TIFFRGBAIMAGE(3tiff)

🎀 TIFFRGBAIMAGE 🎀 (from the 3tiff manual, bestie 💅)

okay so sit down, grab a boba, because we're about to decode images into rasters and it's genuinely iconic.

---

✨ NAME ✨

TIFFRGBAImage — read and decode an image into a raster. yes. that's the whole job. she reads, she decodes, she slays. 🦋

---

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <tiffio.h>

typedef unsigned char TIFFRGBValue

typedef struct _TIFFRGBAImage TIFFRGBAImage

int TIFFRGBAImageOK(TIFF *tif, char emsg[1024])

int TIFFRGBAImageBegin(TIFFRGBAImage *img, TIFF *tif, int stopOnError,
    char emsg[1024])

int TIFFRGBAImageGet(TIFFRGBAImage *img, uint32_t *raster, uint32_t
    width, uint32_t height)

void TIFFRGBAImageEnd(TIFFRGBAImage *img)

---

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

The routines described here are giving high-level interface. Through them, TIFF images may be read into memory. And not in a picky way either — images may be strip-based or tile-based, and they can have a whole variety of different characteristics: bits/sample, samples/pixel, photometric, orientation, etc. she's flexible. she contains multitudes. 💫

The decoding state is encapsulated in a TIFFRGBAImage structure, which makes it possible to capture state for multiple images and quickly switch between them (main character energy, honestly). And the target raster format can be customized to a particular application's needs by installing custom routines that manipulate image data according to application requirements. bespoke. custom. cute. ✨

The default usage for these routines is, in order:

1. check if an image can be processed using TIFFRGBAImageOK()
2. construct a decoder state block using TIFFRGBAImageBegin()
3. read and decode an image into a target raster using TIFFRGBAImageGet(), and then
4. release resources using TIFFRGBAImageEnd()

TIFFRGBAImageGet() can be called multiple times to decode an image using different state parameters. If multiple images are to be displayed and there is not enough space for each of the decoded rasters, multiple state blocks can be managed and then calls can be made to TIFFRGBAImageGet() as needed to display an image. lowkey a whole vibe. 🌈

The generated raster is assumed to be an array of width × height 32-bit entries, where width must be less than or equal to the width of the image (and height may be any non-zero size). If the raster dimensions are smaller than the image, the image data is cropped to the raster bounds. If the raster height is greater than that of the image, then the image data are placed in the lower part of the raster. (Note that the raster is assumed to be organized such that the pixel at location (x, y) is raster [ y × width + x ]; with the raster origin in the lower-left hand corner. okay that part matters, don't @ me. 🙈)

Raster pixels are 8-bit packed red, green, blue, alpha samples. The macros TIFFGetR, TIFFGetG, TIFFGetB, and TIFFGetA should be used to access individual samples. Images without Associated Alpha matting information have a constant Alpha of 1.0 (255).

TIFFRGBAImageGet() converts non-8-bit images by scaling sample values. Palette, grayscale, bilevel, CMYK, and YCbCr images are converted to RGB transparently. Raster pixels are returned uncorrected by any colorimetry information present in the directory. no color correction, no notes, we move. 💅

The parameter stopOnError specifies how to act if an error is encountered while reading the image. If stopOnError is non-zero, then an error will terminate the operation; otherwise TIFFRGBAImageGet() will continue processing data until all the possible data in the image have been requested. she's persistent. she doesn't give up. periodt. 🔥

---

🦋 ALTERNATE RASTER FORMATS 🦋

So you wanna use the core support for reading and processing TIFF images, but write the resulting raster data in a different format? That's so valid. To do that, you need only override the "put methods" used to store raster data. ✨

These methods are defined in the TIFFRGBAImage structure and initially setup by TIFFRGBAImageBegin() to point to routines that pack raster data in the default ABGR pixel format. Two different routines are used according to the physical organization of the image data in the file: PlanarConfiguration = 1 (packed samples), and PlanarConfiguration = 2 (separated samples).

