Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

Archival image

An archival image is an image meant to have lasting utility. Archival images are usually kept off-line on a cheaper storage medium such as CD-ROM or magnetic tape, in a secure environment. Archival images are usually of a higher resolution and quality than the digital image delivered to the user on-screen. The file format most often associated with archival images is Tag Image File Format (TIFF) as compared to on-screen viewing file formats, which are usually JPEGs and GIFs.

Last revised
Jul 19, 2026
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Wikipedia ↗

An archival image is an image meant to have lasting utility. Archival images are usually kept off-line on a cheaper storage medium such as CD-ROM or magnetic tape, in a secure environment. Archival images are usually of a higher resolution and quality than the digital image delivered to the user on-screen. The file format most often associated with archival images is Tag Image File Format (TIFF) as compared to on-screen viewing file formats, which are usually JPEGs and GIFs.1

References

References

  1. Terras, Melissa (2016), Digital Images for the Information Professional, Routledge, pp. 133–134, ISBN 9781351944083