GIF -- Graphics Interchange Format
Driver short name
GIF
Build dependencies
(internal GIF library provided)
GDAL supports reading and writing of normal, and interlaced GIF files. Gif files always appear as having one colormapped eight bit band. GIF files have no support for georeferencing.
A GIF image with transparency will have that entry marked as having an alpha value of 0.0 (transparent). Also, the transparent value will be returned as the NoData value for the band.
If an ESRI world file exists with the .gfw, .gifw or .wld extension, it will be read and used to establish the geotransform for the image.
XMP metadata can be extracted from the file, and will be stored as XML raw content in the xml:XMP metadata domain.
Driver capabilities
Supports CreateCopy()
This driver supports the GDALDriver::CreateCopy() operation
Supports VirtualIO
This driver supports virtual I/O operations (/vsimem/, etc.)
Creation Issues
GIF files can only be created as 1 8bit band using the "CreateCopy" mechanism. If written from a file that is not colormapped, a default greyscale colormap is generated. Transparent GIFs are not currently supported on creation.
Creation options can be specified in command-line tools using the syntax -co <NAME>=<VALUE> or by providing the appropriate arguments to GDALCreate() (C) or Driver.Create (Python).
The following creation options are supported:
WORLDFILE=[ON/OFF]: Defaults to
OFF. Force the generation of an associated ESRI world file (.wld). See World Files section for details.INTERLACING=[ON/OFF]: Defaults to
OFF. Generate an interlaced (progressive) GIF file.
GDAL's internal GIF support is implemented based on source from the giflib 4.1.6 library (written by Gershon Elbor, Eric Raymond and Toshio Kuratomi), hence generating LZW compressed GIF.
The driver was written with the financial support of the DM Solutions Group, and CIET International.