Cif file. What is the GIF file extension? How to open .GIF files

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The GIF Raster image file format

GIF is the most popular file type on the Internet for its ability to create animated images. GIF files use bitmaps up to 8 bits / pixel. This resolution allows the use of 256 RGB colors. It should be noted that not all GIF images are animated. A large number of logos and images with clear, well-defined lines, as well as transparent backgrounds, are saved in GIF format. Compression of files into GIF format is lossless, i.e. the size is reduced without degrading image quality. This allows you to convert files to other formats without any significant loss of quality.

Technical details of GIF files

Compuserve created the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) for use on the Internet. That is why the data about him were made public. The 256 colors of the GIF file are capable of using the Lempel-Ziv-Welch algorithm, which allows you to compress files while simultaneously removing areas with insufficient data in order to minimize the loss of image quality. Raster information is compressed to its minimum size. The number of colors required for imaging is reduced by removing colors that are not used in imaging. The maximum number of colors is 256, but the image can even have 2 of them - white and black (the minimum requirement for the number of colors in a GIF file). Reducing the number of colors reduces the overall file size.

More information on the GIF format

First, let's start with what GIFs and animated images are. GIFs are an image format in which the picture itself is animated and is a small excerpt without sound. Newbies often confuse GIFs and short videos.

What does GIF mean?

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. In translation, the name means a format for exchanging images. On the OK social network, the opportunity to use this format appeared relatively recently - in mid-2015. The developers decided not to single out this format in a separate section, but to attribute them to photographs. You can use GIFs in the following areas:

• make posts with them in Odnoklassniki on your wall or in a group;

• embed in comments;
• save to personal albums;

• put on an avatar.

As you can see, you can do everything with GIFs as with photos.

Gifa's album in Odnoklassniki: what is it?

When you upload or add the first animated picture to your "Photos" section, a separate "Gifs" album is created there, in which all animations are automatically saved in the Gif format.

The introduction of Gifs has significantly revitalized the social network. Whole communities dedicated to animated gifs began to appear on the service, which number hundreds of thousands of members. If you are interested in this section, read more on our website about where to find, how to download them on your PC or phone, and much more.

What are GIFs

GIF files are a raster-type graphics format that can be used for both static and animated images. Let's see in which applications you can open GIFs.

Two types of software work with gifs: programs for viewing pictures and graphic editors. All of them are divided into installed applications and built into the operating system.

Method 1: XnView

First, let's figure out how to view GIF images in image viewers that need to be installed on a PC, using XnView as an example.

There is also another option for viewing an object in this program. For this we will use the built-in file manager.

As you can see, the presence of a file manager makes it much easier to find and view the desired object in XnView. The program is cross-platform, that is, it is suitable for viewing gifs not only for Windows users. In addition, it has a huge number of different functions and tools to help you view and process drawings, including GIF format. But this is also the "minus" of the application. A large number of rarely used functions can be confusing for an inexperienced user, and also contribute to the fact that XnView takes up a relatively large amount of hard disk space.

Method 2: Faststone Image Viewer

Another image viewer that must be installed is Faststone Image Viewer. What are the options to see gifs in it?

This application also allows you to open a GIF picture in two ways: through the menu and through the built-in file manager.

Now let's figure out how to view a gif not through the opening window, but exclusively using the built-in file manager.

As you can see, Faststone is no less convenient application for viewing gifs than XnView. Only in Faststone, in any case, even if it is launched through a specialized window, to open the file directly, you will have to go to the file manager, while in XnView these options are clearly separated. At the same time, Faststone's window interface is more familiar than that of the previous program. She has no less developed functionality for viewing and processing gifs.

Method 3: Windows Photo Viewer

Now let's figure out how to view a gif with the standard Windows photo viewer, which is already built into the operating system by default. Let's consider a variant of work for the Windows 7 operating system. In other versions of the OS, the actions may differ slightly.

But, if another application for viewing images is installed on the computer, which is associated with the GIF format, and the user wants to launch the GIF using the standard viewer, then this will be quite problematic. This is due to the fact that, oddly enough, the standard viewer does not have its own executable file. However, the problem can be solved by entering the code into the window "Run".

