(Graphics Interchange Format) A popular bitmapped graphics file format developed by CompuServe. Pronounced "giff" with a hard "g" by most Mac users and "jiff" by PC users, GIFs are widely used on the Web because the format uses its own form of compression.
GIF supports 8-bit color (256 colors), but gets the most mileage out of its limited colors by using a built-in color palette. For example, the palette for an image of a forest would mostly contain shades of green and brown. If colors are within a tight range, this method provides extraordinary realism in an 8-bit image. See indexed color.
GIF87a and GIF89a
There are two GIF versions: the original GIF87a and subsequent GIF89a, both named after their year of introduction. GIF89a allows one of the colors to be made transparent (see alpha channel) and take on the background color of the underlying page or window. GIF89a also supports animated GIFs, which use multiple frames in sequence to simulate movement (see animated GIF).
GIFs and JPEGs
Both GIF and JPEG images are widely used on the Web and are supported by all Web software that displays graphics. Charts, screen shots and technical drawings with text are typically GIFs (8-bit). Images with limited colors can also be GIFs, but most photographs are generally better as JPEGs (24-bit). Sometimes, an image has to be saved in both formats to determine which is best. See JPEG.
There Was a Patent Issue
The GIF format uses the LZW compression algorithm, which was patented by Unisys, and publishers of applications that read and write GIF87a and GIF89a images were required to obtain a license and pay royalties to the company. For example, publishers of Web browsers and image editors were licensees. The Unisys patents expired in June 2003 for the U.S. and in July 2004 for Canada and Europe; however, Unisys and other companies have patents on different variants of LZW used in other GIF formats. See LZW and graphics formats.
GIF supports 8-bit color (256 colors), but gets the most mileage out of its limited colors by using a built-in color palette. For example, the palette for an image of a forest would mostly contain shades of green and brown. If colors are within a tight range, this method provides extraordinary realism in an 8-bit image. See indexed color.
GIF87a and GIF89a
There are two GIF versions: the original GIF87a and subsequent GIF89a, both named after their year of introduction. GIF89a allows one of the colors to be made transparent (see alpha channel) and take on the background color of the underlying page or window. GIF89a also supports animated GIFs, which use multiple frames in sequence to simulate movement (see animated GIF).
GIFs and JPEGs
Both GIF and JPEG images are widely used on the Web and are supported by all Web software that displays graphics. Charts, screen shots and technical drawings with text are typically GIFs (8-bit). Images with limited colors can also be GIFs, but most photographs are generally better as JPEGs (24-bit). Sometimes, an image has to be saved in both formats to determine which is best. See JPEG.
There Was a Patent Issue
The GIF format uses the LZW compression algorithm, which was patented by Unisys, and publishers of applications that read and write GIF87a and GIF89a images were required to obtain a license and pay royalties to the company. For example, publishers of Web browsers and image editors were licensees. The Unisys patents expired in June 2003 for the U.S. and in July 2004 for Canada and Europe; however, Unisys and other companies have patents on different variants of LZW used in other GIF formats. See LZW and graphics formats.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Firefox, Chrome get quick fixes
- Mozilla and Google have released new Firefox and Chrome browsers to fix bugs. The new Firefox patches one critical bug across Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. For Windows, Mac, and Linux, Mozilla Firefox 3.5.5 fixes three bugs: one critical bug across all platforms, and then one lower priority one...
- News items 2009-11-06
- Easy Graphics File Converter 7.64 (Windows)
- Easy Graphics File Converter is used to convert files from GIF, BMP, JPEG and PNG formats to PNG, JPEG and BMP. It has two modes of operation: a single file can be converted to all other formats except GIF in one operation, and JPEGs can be output over a range...
- Software downloads 2009-11-05
- Change Folder Icons 8.6.2 (Windows)
- Change Folder Icons is an award-winning tool for Windows that allows you to easily find thousands of bright icons on your computer that you can use as folder icons. Program features: - change the icon of a folder simply and quickly by pressing the right mouse button on it and...
- Software downloads 2009-11-05
- SQL Image Viewer 2.5.0.138 (Windows)
- SQL Image Viewer enables you to retrieve, view, convert, and export images stored in Firebird, MySQL, Oracle, SQLite, SQL Server and ODBC data sources, and supports the following image formats: BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, PSD, and TIFF. It also recognises the following binary file types: PDF, MP3, WAV, 7Z, BZ2,...
- Software downloads 2009-11-05
- Domus.Cad 15.0.2 (Mac)
- Domus.Cad is an architectural 3D CAD program. It is a tool for the design and modeling of architecture, interor, landscape, and urban spaces. With Domus.Cad you can immediately begin to create three-dimensional elements without needing to start from a two-dimensional plan. Elements such as walls, floors, roofs, and stairs are...
- Software downloads 2009-11-05
- Sequential 2.1 (Mac)
- Sequential is an image viewer for Mac OS X. It was originally designed for opening a folder of images and displaying them in order. It works well for viewing comics and manga. Sequential can display folders and archives (ZIP, RAR, CBZ and CBR) of images (including JPEG, PNG, and GIF)...
