EXR to TIFF Converter

Encoding: the EXR uses none, RLE, ZIP, PIZ, PXR24, B44 or DWA, chosen per file; TIFF uses none, LZW, PackBits, Deflate or JPEG, chosen per file, and the download is an uncompressed 8-bit RGBA TIFF with the resolution recorded.

Bit depth: 16-bit half or 32-bit floating point per channel in the EXR; TIFF allows 1 to 16 bits per channel, or 32-bit floating point, and the TIFF written here has 8 bits per channel. Floating-point values are mapped to 8 bits per channel, and anything brighter than white clips.

Colour: scene-linear RGB, often ACEScg or linear Rec.709 in the EXR; TIFF supports RGB, CMYK, Lab, greyscale or palette, often with an ICC profile, written here as 8-bit sRGB.

Transparency: the EXR stores it as an A channel stored like any other channel; the TIFF keeps it as an extra sample declared in the ExtraSamples tag.

Other images: the EXR can hold extra channels (depth, normals, render passes) and multiple parts; only the main image is converted.

Metadata: the EXR can carry named header attributes such as chromaticities, timecode and camera data; TIFF can carry EXIF, XMP, IPTC and ICC, all stored as tags, but nothing is copied across.

OpenEXR is the high dynamic range format of film visual effects. It stores half or full floating-point channels in linear light, plus any extra render passes, and is the working format of compositing pipelines.

An EXR starts with the magic number 76 2F 31 01 and a version field, then a header of named, typed attributes (channels, compression, dataWindow, displayWindow) and a table of offsets to scanline or tile blocks.

EXR files usually come from 3D renderers and compositing in Nuke, Blender, Houdini, After Effects and DaVinci Resolve.

TIFF is the professional archive and print format. It can hold multiple pages, high bit depths and lossless data, and is common in scanning, publishing and GIS.

A TIFF begins with 'II' or 'MM' for the byte order and the number 42, then an offset to the first image file directory (IFD): a table of tags giving the size, compression, colour model and the location of the strips or tiles of pixels. Each further page is another IFD.

TIFF is the better choice for printing, scanning and archival masters, while EXR suits visual effects, compositing and 3D render output.

TIFF strengths: Lossless and print-ready; Multiple pages in one file; Preferred by print shops and archives. Drawbacks to weigh: Very large files; Browsers cannot display it; Many variants and compression schemes.