Dynapik offers a free online tool to change image types - no need to download anything. It's quick and easy to use. You can change your FAX images to TIFF format. This tool works for both professionals and casual users. Convert your images to TIFF in seconds.
Group 3 FAX
The raw compressed data stream used by classic fax machines.
When we talk about the 'FAX' file format, we typically refer to a raw data stream compressed using the CCITT Group 3 (G3) or Group 4 (G4) algorithms. These are specialized compression methods designed for bi-level (black and white) images of text documents. In most modern contexts, you won't see a standalone `.fax` or `.g3` file. Instead, this compression data is wrapped inside a container like TIFF or PDF. A `.fax` file is essentially a headerless chunk of this compressed data, which makes it difficult for modern software to open without knowing the specific dimensions (width/height) beforehand.
Group 3 compression is based on Huffman coding and Run-Length Encoding (RLE). It scans a line of pixels and records the lengths of alternating runs of black and white pixels. Because most documents are largely white space, this results in significant compression. Group 4 is an improvement that uses 2D compression (referencing the previous line to predict the next), offering better ratios but requiring an error-free transmission channel (like a digital network), unlike G3 which had to survive noisy phone lines.
Standardized by the CCITT (Consultative Committee for International Telephony and Telegraphy), now ITU-T, in 1980 (Group 3) and 1984 (Group 4). These standards enabled the global fax boom of the 80s and 90s.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
The venerable standard for print, scanning, and archival.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is one of the oldest and most robust image formats still in use. Created in 1986 by Aldus (later acquired by Adobe), it was designed to be a universal standard for desktop publishing and scanning. TIFF is a container format, meaning it can hold almost any kind of image data—compressed or uncompressed, RGB or CMYK, 8-bit or 32-bit. This flexibility makes it the go-to choice for the printing industry, professional photographers, and archivists who need a format that preserves maximum quality and metadata without the compatibility headaches of proprietary RAW files.
A TIFF file is built around 'tags' that describe the image data. This allows it to support a vast array of features, including multiple pages (used for faxes and document scans), multiple layers (like a PSD file), and various color spaces like Lab and CMYK that are essential for printing. TIFF supports multiple compression schemes. The most common are LZW (lossless) and ZIP (lossless), but it can also hold JPEG (lossy) data. Uncompressed TIFFs are standard for archival because they are future-proof and require no decoding algorithm that might become obsolete.
TIFF was the first format to bring high-resolution, grayscale, and later color images to the desktop publishing revolution of the late 80s. While JPEG took over the web and consumer photography, TIFF remained the king of the pre-press and scanning world. It hasn't changed much since Revision 6.0 in 1992, which is a testament to its robust design.
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