Why is a small thumbnail appearing in the corner when my TIFF files are printed by a lab?

Asked 10/27/2017

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2 answers

0

I exported black-and-white images as TIFFs from Capture One Pro and sent them to my usual print lab. The resulting prints all included a small thumbnail of the same image in the upper-left corner, even though the TIFFs look normal when viewed on my computer. I also tried exporting again with metadata disabled, but the reprint still showed the thumbnail. Could this be caused by an embedded TIFF preview/thumbnail, or is it more likely a problem with how the lab is handling TIFF files?

tiffmetadataprintingcapture-onephoto-lab

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

1

I would put it this way:

  • The lab didn't notice the problem when printing the first set of prints. This means the lab was not checking its work closely.
  • The lab did not have the technical expertise to identify the source of the problem when it was pointed out to them. The lab blamed TIFF. The lab blamed your software. It did not take responsibility.
  • The lab didn't notice the problem when printing the second set of prints. This means the lab was not checking its work closely after having discussed the problem with you.
  • This suggests that the lab does not care about the problem it is having with your TIFF's.

Your options are:

  1. Live with the bad prints (not really an option).
  2. Find another lab.
  3. Don't send TIFF files to your current lab.

Originally by user50888. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user50888

8y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

This is most likely a lab workflow problem, not a normal TIFF printing behavior.

TIFF files can contain embedded previews/thumbnails, and some labs or kiosk software may mishandle them. Since you only saw the issue when sending TIFFs, and the lab itself said it had trouble with TIFF, that strongly suggests their software is reading or placing the embedded preview incorrectly during printing.

A few practical conclusions follow from the answers:

  • TIFF itself is not inherently supposed to print with a thumbnail in the corner.
  • Your lab likely isn’t handling TIFFs properly.
  • Turning off visible metadata in export may not remove every embedded preview the lab’s system sees.

Best options:

  • Ask the lab if they support TIFF properly and whether they require flattened JPEGs instead.
  • Send JPEGs to that lab if TIFF continues to fail.
  • Use a different lab if they can’t diagnose or correct the issue.

Since the problem repeated even after you raised it, the simplest fix is probably to avoid TIFFs with this lab or switch labs.

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UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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