tiffinfo

tiffinfo [ options ] filename ...

-4
    Force the use of TIFF Version 4 extensions when creating new TIFF files.

-8
    Force the use of BigTIFF when creating new TIFF files.

-a
    Report all tags, even those that are not typically displayed.

-c
    Report codec-specific status information.

-d
    Show directory offsets instead of directory numbers.

-D
    Use the image description field when writing to a tiled TIFF file.

-h
    Display a usage message and exit.

-j
    Print JPEG quality / color tables (if present).

-m
    Report memory usage.

-n
    Do not print image data (only print header data).

-o offset
    Read the specified directory offset from the file.

-r
    Report raw tag values.

-s
    Report summary information only.

-v
    Be more verbose when reporting information.

-w
    Report warning messages.

-z
    Print the image compression scheme (if present).

filename
    The TIFF image file(s) to be analyzed.

The tiffinfo command is a utility used to display detailed information about TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) image files. It parses the TIFF file structure and presents a human-readable report of its contents, including tags, image dimensions, compression types, color spaces, and other relevant metadata. This information is critical for understanding the characteristics of a TIFF image and diagnosing potential issues.

tiffinfo provides comprehensive details that are essential for image processing, archival, and conversion tasks. It can be used to verify the integrity of a TIFF file, identify potential compatibility issues, and extract specific metadata for use in other applications or workflows. The command is a valuable tool for developers, system administrators, and anyone working with TIFF images who needs to understand the underlying file structure.

The output of tiffinfo can vary slightly depending on the version of the libtiff library used. Some tags may not be interpreted or displayed correctly if they are not supported by the specific version of the library.

The tiffinfo command exits with a status of 0 if the file(s) are successfully processed. A non-zero exit status indicates an error, such as a problem opening the file or a malformed TIFF structure.

The tiffinfo command is part of the libtiff library, which has been under development since the early 1990s. It was initially created to provide a standardized way to read and write TIFF files across different platforms. tiffinfo evolved along with the library, adding support for new TIFF tags and compression schemes as they were introduced. It is a fundamental tool for anyone working with TIFF images and has been widely adopted in various image processing and archival workflows.

tiffdump(1), tiffcp(1), tiff2pdf(1)