As you can see, opening gifs with a standard Windows photo viewer is rather inconvenient. It lacks the ability to launch an object through the application interface. Therefore, you have to use command input through the window "Run"... In addition, in comparison with the programs described above, this viewer is very shortened in functionality, and even with a minimum of image processing capabilities. Therefore, to view GIF pictures, it is still recommended to install a specialized program, for example, one of those described above.

Method 4: Gimp

Now it is time to move on to the description of opening GIF pictures in graphic editors. Unlike viewers, they have significantly more tools for editing images, including GIFs. One of the best free graphics editors is Gimp. Let's see how to launch objects with the named extension in it.

In addition, the required object can be opened by simply dragging it from Windows Explorer to the working area of \u200b\u200bthe Gimp window. To do this, mark the name of the picture in Explorer, clamp the left mouse button and drag the gif into the Gimp window. The picture will be displayed in the program and will be available for processing as if it were opened through the application menu.

As you can see, launching a GIF object in the Gimp editor does not cause any particular difficulties, since it is intuitive and similar to similar actions in most other applications. In addition, Gimp has a large set of GIF editing tools in its arsenal, which is almost equal to its paid counterparts.

Method 5: Adobe Photoshop

But the most famous graphics editor is still Adobe Photoshop. However, unlike the previous one, it is paid. Let's see how to open GIF files in it.

You can open an object in Photoshop by dragging from Windows Explorer, adhering to the same rules that we talked about when describing actions in the Gimp application. Then the familiar message about the absence of a built-in profile will be launched. After selecting actions, the picture itself will open.

It should be noted that Adobe Photoshop still slightly surpasses the free editor Gimp in terms of functionality and GIF editing capabilities. But at the same time, this superiority is not too significant. Therefore, many users prefer to get by with a free analog instead of purchasing Photoshop.

Method 6: paint

The Windows operating system has its own standard analogue of the two previous programs. This is the paint editor. Let's see how you can open a GIF with it.

The picture can be dragged from Explorer, as it was done on the example of previous graphic editors: mark the image in Explorer, press the left mouse button and drag it to the Paint window.

But there is another option for launching gifs in Paint via Windows explorerwhich is not available for other programs. This method is the fastest. Go to Explorer in the area of \u200b\u200bthe image on the hard drive. We click on the picture with the right mouse button. In the context list, select the option "Change"... The picture will be displayed through the Paint interface.

In general, Paint, of course, is significantly inferior in functionality to Adobe Photoshop, Gimp and most other third-party analogues. At the same time, it has the necessary basic tools, thanks to which Paint can be considered a full-fledged graphics editor, capable of solving most of the tasks of editing GIF images. The main advantage of this program is that it does not need to be installed, since it is already included in the basic Windows configuration.

Method 7: programs for viewing files

In addition, there is a separate group of applications, the purpose of which is to provide the ability to view files of various unrelated formats (documents, tables, images, archives, etc.). One such application is File Viewer Plus. Let's determine how to view the gif in it.

The drawing can be dragged from Explorer into the File Viewer window.

The good thing about the application is that it can be used not only for viewing gifs and other types of images, but also for viewing documents, tables and other types of files. Its versatility is at the same time a disadvantage, since File Viewer has fewer functions for processing specific file types than specialized programs. In addition, this application can be used for free for only 10 days.

This is not a complete list of programs that can work with the GIF format. Almost all modern image viewers and graphic editors can handle this. But the choice of a specific program depends on the task at hand: viewing a drawing or editing it. In the first case, you should use the viewer, and in the second, the graphic editor. In addition, the level of complexity of the task plays a significant role. For simple tasks, you can use the built-in Windows applications, and for more complex ones, you will already have to install additional software.

If you still do not know what "GIF" is and how to open a GIF file, today we will take a closer look at this file and find out how and how you can open this file format.

First, let's figure out what this file is and what it essentially is. So, GIF is a file that serves to exchange images. This format also supports various kinds of animation, including a transparent one.

