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What is the difference between GIFs and Animated GIFs?
What is the difference between GIFs and Animated GIFs?

Read the differences between these two file types and use the one that better fits your needs.

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Written by Support
Updated over a week ago

Bannerwise supports GIFs and Animated GIF as output file types but, what is exactly the differences between these two file formats? Which one will meet your needs? We have written a short summary with what you need to know:

GIF & Animated GIF:

  • It has a limitation of 256 colours per frame. Therefore, it is less suitable for colour gradients. Logos and images with solid areas of colour are more suitable.

  • It is an old technology compound of .png images. Therefore, GIF files are always heavy and can’t be compared to what the HTML5 version of your ads weight.

  • It is an old technology and image quality can be lost. It won't provide the same freedom or quality as HTML5.

  • The scenario Bannerwise offers GIFs for is as a backup for HTML5 banners.

  • GIF files have to be loaded completely before they are visible for web users, this has a negative effect on ad view-ability.

GIF:

  • It is a collection of static images.

  • It contains ONE screenshot per slide in your ad and is put into a slide show.

  • Each slide is displayed for 3 seconds starting with Slide 1 and ending with the last slide.

  • The slide show will repeat 3 times before the ending on the last slide of your banner. After that, it will display a static image of the last slide.

Animated GIF:

  • It contains around 60 screenshots per slide in your ad.

  • The images will play one after another showing the animations added in the ad.

  • Animated GIF will always be heavier than a GIF due to the amount of screenshots (.png images) it is made of.

When possible, for example when using video ads, we highly recommend to use MP4 files instead of GIFs:

  • MP4 files support millions of colours.

  • MP4 files can be streamed. Only a small part of the video has to be loaded before the video starts playing.

  • MP4 files are the standard format for video ads

We hope the information in this article was useful. If there is anything else we can help you with, and you couldn't find it in our help center, don't hesitate to contact us by chat.

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