REDUCING GIF PICTURES
with an extra trick

THE SECRET OF THE BUTCHER'S APRON

Every woman knows that horizontal stripes are a no-no if you want to flatter the figure.

With GIF graphic files it's the other way round.

The file on the left is 1,210 bytes. The one on the right with the horizontal stripes is exactly the same size and has the same number of colours. The only difference is the direction of the bands of blue. Yet Horizontal Stripey weighs in at only 974 bytes.

Why? Because GIF computer images scan from side to side across the picture, noting whenever the pixel colour changes. There are many more changes when the stripes go from top to bottom. This makes a larger file.

It's a small difference, admittedly, but small differences make a difference when you're optimising small graphics!

Anyway this is something you may like to bear in mind when you're making GIF graphics for phones, web site banners, mastheads or other images you need to keep at the smallest possible size.

Of course when we're talking of GIF optimization, nothing beats Photoshop Save For Web for dramatic file size reductions.

You may associate Photoshop with huge graphic files, but Photoshop is a whizz at tiny too.

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Reducing GIF pictures with an extra trick

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