How GIF handles color and animation
GIF was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and uses a palette of at most 256 colors for each frame. Every pixel is mapped to that palette, which keeps files compact when the image uses few colors.
Animation is built into the format. A GIF stores a sequence of frames plus a delay for each one, and viewers loop the sequence without needing a video player.
Where GIF works and where it fails
Flat-color graphics such as logos, badges, and simple interface animations compress well as GIF. Binary transparency, where a pixel is either fully opaque or fully transparent, is also supported.
Photographs fare poorly. Smooth gradients have to be reduced to 256 colors, which produces visible banding and larger files than JPEG or WebP at similar quality.
- Short looping clips with no audio
- Pixel art and simple flat-color graphics
- Decorative banners with a small number of colors
- Images that must open in very old software
GIF support in Filekind
Filekind does not convert GIF files today. The converter works with JPEG, PNG, and static WebP, so a GIF must be turned into a still frame with other software before it can be used here.
For still images in that set, compression and format conversion run entirely in the browser with no upload, under the standard limits of 25 MB, 16,000 pixels per side, and 48 megapixels.