What this TIFF inspector checks
The parser recognizes little- and big-endian classic TIFF 6.0 plus BigTIFF. It follows the top-level IFD chain and SubIFD, Exif, GPS, and interoperability pointers; checks directory bounds, entry ordering, duplicate tags, field types, counts, alignment, out-of-line value locations, cycles, and physical file limits; and preserves private or unknown tags instead of silently discarding them.
Strip and tile storage audit
Each image directory is summarized by width, height, bit depth, samples, compression, photometric interpretation, orientation, and planar configuration. Strip or tile offsets are paired with byte counts, compared with geometry-derived counts where possible, and checked for file-bound, structural-region, and peer-payload overlaps. This catches damaged offset tables without reading large raster payloads into memory.
Classic TIFF and BigTIFF
Classic TIFF uses 32-bit offsets and version marker 42. BigTIFF uses marker 43, an eight-byte offset-size declaration, 64-bit directory counts and offsets, and 20-byte entries. The report keeps every byte position exact with integer arithmetic and stops when a value cannot be represented safely by the browser.
Validation boundary
A clean report is not JHOVE, DPF Manager, libtiff, TIFF/EP, Baseline TIFF, GeoTIFF, DNG, or repository-profile certification. This bounded structural preflight does not decompress or render pixels, validate codec bitstreams, prove visual fidelity, interpret every registered or private tag, validate ICC/Exif/XMP/GeoTIFF payload semantics, calculate fixity, detect malware, repair files, or decide preservation suitability. Use current reference software and your institution's profile for authoritative validation.
Frequently asked questions
Does it load a multi-gigabyte TIFF into memory?
No. The browser reads the small structural regions needed for the audit. Pixel strips and tiles are represented only by their declared offsets and lengths.
Can it inspect multi-page TIFF files?
Yes. It follows the top-level next-IFD chain and lists each reachable directory independently, subject to the documented directory and read limits.
Does it display the image?
No. Rendering can hide structural details and requires codec support. This page is deliberately a container and storage-layout inspector.
Why are some tags called private or unknown?
TIFF is extensible and vendors or related specifications define many tags. Unknown tags remain visible by number, type, count, location, and bounded value preview without an invented interpretation.
Authoritative references
The classic structure follows the TIFF Revision 6.0 specification. BigTIFF header and directory rules follow the current LibTIFF BigTIFF design. The validation boundary is informed by the JHOVE TIFF module documentation.
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