Editor › Features › TIFF Import and Export, Including CMYK TIFF
Can I export a print-ready CMYK TIFF from a browser editor?
Yes. PhotoAIA writes TIFF in either RGB or separated CMYK at 8 bits per channel, with LZW (default), ZIP-Deflate or uncompressed storage and the ICC profile and resolution metadata embedded — plus a byte-exact 16-bit passthrough export when the document holds an untouched (or only losslessly transformed) imported 16-bit TIFF. The writer has been validated with libtiff and the UTIF decoder, not just by reopening it in PhotoAIA. PhotoAIA can also open TIFF files.
What the writer produces
- RGB 8-bit (photometric 2) or separated CMYK 8-bit (photometric 5, InkSet CMYK).
- Compression: LZW (default), ZIP-Deflate, or uncompressed — all lossless — with Predictor 2 on compressed output.
- Strips or 256×256 tiles, chosen automatically by a deterministic rule (tiles once the uncompressed image exceeds 64MB).
- Embedded ICC profile and X/Y resolution.
- Byte-exact 16-bit passthrough: if the imported source was a 16-bit TIFF and only lossless operations (crop within bounds, 90°/180°/270° rotate, flips) were applied, export writes the original samples back sample-exact. Editing itself is still 8-bit throughout — any other edit drops the 16-bit data, with a warning. Passthrough is alpha-free only.
Import, and what it does not cover
- Reads strips and tiles, compressions none/LZW/Deflate/PackBits, and RGB/grayscale/palette/CMYK photometrics, with the embedded ICC profile preserved byte-exact and orientation applied.
- A multipage TIFF opens a page-selection dialog — pages are not imported as layers.
- No clipping-path metadata, and no alpha channel in CMYK export.
- BigTIFF is not supported and fails with a clear error; planar (non-chunky) sample layout is not supported either.
How it was verified
Exported files are parsed by libtiff’s tiffinfo and by UTIF, an independent JavaScript decoder, so the tag structure and pixel layout are confirmed by software that had no part in writing them.