GIF and EPS file types are universally adopted and used in web development and graphic design. However, the variations in the structural components make both formats incomparable, making it difficult to choose one for a particular case.
The article compares the technical features of EPS vs. GIF, including structure, web browser support, online performance, file size, compression technique, image quality, storage needs, transparency, and animation support.
When is GIF better than EPS?
GIF images are smaller, consume fewer bytes, support transparency and animations, and are widely supported across all web browsers, while EPS images are larger, consume more bytes when loading or downloading, and are not widely supported by most web browsers, resulting in minimal online user experience.
GIFs are appropriate for designing simple logos and web graphics, including simple animations, humorous clips, and soundless video impressions.
When is EPS better than GIF?
The EPS images are high-quality and scalable without losing quality and resolution levels, while GIF images are low-quality and non-scalable or experience compression artifacts with upward or downward scaling.
The EPS file format is suitable for expandable images such as comprehensive marketing collaterals, posters, or billboards visible from far away. The EPS file extension allows easy embedding in various documents, including PDF, Word, and InDesign layouts.
EPS versus GIF Comparison Table
| Aspect/Factor | GIF | EPS |
| Transparency | Integrally supports alpha channel transparency. | No inherent support for transparency. |
| File Size | Smaller files than EPS files. | Larger files than GIF files. |
| Image Quality | Low-quality images than EPS images. | High-quality images than GIF images. |
| Performance | High-web responsiveness than EPS. | Low-web responsiveness than GIF. |
| Structure | Raster-based: Has header, screen descriptor, color table blocks, and trailer block. | Vector and raster-based: Has a header, metadata, and file markers. |
| Animation | Inherently supports animations. | No inherent support for animations. |
| Storage | Requires less storage space compared to EPS. | Requires more storage space compared to GIF. |
| Compression | Supports lossless compression. | Supports PackBits/ZIP and lossless compression. |
| Browser Support | Supported by all web browsers. | Limited web browser support. |
Differences and similarities between GIF and EPS images
GIF and EPS are vital file types in the digital world, both supporting lossless compression techniques. The comparison table shows that both formats differ in performance, structure, file size, web browser support, image quality, PackBits/ZIP compression, storage needs, animation, and transparency support.
Transparency
A GIF format supports alpha channel transparency, while an EPS format does not. EPS files depend on their textual forms, which merely depend on the PostScript programming language and do not have the inherent ability to support transparent backgrounds.
The EPS PostScript interpreter can render its file for review but does not support alpha channel transparency, as with GIF files. In contrast, the GIF89a format supports the alpha channel transparency feature, which authorizes the arrangement of one of the palette colors to be disregarded.
File Size
The EPS files are larger than GIF files. The EPS files are more detailed and info-rich compared to GIF files. A single EPS file size is between 0.5 and 10 MB, while a GIF file is 2-3 MB. As a result, an EPS file with multiple files can be larger than a GIF file.
Image Quality
EPS is a high-quality and high-resolution format, while GIF is a low-quality and low-resolution format. GIF supports 8-bit RGB, while EPS supports 1-bit, 8-bit, and 24-bit color channels, like RGBA, Grayscale, and CMYK color profiles. Both formats retain coding color and size during compression.
Performance
GIF files are more flexible than EPS files regarding web responsiveness or image loading times. The EPS extensions are vector-based with multiple files, which makes them larger than GIF files. The lossless and PackBits/ZIP EPS preserve all image data, resulting in larger files than lossless GIF files.
The smaller GIF files consume fewer bytes, incur less bandwidth costs, and are highly web responsive compared to the EPS files. GIF increases online user experience and optimizes search engines.
Structure
EPS can be a vector-based or raster-based format, while GIF is a raster-based file format. A GIF file has a fixed-length header with GIF89a or GIF87a. It has a logical and fixed-length screen descriptor and file version. The version specifies features, and the logical screen scales in pixels.
GIF's image module has a fixed-length picture descriptor and image data with one byte offering the unencoded icon width. It has a list with sub-blocks defining data encrypted using the LZW algorithms. The extension block has a byte and a related list with a sub-block for the applicable image data.
The image data and extension blocks use the allied lists, including various sub-blocks ending with a zero-byte sub-block. In contrast, an EPS has a file header, image data, a PS Program, and an end-of-file marker. The EPS header has primary data about the file, such as the file's version number, the bounding image box, and resolution levels.
The PostScript Program in EPS stores the PostScript commands used to render images. The encapsulated file has image pixels, color depth, and palette data. Finally, an EPS ends with a file marker showing where it concludes. The different structural elements make GIF and EPS difficult to compare.
Animation
GIF supports animation, while EPS files do not. GIF supports animation through GIF89a, which has specifications with many enhancers to allow web browsers to display many GIF files and images in a scheduled sequence. The frames and images can be joined together to create simple animations.
The EPS format only supports still images because it lacks the multimedia capabilities to support live content, animated images, or animations. Its files are intended for specialized printing and, hence, unsuitable for screen-based displays or animations.
Storage
GIF stores multiple lossless LZWfiles, each with a size limit between 2-3MB, while EPS stores lossless and PackBits/ZIP data, each with a maximum size of 0.5 -10 MB. When both formats pool together different files, EPS files will be larger and demand more storage space than GIF files.
With proper handling, good storage conditions, and better storage mediums, including Hard Drives, Cloud storage, Floppy Drives, Content Delivery Networks, File Systems, and Base64 Encoding, the EPS and GIF files can last indefinitely.
Compression
GIF format supports lossless compression with the Lempel Ziv Welch (LZW) algorithm, resulting in relatively smaller files than the EPS files that support PackBits/ZIP and lossless compression. However, lossless LZW compression is a multi-prolonged image transformation process.
The image is compressed by altering color space, merging local palettes, replacing alpha channels, spatially predicting pixels, and merging different pixels into one pixel. GIF's compression algorithms use repetition in data series to efficiently store simple graphical images and exploit flat colors.
Its compressed data consumes fewer bytes and decreases image loading times compared to the compressed EPS files. EPS's lossless and PackBits/ZIP compression preserves all image data, resulting in larger and higher-quality images than GIFs. However, EPS compression is inefficient and can result in a zero compression rate.
Browser Support
GIF is broadly supported and compatible with most web browsers than EPS. For instance, GIF files are accessible through Brave, Discord, Samsung Internet, Edge, Opera, Firefox, Vivaldi, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer. In contrast, EPS files have limited web browser support.
EPS files are compatible with Google Chrome, which needs further file support extensions or plug-ins, including PostScript Viewer or Compiler to preview EPS files. EPS is unsupported by Edge, Vivaldi, Safari, Brave, Discord, Opera, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Samsung Internet.
Convert GIF to EPS or EPS to GIF
Convert GIF to EPS online using convertjack. People use EPS files because they are easily scaled upwards or downwards without losing image quality, making them suitable for sharing and creating images necessitating resizing, including illustrations and logos.
Likewise, convertjack is the best online EPS to GIF converter used to generate easily accessible and tailored files or images. GIF files are smaller, need less memory space, and consume fewer bytes when loading or downloading on websites, enhancing online user experience and optimizing search engines.