Design Glossary | The Logo Factory Canada

General Articles | Logo File Formats & Technical Help | Designer Corner | Design Glossary | FAQ
Logo Design Canada > Design Articles & Help Pages > Design Glossary > GIF File Formats

GIF file formats

Design Terms Glossary & Definitions:

Design Brief
Preliminary Designs
Unique Versions
Design Revisions
Sign Off
Aspect Ratio
Logo Footprint
Greyscale
Black and White Linear
Spot Colors
Pantone Matching
Four Colour Process
Bleed Printing
Gang Run Printing
Template Logos
File Formats
Source Files
Vector Based Artwork
EPS formats
Outline Fonts
Bitmap Artwork
GIF File Formats
JPG File Formats
PNG File Formats
Resolution
Dots Per Inch
CMYK Colour Palette
RGB Colour Palette
Scalable

In order to reduce file sizes on the web, image files require file 'optimization' to reduce the number of colours to a web-safe 216. These files are then resaved as Pixel Based .gifs and are almost exclusively for web site usage. If your logo is particularly complex, or contains colours that cannot be duplicated using the available 216 colour palette, you may have to utilize a .jpg version. A .gif image can feature transparent backgrounds for use on different colour web pages (but may have a rough or 'jagged' edge). Can feature some colour shifting due to differences in various colour palettes from .eps and .jpg formats. Can also feature some 'pixelating' of certain colours as they are 'forced' into a 216 colour palette.

Resolution
72 dpi (PX)

Uses
Web sites.

File names
GIF formats have the file extensions .gif.

GIF Formats - Properties
Advantages and distinct properties of your .gif logo files.

	RGB colour reproduction available. .gif formats are native to an RGB colour palette. Some .gifs may not portray your corporate logo colours accurately due to the limited (216 or 256 colours) palette. For true colour accuracy is advisable to use a .jpg format when colour matching is a concern.
	Small file size. .gif formats of your logo can be transported to printers, design vendors & transmitted electronically (via e-mail) efficiently.
	Web friendly. Generally speaking, .gif formats of your logo are for web page use only.
	Scalable (reduction). Your .gif logo can be scaled down without any image degradation. .gif images cannot be enlarged without losing image integrity.
	Transparency available. Your logo can be placed on a coloured background of a web page. Transparent backgrounds render 1 colour of the image (usually the background colour) invisible. A .gif with transparency still requires the entire footprint of your logo. Due to anti-alaising (object edges are made up of several colours to give smoother appearance), this can lead to 'blurry' edges when placed on a web page background. Use .gif image transparency with caution.
	Create Black/White greyscale (halftone) logo. Your logo can be converted to a Black and White greyscale (halftone) version. Some colours that contrast vividly, may appear tonally very similar if a straight conversion is performed.

Applies to
Logo Design
Logo Repair
Flash Animation
Stationery Design
Website Design
Illustration
Graphic Design

Logo Design Canada is a production of The Logo Factory® design studio.
Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Artwork and logos presented on this site are the property, copyright and/or trademark of the respective parties. Used by permission.