.tif or .jpg Quality

Standard '.jpg' does not come in a lossless variation.  "Lossless JPEG" is a different standard according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossless_JPEG .    And this page http://www.faqs.org/faqs/jpeg-faq/part1/section-13.html says it isn't supported by any common applications.

No, lossless means exactly that. JPG files by default compress images to save space but most programs have a parameter that can be changed when saving a JPG file to tell it how much to compress the image. 0 is usually perfect 'lossless' quality to 1 thru 99 (for highest compression, smallest filesize but poorer quality.

Yes. Jpg is lossless. It works just like mp3 for the music.

So, when I send the image off to a digital printer, if I send the .jpg it will be just as nice quality as the .tif?

I am sorry, Dave you're absolutely right. My main language is Spanish and I got confused with the right translation.

That's ok, we're all in this together.

Yep, ill now agree with Dave, Most paint programs i use allow the compression factor to be set, 99 is usually the smallest size file but the quality is poor, 1 or 0 (depends on the app), is the best, biggest filesize but quality as near to the original as possible. SOme programs may state that 1 or 0 is lossless but in fact because it all goes thru the compression cycle, possible changes will be made.
Tiff and BMP are pixel perfect and they will always read and save exactly as the original pixel to pixel.
If i were to want an exact copy of an image i wouldnt save to JPG. Ecery read and save of jpg lessens the quality, do it enough and the resulting picture will be a lot different to the original.