Pronounced
jiff or
giff (hard
g) stands for
graphics interchange format, a
bit-mapped graphics file format used by the
World Wide Web,
CompuServe and many
BBSs. GIF
supports color and various
resolutions. It also includes
data compression, but because it is limited to 256 colors, it is more effective for scanned images such as illustrations rather than color photos.
Also see JPG vs. GIF vs. PNG in the Did You Know . . . ? section of Webopedia.