ARW vs TIFF
A detailed comparison of Sony RAW ARW and TIFF Image — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.
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Technical Specifications
| Specification | .ARW | .TIFF |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | image/x-sony-arw | image/tiff |
| Extension | .arw | — |
| Container | TIFF/EP with Sony MakerNote tags | — |
| Bit depth | 14-bit (flagship); 12-bit (entry) | — |
| Compression | Uncompressed, Lossless, Lossy | — |
| Extensions | — | .tif, .tiff |
| Standard | — | TIFF 6.0 (1992); BigTIFF extension for 64-bit offsets |
| Max file size | — | 4 GB (TIFF); 2^64 bytes (BigTIFF) |
| Compression options | — | None, LZW, Deflate, JPEG, CCITT G3/G4, PackBits, JBIG |
Strengths Comparison
.ARW Strengths
- Full 14-bit sensor data on flagship bodies.
- Rich Sony metadata (Creative Style, DRO, Focus Magnifier).
- Supported by every major raw processor.
- Lossless compression available on modern bodies.
.TIFF Strengths
- Lossless by default — no generation loss on successive edits and saves.
- Supports any bit depth (1 to 32 bits per channel), any color model, any number of channels.
- Extensible tag system means vendor-specific data survives alongside standard tags.
- Multi-page containers are perfect for scanned documents, faxes, and DICOM-like stacks.
- Industry-standard for archival, museums, scientific imaging, and high-end print prepress.
Limitations
.ARW — Limitations
- Proprietary — new Sony body launch = Lightroom update required.
- Lossy compression was the only option on many older bodies (visible banding in highlights).
- File sizes are huge on 50+ MP bodies.
- Some ARW variants use 16-bit layout that breaks older third-party tools.
.TIFF — Limitations
- File sizes are huge compared to JPEG/WebP/AVIF — often 10-30× larger.
- Not a web format — no browser displays TIFF natively.
- Ambiguous spec areas mean some TIFFs only open correctly in the tool that created them.
- Weak animation support — designed for still imagery.
Frequently Asked Questions
ARW (Sony RAW ARW) is an image format used to store raster graphics — a two-dimensional grid of pixels describing a picture. It is part of the raster & vector images family and designed around a specific trade-off between file size, visual fidelity, and feature support (transparency, colour depth, compression type). Photographers, web designers, and content creators choose ARW when its particular strengths match the publishing target.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a flexible raster image format developed by Aldus Corporation in 1986. It supports lossless compression, multiple pages, layers, and high color depths, making it the standard for professional printing and scanning.
Most desktop photo viewers (Windows Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, Affinity Photo) open ARW natively. On mobile, iOS Photos and Google Photos display ARW in the gallery when supported by the OS. If the format is rare or new, convert to JPG or PNG first — both are universally readable — using our ARW to JPG or ARW to PNG converter.
TIFF files open in Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Windows Photos, macOS Preview, and IrfanView. Multi-page TIFFs may require specialized viewers or Adobe Acrobat.
Upload the ARW to KaijuConverter and pick a target format (JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF, BMP, SVG, PDF). The conversion runs in the browser via ImageMagick and returns a download in seconds. No account or installation required; both input and output delete automatically within two hours.
It depends on the task. JPG is the smallest file size for photographs; PNG is lossless with transparency; ARW has its own niche that may favour colour depth, animation, or encoding efficiency over one or both of those. For the final web publish, test all three and measure file size plus visible quality on real content.
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