- Software downloads 2009-11-05
- 3DPaintBrush 2.0 (Windows)
- 3DPaintBrush is a real-time and easy-to-use visualization tool that enables you to create near photo-realistic images and videos from your 3D models. You can easily enhance an existing model by adding colors, textures, shaders, background, lighting and camera effects, background environments to create quick yet stunning images. Import 3D models...
- Software downloads 2009-11-04
- Flex GIF Animator 9.01 (Windows)
- Flex GIF Animator is the only program you need to create great looking animations. Whether you are creating animations for the Web, presentations, and multimedia files or simply just want to impress your friends, Flex GIF Animator provides you with all the necessary tools. The Object Tweening function in Flex...
- Software downloads 2009-11-03
- Picasa 3.5 build 79.81 (Windows)
- Transfer, find, organize, edit, print, and share images, all with this easy-to-use product. Watch Picasa automatically organize all your pictures into elegant albums by date. Having all your photos in one place means no more time wasted searching for folders or files. The program works with JPEG, GIF, BMP, PSD,...
- Software downloads 2009-11-03
- Addin Media Editor 1.5.2 (Windows)
- AddinMedia is an excellent tool for both photo editing and for creating rich graphical content. Arm with the abilities to automatically generate unlimited amount of vector shapes, patterns, and a wide varieties of design elements for spicing up your photo or simply, creating the background and graphic needed for putting...
- Software downloads 2009-11-03
- ZoomFoot Send Photo 1.0.27 (Windows)
- ZoomFoot Send Photo is the easiest way to privately send photos (up to 4GB at once!) to friends over the Internet. Stop wasting time resizing and zipping photos, just drag-and-drop your original photos to ZoomFoot, enter an email address, and ZoomFoot will do the rest, zipping your pictures and delivering...
- Software downloads 2009-11-03
- Batch It Pro 4.07 (Windows)
- Batch It Pro is an automated Batch Imaging Editor which allows you to resize, rename, rotate, create thumbnail galleries, add captions and more. It is a must-have tool for webmasters and digital photographers alike. It Load JPEG, JPEG 2000, BMP, TIFF, PCX, PNG, TGA, PBM, PGM, PPM, GIF, VDA, ICB,...
- Software downloads 2009-11-02
- JBatch It 5.04 (Windows)
- JBatch It is an automated batch JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP imaging editor which allows you to resize, rename, add captions, and add droo shadow effects. It is a must-have tool for webmasters and digital photographers alike.
- Software downloads 2009-11-02
- Batch It 5.07 (Windows)
- Batch It is an automated Batch Imaging Editor which allows you to resize, rename, add captions, add watermark, add drop shadow and more. It is a must-have tool for webmasters and digital photographers alike. It supports convert between popular image formats such as PCX,GIF, BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, PNG and...
- Software downloads 2009-11-02
- Video2Webcam 3.0.8.6 (Windows)
- Video2webcam enables you to show video clips as virtual Webcam during video chat whether you own a real Webcam or not. You could either share your home-made video clips easily with your friends while chatting on line or make fun of them by pretending to be somebody else. With it,...
- Software downloads 2009-11-01
- Pop Art Studio 4.4 (Windows)
- Create your own Pop Art masterpieces in the famous Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein Style. Pop Art Studio is a graphics editing software. It supports BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG and TIFF formatted images. Pop Art Studio contains many Andy Warhol effects and the famous Roy Lichtenstein effect. The program provides...
- Software downloads 2009-11-01
- Advanced TIFF Editor 3.1.10 (Windows)
- Advanced TIFF Editor is a multipage FAX, TIF, PDF, EPS, PS, AI, DCX, JBIG, DICOM viewer, editor and converter, offers you a full solution for viewing, editing, printing, saving, converting. Advanced TIFF Editor can show all kinds of FAX images, multipage FAX and TIFF images. Advanced TIFF Editor supports many...
- Software downloads 2009-11-01
- iWinSoft Image Converter 1.0.2 (Mac)
- You can use iWinSoft Image Converter application to view the image files on Mac, and convert them to most popular image formats including PDF, PNG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, EPS, PICT, BMP and SGI. You can navigate throught the images in a folder using navigation keys and keyboard shortcuts. Changing the...
- Software downloads 2009-10-31
- Babu eMailer 1.2b build 3581 (Windows)
- eMailer is SMTP mail client it sends file (*.html, *.htm, *.txt, *.gif, *.jpg, *.bmp, *.png, *. eml) to multiple email address email list. Features: Support remote and local SMTP server. Connect SMTP server using password and user name outbound connection; Acknowledgement (send/error). Fetch email address from text file, MS Outlook,...
- Software downloads 2009-10-30
- A-PDF Image to PDF 2.7.4 (Windows)
- A-PDF Image to PDF is an utility that lets you convert photos, drawings, scans and faxes into Acrobat PDF documents. Its features include supporting almost all of image formats includes TIFF, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG and ICO, even acquiring images from scanner or digital camera directly. It also is able...
- Software downloads 2009-10-30
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
Popular Sanity Saver Videos
