Definition: GIF, short for Graphics Interchange Format is a file format for storing graphical images up to 256 colors. It uses LZW compression which is a lossless compression method. Until the year 2004, this was covered by a patent owned by Unisys and the reason why the PNG file graphic format was invented.
There are two versions of GIF both created by Compuserve. The earlier GIF 87a and the enhanced 89a which stored multiple images (thus allowing animation), and interlacing.
GIF files are probably the most popular on the web being used in logos and any color images with 256 or fewer colors. For images containing text GIF tends to be better than JPG because the files tend to be smaller and JPG files usually have some degree of compression and this can make text blurry.
Glossary:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZExamples:
A file that was 9Kb in size as a GIF was 45Kb as a JPG.
