Graphics Interchange Format
GIF is a raster format limited to a 256-color palette. It's lossless within that palette and is best known for supporting simple frame-by-frame animation.
Extensions
.gif
MIME type(s)
image/gif
Compression
Lossless
Transparency
Supported
Advantages
- Universally supported, even by very old software
- Supports simple animation
- Lossless within its 256-color palette
Disadvantages
- Limited to 256 colors — poor choice for photographs
- Only supports 1-bit (on/off) transparency
- Animated GIFs can be large compared to modern video formats
Common uses
- Simple animations and reaction images
- Small icons with limited colors
How to open a GIF file
Opens natively in every browser and image viewer.