Introduction to GIF

In addition to the compressed format and 8-bit color features of the GIF format which yield small file sizes making it an appropriate format for web images, the GIF format has other features which make it an ideal web image format. This brief introduction to the creation and use of GIF images for the web will cover three topics:

Transparent GIFs
Allows for parts of an image to be transparent allowing background images and text to be visible within the image.
Interlaced GIFs
Allows an image to be downloaded such that, the image can be viewed before it is completely transferred.
Animated GIFs
Provides for the combining of several gif images into one file, displayed sequentially for cell-animation.

Further Study / Resources

Transparent GIF Links

Paint Shop Pro Pro Tutorial (MS Windows)
LView Pro Tutorial (MS Windows)

Transparent GIF Instructions (UNIX)

Transparency GIF Tool (Mac)

Yahoo's Collection of Tools

Interlacing Imaging Links

WebImage (MS Windows)
Interlace GIF Pictures (Mac)

Interlacing GIF Hints (UNIX)

Tool Archive

GIF Animation Tools

Yahoo Animation Collection

GIF Animation on the WWW

Technical GIF Animation Info

GIF-89a Technical Specifications