Hello, is it actually possible to use a tiff image in GIMP? this is my first time trying and I keep getting “no known file extension” when I try to save it in xcf. what am I doing wrong?
Yes it is possible. You need to use “export” in order to save a tif. Or type a file extension to save as xcf.
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…so i export it as a jpeg…doesn’t that defeat the purpose of trying to use a different format? (I know you didn’t say export to jpeg, but I am a bit confused here…) think I’m going to try typing in a file extension…sounds easier 
@lizardbreath 'ello, Liz,
Yes, you can import/read a .tif into The Gimp.
You can export something from The Gimp to a .tif.
But you cannot export something from The Gimp as an .xcf
you have to use save/save as to be able to do that.
Or have I completely misunderstood you?
Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden
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'ello Claes,
what i did was import a tiff image and try to save it as i normally save a jpeg image to .xcf/ - not happening…but since i was told to use export to save, i went there first, typed in xcf in lieu of tiff, pushed export (and was promptly moved to the ‘save’ section …and tada, my tiff was saved as xcf 
'ello Elizabeth, you can open many types of files (tif, jpg…) in GIMP. If you edit them adding layers and other Gimp-specific tools and you want to save the image including those layers, you must save that file as a xcf, an internal Gimp format. Xcfs can’t always (nearly never?) be shown in image viewers like gThumb.
If you want to save your edited file in ‘regular’ formats like jpg or tiff, you must export them and choose PNG or JPEG or whatever.
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well, in my rambling sort of way, i believe that’s what i did…when first opening the tiff i had the option to open as layers or images…i chose images, (as the layers option alway has that small image in the left top corner) - and the tiff image is now saved in xcf format…but i understand in the end it will be saved as jpeg…just want to work on it as tiff first.
Ah, your tif had already layers, or your tiff was a multi-page/image thing I think?
Regardless of what your original file is, you can always export it as jpg/tif/png/more
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yes, it was/is 2 layers…one very small one and one normal-sized (i opened them both together…totally new working with .tiff…crazy stuff!)