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Multi-page TIFF Files

Multi-page TIFFs are common in archival scanning (bound volumes, registers, photograph albums). The Archiver handles them in one of two ways — your choice per file.

The two strategies​

1. Treat the TIFF as one item​

The whole TIFF is one item in the accession. OCR runs across all pages and is concatenated. Vision analysis runs on the first page (the cover or title page) but reads context from the whole file.

Use this when the TIFF is intellectually a single thing — a bound volume, a sequential register, an album. The catalogue record describes the volume; pages aren't independently catalogued.

2. Split into one item per page​

Each page becomes a separate image item in the accession. OCR, vision, and classification run independently on each page.

Use this when each page is intellectually distinct — a photograph album where each photo is its own item, a folder of loose papers scanned together.

How to pick​

You're prompted during Step 2 of the accession wizard when the platform detects a multi-page TIFF. You can also change the strategy later from the item's context menu in the review screen.

There's no right answer — it's a description decision. If you're cataloguing a bound register, treat it as one item. If you've scanned a photograph album, split it.

Implications for item cost​

  • One-item-per-TIFF counts as 1 against your monthly quota, regardless of page count.
  • Split counts as N items, where N is the number of pages.

If you're on the Community plan and a TIFF has more pages than your remaining monthly quota, you'll have to either treat it as one item or upgrade.

What about PDF?​

PDFs are handled similarly — the platform extracts text from all pages but treats the PDF as a single item by default. There's no automatic page-splitting for PDFs; if you need separate items per page, split the PDF before upload using your preferred tool.

What if I change my mind later?​

You can re-process a TIFF with a different strategy from the item's context menu — but the new run produces a new item (or set of items), and the old metadata stays unless you delete it. Re-processing consumes monthly quota again.