In 1987 Steve Wilhite, who unfortunately has just passed away at the age of 74, developed a tool that became a key element for the development of visual creativity, the possibility of having moving images with a low weight to enhance the scope of every designer or developer, the Gif, named after the acronym in English for Graphics Interchange Format.
The low load and execution weight of a file in Gif format popularized its use very early on and its application is even greater today. Visual creations with artistic intentions banners, infographics, short videos and, of course, the popular memes, as well as other types of content have made this format practically live a golden age.
The original version of GIF was called 87a. In 1989, CompuServe, the company Wilhite worked for, released an improved version, called 89a, which added support for animation delays (multiple images in a stream were already supported in 87a), transparent background colors, and metadata storage. application specific. The 89a selection also supports embedding text labels as text (without embedding them in the graphic data), but since there is little control over display fonts, this feature is not widely used though. The two versions can be distinguished by looking at the first six bytes of the file (the “magic number” or signature), which, when interpreted as ASCII, read “GIF87a” and “GIF89a”, respectively.
GIF was one of the first two image formats commonly used on websites. The other is the black and white XBMen.
The graphic possibilities of animations in Gif format are still very valid and it seems that social networks are experiencing their golden age. The use of this format, which gives movement to the images on the screen, has become widespread beyond memes or content without much substance.
GIF animations on social networks and websites have become an important element to generate interactive content and attract more users. They transmit ideas and attitudes with a sense of humor. Used in marketing, they allow the creation of brand identity and style. They can convey the brand philosophy to customers and followers. They are very useful for quickly communicating an idea to followers.
The Internet is full of these short segments of short videos that loop endlessly, almost hypnotically, and that we see more and more on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. The boom in social networks has made them a vital tool in the digital age due to their immediacy and their dynamic and visual nature.
In 2015, Facebook included them for the first time on its platform. And earlier that year, WhatsApp added a GIF search engine that not only allows you to use them, but also create them.
The format supports up to 8 bits per pixel for each image, allowing a single image to reference its own palette of up to 256 different colors chosen from the 24-bit RGB color space. It also supports animations and allows for a separate palette of up to 256 colors for each frame. These palette limitations make GIF less suitable for reproducing color photos and other images with color gradients, but it is suitable for simpler images such as graphics or logos with solid areas of color.