GIF Stands for Graphics Interchange Format. A GIF is a Combination of encoded Images or Frames in a Single file. It is Described by its own Graphics Control Extension. The frames are presented in a specific order in order to convey animation. We can loop endlessly or stop after a few sequences for an Animated GIF.
The GIF design allows users to define a new Segment. In the 1990s, Netscape designed the Netscape Application Block, that’s Represent file in an animation and not a static Image This was the first Supported version in Netscape 2.0 and Spread to other browsers. It is still in mostly use Today.
Animated GIF is Also Known as GIF89a.
Animated GIFs are a fast-and-easy way to present dynamic content. Basically, uses in Web pages. The size of the file is small compared to other alternatives for creating dynamic content like Java and Flash. So That it can be downloaded by the browser easily, allowing for a faster browsing experience.
Making an Animated GIF using Photoshop:
Follow the below steps to make an animated GIF using Photoshop:
Step 1: Import your Images to photoshop.
Step 2: Open up a new Timeline window.
Step 3: Inside the TimeLine Window Choose “ Create Frame Animation”.
Step 4: Now create a new layer for each new Frame.
Step 5: Open the same menu icon on the right, and Choose “ make Frames from Layers”.
Step 6: Inside every Frame, Select the Width of how long it should preview for Switching to the next frame.
Step 7: After that At the Bottom of the toolbar, Choose how many times you would like it to Repeat.
Step 8: Now Preview your GIF by using the PLAY icon.
Step 9: Finally, save and export your GIF.
Not only Photoshop there are various free programs ( Such as GIMP or Pixlr). That can be used to create GIF. These programs provide the basic functions of Photoshop. And also we can Cut GIFs from videos as well as Websites.
There are some online Platform that also provides Functionality to create GIF like, Ezgif, Giphy, ImgFlip.
Characteristics of GIF:
Following are some of the characteristics of a GIF file:
- GIF is used for Lossless Compression that does not affect the quality of the Image.
- GIFs stores Images using Indexed Color, Meaning a Standard GIF Image can include a maximum of 256 colors.
- GIF support both Static and Animated Images.
- GIF is also used for creating small animation and low-Resolution Video clips.
- GIF support 8 bit (256) colors.
Advantages of GIF:
- One of the biggest advantages of GIFs is the size of the file is small compared to other formats. It can be easily shared and uploaded to any platform or chat window.
- It gives a professional look to the images.
- GIFs are here to stay and, it will also continue to be a rising trend that will call the most popular social media networks to support the GIF format.
- As we know GIF file is small compared to other Format so that we need less amount of memory. It helps us in saving memory.