The JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF) is an image file format standard.
JFIF is a minimal file format that enables JPEG bitstreams to be exchanged between a wide variety of platforms and applications. It does not include any of the advanced features (like tagged headers) found in the TIFF specification. JFIF conforms to the interchange format syntax specified in JPEG Standard (ISO/IEC 10918-1, Annex B); its only additional requirement is the mandatory presence of the application segment APP0 marker right after the SOI (Start of Image) marker.
JFIF_1_02 has been assigned PRONOM PUID fmt/44; the earlier versions have these PRONOM identifiers: JFIF v. 1.00, PUID fmt/42; JFIF v. 1.01, PUID fmt/43. The PRONOM Web page (consulted January 27, 2012) states that JFIF was developed prior to there being an official file format for JPEG encoding and thus JFIF "rapidly became a de facto standard." PRONOM also notes that "other types of compression are available through JPEG extensions, including progressive image buildup, arithmetic encoding, variable quantization, selective refinement, image tiling, and lossless compression, but these may not be supported by all JFIF readers and writers."