Note that this mechanism can be used to transform the data before storing it in the raster. For example one can convert data to colormap indices for display on a colormap display. 👑

---

🌈 SIMULTANEOUS RASTER STORE AND DISPLAY 🌈

It is simple to display an image as it is being read into memory by overriding the put methods as described above for supporting alternate raster formats. Simply keep a reference to the default put methods setup by TIFFRGBAImageBegin() and then invoke them before or after each display operation. For example, the tiffgt utility uses the following put method to update the display as the raster is being filled:

static void
putContigAndDraw(TIFFRGBAImage* img, uint32_t* raster,
    uint32_t x, uint32_t y, uint32_t w, uint32_t h,
    int32_t fromskew, int32_t toskew,
    unsigned char* cp)
{
    (*putContig)(img, raster, x, y, w, h, fromskew, toskew, cp);
    if (x+w == width) {
        w = width;
        if (img->orientation == ORIENTATION_TOPLEFT)
            lrectwrite(0, y-(h-1), w-1, y, raster-x-(h-1)*w);
        else
            lrectwrite(0, y, w-1, y+h-1, raster);
    }
}

(the original routine provided by the library is saved in the variable putContig.) she's keeping the OGs on speed dial. 🫶

---

🧚 SUPPORTING ADDITIONAL TIFF FORMATS 🧚

The TIFFRGBAImage() routines support the most commonly encountered flavors of TIFF. It is possible to extend this support by overriding the "get method" invoked by TIFFRGBAImageGet() to read TIFF image data. Details of doing this are a bit involved — it is best to make a copy of an existing get method and modify it to suit the needs of an application. ngl, copy-paste-and-tweak is a time-honored tradition. 😭

---

⭐ NOTES ⭐

• In C++ the stopOnError parameter defaults to 0.
• SamplesPerPixel must be either 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 bits. Colorimetric samples/pixel must be either 1, 3, or 4 (i.e. SamplesPerPixel minus ExtraSamples).
• Palette image colormaps that appear to be incorrectly written as 8-bit values are automatically scaled to 16-bits. she fixes it for you, no charge. 💖
• Within the TIFFRGBAImage structure the TIFF orientation and also the required orientation in the raster can be defined. However, the lower level TIFFRGBAImageGet() functions — also called by TIFFReadRGBAImage() and TIFFReadRGBAImageOriented() — can mirror the image orientations across both axes, but cannot rotate them. Therefore, images with a TIFF orientation of 5 (LeftTop) to 8 (LeftBottom) are not stored correctly in the raster, as this would require an additional rotation of 90 degrees and an exchange of width and height dimension. 🫠
• If an alpha channel is used in an image, there are two common representations that are available: straight (unassociated) alpha and premultiplied (associated) alpha, which is specified by the value of ExtraSamples tag. For files with unassociated alpha, the TIFFRGBAImage() reading routines multiply the RGB values by the alpha channel values before saving them in the raster. The other TIFFReadxxx (like TIFFReadScanline()) functions do not do this. iykyk. 💀

---

💜 RETURN VALUES 💜

All routines return 1 if the operation was successful. Otherwise, 0 is returned if an error was encountered and stopOnError is zero.

---

🔥 DIAGNOSTICS 🔥

All error messages are directed to the TIFFErrorExtR() routine. here's the full receipts list:

• "Sorry, can not handle %d-bit pictures" — The image had BitsPerSample other than 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16.
• "Sorry, can not handle %d-channel images" — The image had SamplesPerPixel other than 1, 3, or 4.
• Missing needed "PhotometricInterpretation" tag — The image did not have a tag that describes how to display the data.
• No "PhotometricInterpretation" tag, assuming RGB — The image was missing a tag that describes how to display it, but because it has 3 or 4 samples/pixel, it is assumed to be RGB.
• No "PhotometricInterpretation" tag, assuming min-is-black — The image was missing a tag that describes how to display it, but because it has 1 sample/pixel, it is assumed to be a grayscale or bilevel image.
• "No space for photometric conversion table" — There was insufficient memory for a table used to convert image samples to 8-bit RGB.
• Missing required "Colormap" tag — A Palette image did not have a required Colormap tag.
• "No space for tile buffer" — There was insufficient memory to allocate an i/o buffer.
• "No space for strip buffer" — There was insufficient memory to allocate an i/o buffer.
• "Can not handle format" — The image has a format (combination of BitsPerSample, SamplesPerPixel and PhotometricInterpretation) that can not be handled.
• "No space for B&W mapping table" — There was insufficient memory to allocate a table used to map grayscale data to RGB.
• "No space for Palette mapping table" — There was insufficient memory to allocate a table used to map data to 8-bit RGB.

---

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

TIFFOpen (3tiff), TIFFReadRGBAImage (3tiff), TIFFReadRGBAStrip (3tiff), TIFFReadRGBATile (3tiff), TIFFcolor (3tiff), libtiff (3tiff)

---

🌸 AUTHOR 🌸

LibTIFF contributors

---

🎀 COPYRIGHT 🎀

1988-2025, LibTIFF contributors

---

okay bestie that's the whole page, no cap, every single flag and error message present and accounted for. this was LibTIFF version 4.7, dated Jun 27, 2026 — she ate and left no crumbs. go decode something gorgeous. 💅✨🦋