While 256 might sound like a lot of crayons to work with, complex photographs typically have many thousands of tones. Essentially each GIF image contains a preset ‘box of crayons’ and there is no way to truly mix those colors to make new colors. The GIF format is a type of bitmap, but unlike JPEG or PNG, GIF files are limited to a maximum palette of 256 colors. Unless you just stepped out of a faintly smoking DeLorean straight from 1985, you’re very likely already familiar with the web’s goofiest image format – the GIF (Graphics Interchange Format).
