Branding & Web Glossary

Understanding the Lingo
GIF

Synonyms: .gif, GIF Image, Image

GIF images are “lossless” – meaning that a GIF retains all the data contained in the file when saved, but they are smaller than JPGs because they only accommodate up to 256 indexed colors. So when should a GIF by used?  Simple illustrated images or logos with just a couple or a few colors are often saved as GIF’s because the quality will be better and the file will be smaller than a compressed JPEG. Also, with the right software, you can create animated GIFs, where you place together a series of GIF images and it creates a short animation.

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