GIF to JPG Converter

Encoding: the GIF uses lossless LZW over a palette of at most 256 colours; JPG uses lossy DCT coding in 8×8 pixel blocks, with colour usually stored at half resolution, and the download is a standard JPEG at the quality you choose.

Bit depth: 8 bits per pixel, as indexes into a palette in the GIF; JPG allows 8 bits per channel, and the JPG written here has 8 bits per channel.

Colour: an indexed palette of up to 256 colours per frame in the GIF; JPG supports YCbCr shown as RGB, greyscale, or CMYK from print software, 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 JPG 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 JPG holds one image, so only the first frame is converted.

Metadata: the GIF can carry comment and application extension blocks, but no EXIF; JPG can carry EXIF (camera, date, GPS), XMP, IPTC and an ICC profile in APP segments, 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.

JPEG is the universal photo format. It compresses by discarding fine detail the eye is least sensitive to, which makes photos small but blurs sharp edges and text if pushed too far.

A JPEG starts with the bytes FF D8 and is a run of marker segments: APP1 carries EXIF and often a thumbnail, APP2 an ICC profile, DQT the quantization tables that decide the quality, and SOS the compressed scan, which ends at FF D9.

JPG is the better choice for photographs that need to open anywhere, while GIF suits short animations and reactions that must play everywhere.

JPG strengths: Opens everywhere: every browser, phone, camera, printer and app; Small files for photographs; Adjustable quality from tiny to near-lossless. Drawbacks to weigh: No transparency; Lossy: every re-save loses a little more; Blocky artifacts around text, logos and sharp lines.