The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is an 8-bit-per-pixel bitmap image format. The format produces images that are small and efficient through the use of a limited 256 color palette and of the Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) lossless data compression scheme. GIF is widely used for graphics with areas of solid color such as maps, illustrations, logos and simple animations. The color limitations make it unsuitable for reproducing color photographs.
