files need recompression.

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What Information Does Tiff Teller Show?

Besides compression type, Tiff Teller displays a complete set of technical parameters for each file:

You can customize which columns appear in the table and in what order. Hide the parameters you don't need and focus on what matters.

When Do You Need to Check TIFF Compression?

1. Document Archiving

Government and corporate archives often require a specific compression format. CCITT Group 4 is the standard for black-and-white scanned documents. Tiff Teller lets you check if all files in a batch meet the requirement before ingesting them into the archive system.

2. Print Production

Print shops receive TIFF files from multiple sources. Uncompressed files take longer to transfer and store. JPEG-compressed TIFFs may have artifacts visible in print. Tiff Teller identifies the compression of every file so the prepress team knows which ones need reprocessing.

3. Scanner Quality Control

After a bulk scanning job, you need to verify that the scanner used the correct settings. Tiff Teller shows compression, DPI, color depth, and page count for each file — making it easy to catch files that were scanned with wrong parameters.

4. Storage Optimization

Uncompressed TIFF files can be 10-50x larger than their compressed equivalents. Tiff Teller helps you find uncompressed files in a collection so you can recompress them with LZW or CCITT Group 4 and reclaim disk space.

5. Migration Between Systems

When moving TIFF files between document management systems, you may discover that the target system doesn't support certain compression types. Tiff Teller gives you a full inventory of compression methods used across your file collection.

Why Tiff Teller?

Batch Analysis

Point Tiff Teller to a folder and get a complete report on all files inside. No need to open files one by one. Processes hundreds of files in seconds.

Exportable Reports

Save the analysis table as CSV, XLS, PDF, DOC, or TXT. Import the CSV into Excel or a database for further filtering, pivot tables, or automated compliance checks.

Command-Line Mode

Run Tiff Teller from the command line or .bat scripts for automated workflows. Schedule nightly scans of incoming document folders and generate reports without manual intervention.

Read-Only Operation

Tiff Teller never modifies your files. It reads metadata without touching the image data, compression, or any other property of the original TIFF.

Multi-Page TIFF Support

Multi-page TIFF files are fully supported. Tiff Teller reports the page count and analyzes the compression of each page in the container.

Command-Line Example

Generate a CSV report of all TIFF files in a folder:

TiffTeller.exe /src "C:\Scans\*.tif" /out "C:\Reports\tiff_report.csv"

Add this command to a .bat file and run it on a schedule. The command-line version supports the same parameters and export formats as the GUI.

Tiff Teller Customer Reviews 2026

"Our state archive receives thousands of scanned documents weekly. We need to verify that every file is compressed with CCITT Group 4 before ingestion. Tiff Teller lets me check an entire batch in seconds and export a report for our QA records. It replaced a manual process that used to take hours."

Margaret Chen Digital Archivist

"Clients send TIFF files with all sorts of compression — LZW, JPEG, uncompressed. We need uncompressed or LZW for print. Tiff Teller shows the compression of every file in a folder, so I immediately know which ones need conversion. Simple tool, does exactly what it says."

Robert Janssen Prepress Technician

"We use the command-line version in a nightly script that checks incoming scans on our document server. If the report shows uncompressed files, we flag them for recompression. Works reliably. I only wish it could also output JSON format, but CSV covers our needs."

Kenji Takahashi IT Systems Administrator

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