What are GIFs and why are they so important?
GIF stands for Graphical Interchange Format and is excellent for adding motion to your content. The format has now become popular across the globe and has become the default tool for web humor, alongside memes and viral videos.
This blog will discuss the technology, its use cases, and finally how you can create them online with easy-to-use tools.
What is a GIF?
A GIF is a bitmap image format developed by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite in the year 1987, aiming to create small animated images that can be easily shared with your followers and friends over the network to convey emotion and feelings instead of using words. A GIF will move continuously from one frame to another and start again from the first frame after reaching the end frame. The standard frame rate for GIFs is somewhere between 15 and 24 fps with an average file length of about 2-5 seconds.
Why are GIFS popular?
Our brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text. So “motion” is a better way of communication as compared to a still image or a text document. Since GIFs animated files with motion properties and are significantly smaller in size, they are a better option for still images and large videos.
GIFs generally last within a few seconds, and due to their smaller file size the process of uploading them on social platforms like Twitter, and Facebook, and messaging apps such as Telegram and WhatsApp. Moreover, loading them on browsers takes less time, making them an efficient option for communication.
Below are some of the use cases due to which GIFs are widely used:
- Widely supported across multiple platforms: Since GIF is a collection of images they are supported by almost all browsers, email clients, and social networking websites.
- Require less time for asset creation: Since GIFs are of short time length with low frames per second they take less creation time. Moreover, they also do not require high-end machines for processing and can be created by online tools.
- Increase user engagement: Articles with colored visuals sing color visuals increase the willingness to read by 80%, which makes GIFs a great tool to increase audience engagement in marketing campaigns.
- Required low cost as compared to animations and videos: Animations and video creation require skills and special software for asset creation. Simple GIFs comparatively can be created online or using free tools and therefore will save your development cost and time.
How to make GIFs Online?
RGBKit provides free online GIF maker tools that can be used to create animated GIFs online. The process is very simple and easy to use and the tool can be accessed here.
The process of GIF creation is a three-step process of uploading the images, choosing the appropriate GIF options like frame width, height, and exact animation length, and then pressing the “Create GIF” button to preview the GIF. Once results are found satisfactory the created GIF can be downloaded after clicking the “Download” button. Currently, RGBKit provides the creation of GIFs for well-known and widely used image formats such as PNG, JPG, and TIFF.
