The AXS GIF glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms you meet when working with GIFs.
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
A GIF is an image format that can hold a short, looping animation using up to 256 colours per frame.
GIF vs MP4
MP4 is a real video format — smaller, smoother and full-colour; GIF is an image that autoplays and loops everywhere.
Frame Rate (FPS)
Frame rate is how many frames play per second; for GIFs, 10–15 fps is the usual sweet spot.
GIF Colour Palette
A GIF stores a palette of up to 256 colours; fewer colours means a smaller file but less detail.
Why GIFs Are So Large
GIFs store each frame with limited compression and no modern codec, so they balloon compared to video.