GIF to EPS Converter

Encoding: the GIF uses lossless LZW over a palette of at most 256 colours; EPS uses PostScript program text, with an optional binary TIFF preview or an EPSI hex preview, and the download is an EPS that wraps the pixels as a PostScript image; it contains no vector paths.

Bit depth: 8 bits per pixel, as indexes into a palette in the GIF; EPS allows resolution-independent artwork, with previews usually 8-bit, and the EPS written here has 8 bits per channel.

Colour: an indexed palette of up to 256 colours per frame in the GIF; EPS supports CMYK, RGB and spot colours, written here as 8-bit sRGB.

Transparency: the GIF stores it as one palette entry marked transparent, so each pixel is either fully shown or fully hidden; the EPS has none, so transparent areas are filled with the colour you choose.

Animation: image blocks with their own delay and disposal method, looped by the NETSCAPE2.0 extension; the EPS holds one image, so only the first frame is converted.

Metadata: the GIF can carry comment and application extension blocks, but no EXIF; EPS can carry DSC comments such as %%BoundingBox, %%Creator and %%Title, but nothing is copied across.

GIF is the classic animated image format. It is limited to 256 colours per frame and 1-bit transparency, so photos look grainy and files are large, but it plays everywhere.

A GIF starts with 'GIF89a' (or the older 87a), a logical screen descriptor and an optional global colour table, then image blocks, each preceded by a graphic control extension that sets its delay and transparent colour.

GIF files usually come from reaction clips, memes, old websites and screen recordings.

EPS is a PostScript drawing packaged for placing inside other documents. It was the exchange format of print and logo design for decades; most EPS files also carry a raster preview so layout software can show them.

An EPS is a PostScript program with DSC comments ('%!PS-Adobe-3.0 EPSF-3.0', %%BoundingBox). Files from Illustrator, Photoshop and CorelDRAW usually start with a 30-byte binary header (C5 D0 D3 C6) that points to a TIFF preview; others carry an EPSI hex preview between %%BeginPreview and %%EndPreview.

EPS is the better choice for print artwork and logos for professional layout software, while GIF suits short animations and reactions that must play everywhere.

EPS strengths: Vector artwork that prints at any size; Accepted by print shops and older layout software; CMYK and spot colours. Drawbacks to weigh: Browsers and phones cannot display it; Needs a PostScript interpreter to render the vector data; Superseded by PDF and SVG.