JFIF
Also known as: .jfif file, JPEG File Interchange Format, jfif vs jpg
JFIF (JPEG File Interchange Format) is a standard way of packaging a JPEG image. A .jfif file is essentially a JPEG with a different extension, so it uses the same lossy compression and opens in the same apps — usually after renaming it to .jpg.
- A JPEG packaged under the JPEG File Interchange Format
- Renaming .jfif to .jpg usually just works
- Same lossy compression and quality trade-offs as JPEG
JFIF is basically a JPEG
JFIF defines how the JPEG-compressed image data is stored in a file, including resolution and aspect-ratio markers. In practice a .jfif file and a .jpg file hold the same kind of data and use identical lossy compression; the difference is mostly the extension.
Browsers sometimes save downloaded JPEGs with a .jfif extension, which is why a familiar photo can suddenly arrive as an unexpected file type.
Opening and fixing JFIF files
Most image viewers open JFIF directly. If an app refuses it, simply renaming the file from .jfif to .jpg is enough, since the contents are the same — no real conversion is needed.
Because it is JPEG under the hood, JFIF carries the same trade-off: small files at the cost of some quality loss each time the image is re-saved.