How do BMP and GIFcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
Bitmap Image File
BMP is an uncompressed raster image format native to Windows. While it produces very large files, BMP preserves every pixel with zero quality loss, making it useful for raw image data and legacy applications.
Graphics Interchange Format
GIF is a widely recognized format best known for animated images and short loops. While limited to 256 colors, GIF's animation support and universal compatibility make it a staple of web culture.
| Specification | BMP | GIF |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bitmap Image File | Graphics Interchange Format |
| Extension | .bmp | .gif |
| MIME type | image/bmp | image/gif |
| Category | Image | Image |
| Developer | Microsoft | CompuServe |
| Year introduced | 1986 | 1987 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy |
Both BMP and GIF have their strengths. BMP excels at legacy windows applications, while GIF is better for animated images and memes.
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