GIF 89a
Writableimage · also known as GIF (1989a)
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is a raster image format developed by Compuserve, primarily for use on the internet. A GIF file begins with a Header section and a Logical Screen Descriptor section. This is followed by one or more Image sections, and the file is terminated by a Trailer. GIF supports bit depths between 1 and 8 bits (i.e. up to 256 colours) and supports features such as interlacing and transparency. Images are always stored using lossless LZW compression. GIF 89a introduced a number of new features, including a series of optional Control Extensions, which can be used to control the rendering of images within a file.
Identify it
| Extensions | .gif |
|---|---|
| MIME types | image/gif |
| Signatures | 474946383961 at byte 0 (GIF 1989a)474931 at byte 0 |
| PRONOM | fmt/3fmt/4 |
| Wikidata | Q2192Q27526739 |
| Library of Congress | fdd000133 |
| Apple UTI | com.compuserve.gif |
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Open it
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And 202 more in the JSON record.
Convert it
| To | With | Fidelity | Command and losses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portable Network Graphics | ImageMagick | Lossless | convert in.gif out.pngPixels kept; some metadata, colour profiles or layers may be dropped. |
| Tagged Image File Format | ImageMagick | Lossless | convert in.gif out.tifPixels kept; some metadata, colour profiles or layers may be dropped. |
| JPEG File Interchange Format 1.02 | ImageMagick | Lossy | convert in.gif out.jpgLossy compression. |
| WebP | ImageMagick | Lossy | convert in.gif out.webpLossy compression. |
Documentation
Versions and variants (2)
- Graphics Interchange Format 87aPartly documented
- animated GIFWritable
Sources
From Converters (FFmpeg, ImageMagick, Pandoc, LibreOffice), Just Solve the File Format Problem (File Formats Wiki), Kaitai Struct format gallery, PRONOM, Wikidata. Updated 2026-10-24.