GIF file extension
You can open file with GIF using special software abopted to do this. In order to open GIF file download one of the software.
How to open GIF file
The GIF extension is a format for graphic files. Although they don't contain audio data, graphic files can often be seen on the Internet as clips from videos.
How to open .GIF files
Websites often use the GIF extension to display animated objects, such as buttons or logo images. Since GIF files provide lossless compression, the image quality doesn't suffer when converting to this format.
Most web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.) can open GIFs without any problem; you don't need any special software on your PC. Local GIF files can be opened using the 'Open with...' button or by dragging the file to the web browser.
Other ways to open .GIF files
Apps like Adobe Photoshop can technically open GIF files but won't display them in their usual form. Photoshop will show each GIF frame as a separate layer. The bitmap graphics editor is great for editing GIFs, but the instant replay feature is only available in the special GIF Animator app.
Compared to web browsers, the default Image Viewer is probably the easiest way to open this file format in Windows.
The following software for Windows can open GIF files: Adobe Elements and Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Corel PaintShop Pro, ACDSee, PaperPort, OmniPage Ultimate, and Roxio Creator NXT Pro.
On macOS, you can open GIFs with Apple Preview, Safari, and the Adobe Systems programs previously mentioned. Linus users prefer GIMP. GIF files can be opened on iOS and Android devices using Google Drive or in the device's Gallery (valid for newer OS versions).
- File type:
- Graphical Interchange Format File
- Category:
- Raster image files
This is a graphic file which can store up to 256 indexed colors where the color palette can be a predefined set of colors or can be adapted to the colors in the picture. GIF format is lossless, so the quality of the graphics is not reduced with GIF compression. It is a generic format for Web graphics, used mostly for small pictures and pictures with text, for example navigation buttons. But JPEG format is better for displaying photos due to unlimited number of colors this format can contain. GIF graphics may also be animated and used to show simple animations on websites. These files can contain transparent pixels that enable them to blend with various backgrounds, but GIF picture pixels must be fully opaque or fully transparent in contrast to PNG format where the transparency can be faded.
How to open file with GIF extension?