This format, at this time, is often used for any kind of advertising on sites. For example, if you take several photos and process them in the program, you can make sequential images that will change. You can also make photos cyclical - when the pictures are shown constantly in their sequence, starting from the first picture.

We figured out the format itself, now let's move on to the topic of the article, how to open GIFs.

Opening a gif file through browsers

"GIFs" are always opened either through web browsers or through graphic editors. There are a lot of browsers and editors, so don't worry, you will open the file anyway.

Let's figure out in stages how to open GIF animation. First, we will try to open it through the browser that you have on your computer. For example, I have the Google Chrome browser installed, launch it.

Now we left-click on the GIF and without releasing the button, drag it into the open browser window, and then release the button.

This file will now be displayed in the browser. If you have a different browser, then try the same steps in it.

XnView program

You can install the program XnView as the default photo viewer, that is, when you double-click on any image, all files will automatically open in XnView.

When you already have it on your computer, open the program and select "Tools" and "Options" from the menu.

In the options on the left, click on Associations.

Here you need to specify the type of files that will be associated with this program. Looking for "CompuServe GIF", check the box on the left. If you use this program all the time, then indicate other formats that you are going to open with this program.

After all the changes made, click "OK" to save your actions.

Now double click on the GIF. If everything is done correctly, then this file will open in this program.

I think from this article you understood how to open a GIF and that this procedure does not require any technical nuances.

P.S .: GIF example:

For those looking to experiment a bit:

Hello dear readers of the Start Luck blog! Surely every user who regularly or from time to time goes to "surf" the Internet, came across the so-called GIFs. Most often I met them on social networks - Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki, etc.

But, of course, they are used everywhere. The format is not clear to everyone - either it is a video, or a picture. I suggest you dot the i's.

So let's talk about gif - what is the format and what it is for. You will also learn where to get animated pictures and how you can make money on the ability to create them.

What is it?

What is gif? What is the format? It was created for the exchange of raster (pixel) images. It became convenient and popular because of its peculiarity to compress graphic files without much loss of their quality. But everything has a limit, and the gif limit is 256 colors.

This may not be enough to render an image with a very rich color palette. A couple of years after development, this format was improved - there was support for transparency and animation.

What kind of transparency? In order not to give any area a color (after all, the number is limited), it is made transparent, and it will acquire the background color. That is, it can be white, black or red - it all depends on where you open the gif.

For example, I once saved a picture in this format. I downloaded a black inscription on a white background and what do you think I saw in the gallery? Just a black square. This is already a mistake by the creator of the gif, it would be possible to do without transparency - there are only two colors!

Now about animation. It is because of her that many people mistakenly believe that gif is a video format. In fact, this is a sequence of static images, each of which will be on the screen for a specified time and all of them are silent.

As a rule, animation is done in a loop - after the last frame, the first is played again. This is where transparency matters. Thanks to it, it is not necessary to save every frame completely, it is enough to save only the changes.

Where can I get them?

Based on the foregoing, it may seem that it is difficult to make a gif yourself. But this is not the case. There are many easy-to-understand online services like Gifs.com , where you will quickly create a gif animation using detailed instructions.

After completing the course “ Turnkey online store »You will be able to sell GIF animation on the created platform.

Or you can find someone who will make you a website on Kwork.ru or, which will be cheaper.

By the way, if you really enjoy working on creating GIFs, you can go into animation design. You will work on the visual design of some advertising, make banners. To begin with, I can advise you to sell works on Videohive.net , and then how it goes. Maybe you will achieve such success in this business that you will work for some famous companies!

These days, a computer owner can start making money from almost nothing - you just need to know what to do. Remember, you can start with a regular laptop and come to great success - everything is in your hands. And how to squeeze the maximum out of your PC, you can learn from the course " Secrets of productive computer work ».

Well, my blog, I hope, helps you with this. If this article was helpful, subscribe to my public Vkontakte and tell your friends about the blog! I wish you good luck in all your endeavors! While!

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