History of Graphics Interchange Format

Last update Aug. 18^th 2024 11:20:16 AM

Creation date Apr. 11^th 2011 11:49:06 PM

• 
  Seralo on Aug. 18^th 2024 11:20:16 AMReport

  Wikipedia

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF

• 
  Seralo on Aug. 18^th 2024 11:12:33 AMReport

  Description

  GIF is a bitmap image format that allows a lossless compression by reducing the image to 256 distinct colors. It has been replaced by PNG after fear over patent issues. It is still widely used for animation as it's the only format that supports animation and that is widely supported by browsers.

• 
  _wb_ on Oct. 3^rd 2021 4:06:49 PMReport

  Year

  1987 (still)
  1989 (animated)

  Vector graphics

  no

  Raster image

  yes

  Developed by

  CompuServe

• 
  _wb_ on Oct. 3^rd 2021 10:53:07 AMReport

  Cons

  Limited to 256 colors (8-bit per pixel). Only binary transparency.

  Maximum bit depth

  8-bit (but only 256 different colors)

  CMYK support (for print)

  no

  Maximum number of channels

  1 (palette data)

  Transparency support

  - Only all-or-nothing, no semi-transparency

• 
  Alexis on Sep. 21^st 2020 9:42:55 PMReport

  Microsoft Edge

  yes

• 
  Alexis on Sep. 21^st 2020 9:03:31 PMReport

  HDR

  no

• 
  Bre Wight on Mar. 13^th 2016 12:58:26 PMReport

  Commonly used for

  Animation
  Simple web graphics
  

  Pros

  Simple animations/short video clips
  Widely supported format
  Transparency support
  Lossless compression
  Smaller file sizes
  

  Cons

  Limited to 256 colors
  Web colors only
  No transparency

• 
  Seralive on Apr. 11^th 2011 11:49:06 PMReport

  Mode

  70

  Name

  Graphics Interchange Format

  Viewer

  public

  Editor

  public

  Category

  pratical

  File extensions

  .gif

  Developed by

  CompuServce

  Commonly used for

  Animation

  Wikipedia

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_Interchange_Format

  Short name

  GIF

  Lossless

  yes

  Animation support

  yes

  Internet Explorer

  yes

  Google Chrome

  yes

  Safari

  yes

  Opera

  yes

  Firefox

  yes

  Licensed

  no expired

  Transparency support

  yes

  Pros

  Animation
  Widely supported format
  Transparency support

  Cons

  Limited to 256 colors

  Layers support

  no

  Description

  GIF is a bitmap image format that allows a lossless compression by reducing the image to 256 distinct colors. It has been replaced by PNG after fear over patent issues. It is still widely used for animation as it's the only format that supports animation and that is widely supported by browsers.