Glossary

GIF

Short for Graphics Interchange Format, which is a bitmap graphics file format, developed by CompuServe, Inc. and widely used on the World Wide Web. GIF is a compact graphic file format limited to 256 colors. It is appropriate for logos, line drawings, and other images with solid colors and distinct borders between colors. GIF format files are often smaller than the same files would be if stored in JPEG format as GIF files employ lossless data compression, which allows the file size of an image to be reduced without impairing the visual quality. There are two versions of GIF, named after their year of introduction - GIF87a and GIF89a. GIF89a allows the possibility of an animated GIF, which is a short sequence of GIF frames, displayed one after the other to simulate movement.