What is a GIF file?
GIF or Graphical Interchange Format use the LZW (Lempel-Ziv-Welch) algorithm to maintain the high image quality while compressing its overall size. Unisys owns the format, and it was a popular choice back in the day when people had started exploring the web.
It supports 8 bits per pixel and a maximum of 256 colours which are far less than that of a JPEG. GIFs are standard for web graphics, and most of the navigation buttons are in this format. You can save a still or an animated GIF containing transparent pixels allowing them to blend with the background easily.
Unlike PNGs, another lossless format, the pixels in the GIFs have to be completely transparent or completely opaque, which means that you cannot fade the final output similarly. Its image data consists of a byte of unencoded symbols and LZ-encoded data, along with the linked-list of sub-blocks to contain them.
How to Open GIF Files
How to Make GIF Files
Exact steps for creating GIF files will vary by program and operating system. Download one of the above listed programs and you should be able to follow typical procedure for opening files or creating files from the File menu. Typically you will select File > Open or File > New and continue through the prompts. Some programs may follow a different procedure for either creation or opening of files.