TIFF is a container, not a magic restore
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is the workhorse of scanning and print. It can be uncompressed, losslessly compressed (LZW, ZIP), or even JPEG-compressed inside the TIFF. What it is not: a time machine. Converting JPG to TIFF does not bring back the detail JPEG deleted. You get the same pixels in a format that print technicians and Photoshop actions already trust, and that will not degrade if someone hits Save twenty times in a lossless TIFF mode.
That is why shops ask for TIFF. Their RIP, their color pipeline, or their imposition software was built around it. Some still mishandle progressive JPEGs or odd EXIF orientations. Giving them a TIFF reduces variables. If they asked for 300 DPI TIFF, remember DPI is metadata plus pixel count: a 1200-pixel-wide JPEG printed at 12 inches is 100 DPI no matter the container. Convert, then check dimensions. You may need to start from a larger original, not just change the extension.
Size, color, and what browser TIFF can be
TIFF files are large. An 8-megapixel JPEG of 2 MB can become a 20–40 MB TIFF once uncompressed. That is expected. Do not email a 40 MB TIFF without asking; use a link or a drive. If the shop accepts high-quality JPEG, ask—they may have specified TIFF out of habit.
Browser encoding typically produces an RGB TIFF, 8-bit, often without CMYK. That is a hard limit of canvas-based tools. Professional print is often CMYK with an ICC profile. A browser JPG-to-TIFF is a reasonable RGB TIFF for digital printing, newspapers that convert themselves, or “we just need TIFF not JPEG.” It is not a substitute for InDesign export with a FOGRA or GRACoL profile. If a contract proof depends on CMYK, use a proper prepress app.
Multi-page TIFF (from scanners) is also out of scope when the input is a single JPEG. You get one page. Layers and alpha are not a JPEG feature, so the TIFF is a flattened bitmap.
Privacy and ToolPin limits
The JPEG never uploads to toolpin.online. Wedding photos headed to an album printer, ID shots, and unpublished editorial pictures stay on the device. 250 MB input cap; output TIFF can be larger and may strain a download on mobile data—prefer desktop. No signup, no watermark.
EXIF may be reduced. Some print shops use EXIF DPI tags; you may need to set pixel dimensions or DPI in Photoshop after download. Orientation tags may already have been baked in by the decoder, which is usually what you want so the TIFF is not sideways.
When not to bother
If the destination is the web, TIFF is the wrong format—use WebP or JPEG. If you need transparency, start from PNG, not JPEG. If you have a RAW or a 16-bit original, convert that to TIFF in Lightroom or Photoshop, not a JPEG through a browser. Use this tool when JPEG is what you have and TIFF is what they named on the form.