Viewing TIFF files

Sometimes it’s easiest to deal with documents as a graphic file. TIFF (tagged image file format) is probably the most common format used in the DTP industry as opposed to JPEG or GIF, and when compressed can be quite small for sending by email.

If you don’t already have a graphics package which can open TIFF files installed, you can configure Windows to have the TIFF viewer do so. Imaging is part of the scanner and fax services in Windows, so it may already be installed on your machine.

Click on Start on the Task Bar and select Settings then Control Panel. Open the Add/Remove Programs applet by double-clicking on it.

Select the Windows Setup tab and double-click on Accessories.

Make sure Imaging is ticked.

You may be asked for the Windows CD ROM, so make sure you have it handy!

Once installed, double-clicking on the TIFF file (with the extension .tif) should open it up in Imaging automatically. If not, click Start on the Task Bar and select Programs, Accessories and then Imaging.

On some occasions an opened TIFF looks completely black when you open it. This may be because the TIFF has been opened in Imaging Mode which allows you to edit and add annotations to the image.

To view the image properly click on Tools, General Options ... then the Preview button:

Click on OK when the Imaging Preview Default dialogue box appears and OK again. Close Imaging and reopen the file. You should be able to view the file properly:

To go back into editing mode, click on File and then Open Image for Editing.

Viewing TIFF files
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