i have face same prob as u face. As we all know that tiff image can't be visible on web browser. so we have to convert into Png or any other format.
File file = new File(path_of_tiff_file, name_of_tiff_file);
String newName = file.getName();
// if (!file.exists()) {
item.write(file);
if(item.getName().toLowerCase().indexOf(".tif") >=0 || item.getName().toLowerCase().indexOf(".tiff") >=0 ){
newName =item.getName().subSequence(0, item.getName().lastIndexOf(".")) + ".png";
File newFile = new File(path , newName);
BufferedImage image= null;
try {
image = Sanselan.getBufferedImage(file);
} catch (Exception e) {
// TODO: handle exception
e.printStackTrace();
}
Sanselan.writeImage(image, newFile, ImageFormat.IMAGE_FORMAT_PNG, new Hashtable());
}