---
id: tifffile
version: "2026.7.31"
license: BSD-3-Clause
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# tifffile — Read and write TIFF files

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Popularity: top 1,000 on PyPI

## Install

pip install tifffile
uv add tifffile
poetry add tifffile

## Description

Read and write TIFF files
=========================

Tifffile is a comprehensive Python library to

(1) store NumPy arrays in TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) files, and
(2) read image and metadata from TIFF-like files used in bioimaging.

Image and metadata can be read from TIFF, BigTIFF, OME-TIFF, GeoTIFF,
Adobe DNG, ZIF (Zoomable Image File Format), MetaMorph STK, Zeiss LSM,
ImageJ hyperstack, Micro-Manager MMStack and NDTiff, SGI, NIHImage, FLIMage,
Olympus FluoView and SIS, ScanImage, Molecular Dynamics GEL, Huron TIFF,
Aperio SVS, Leica SCN, Roche BIF, PerkinElmer QPTIFF (QPI, PKI),
Hamamatsu NDPI, Argos AVS, Philips DP, DICOM-TIFF, and ThermoFisher EER
formatted files.

Image data can be read as NumPy arrays or Zarr arrays/groups from strips,
tiles, pages (IFDs), SubIFDs, higher-order series, and pyramidal levels.

Image data can be written to TIFF, BigTIFF, OME-TIFF, and ImageJ hyperstack
compatible files in multi-page, volumetric, pyramidal, memory-mappable,
tiled, predicted, or compressed form.

Many compression schemes, predictors, and data types are supported via the
imagecodecs library, including LZW, PackBits, Deflate, CCITT, PIXTIFF,
LZMA,...

## AI interpretation — verify before relying

Tifffile reads and writes TIFF files and TIFF-like formats (BigTIFF, OME-TIFF, GeoTIFF, etc.) as NumPy arrays, supporting numerous compression schemes and bioimaging metadata standards.

Verdict: Tifffile is a mature, actively maintained library for TIFF I/O with minimal dependencies and no known vulnerabilities. Its permissive BSD-3-Clause license and broad format support make it a reliable choice for bioimaging and scientific image workflows.

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/tifffile) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/tifffile/)