.. index:: GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
.. index:: .gif

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
===============================================================================

Extensions: .gif

Developer: `CompuServe <http://www.compuserve.com/>`_

Owner: `Unisys <http://www.unisys.com/>`_

**Support**


BSD-licensed: |yes|

Export: |no|

Officially Supported Versions: 

Reader: GIFReader (:bsd-reader:`Source Code <GIFReader.java>`, :doc:`Supported Metadata Fields </metadata/GIFReader>`)


Freely Available Software:

- `Animated GIF Reader plugin for ImageJ <http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/plugins/agr.html>`_ 
- `GIF Stack Writer plugin for ImageJ <http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/plugins/gif-stack-writer.html>`_


We currently have:

* a `GIF specification document <http://tronche.com/computer-graphics/gif/>`_ (Version 89a, from 1990, in HTML) 
* numerous GIF datasets 
* the ability to produce new datasets

We would like to have:


**Ratings**


Pixels: |Very good|

Metadata: |Very good|

Openness: |Fair|

Presence: |Outstanding|

Utility: |Poor|