My patriotic rendition of the American Flag. I couldn't quite fit all 50 stars on, but there are 13 bars. Who needs those other 32 states, anyway?

The flag, which was designed using Adobe Photoshop, is saved as a .gif file. I felt that the .gif format was the most appropriate file type to use for this image because of the flag's simple design. The best use of the .gif file is for a small and undetailed image. The flag is only 120 x 80 pixels, which is quite small compared to today's 5 megapixel photographs. At this size, the .gif format allows for an optimized file size without a noticable sacrifice in quality. Since the image has very few angeled edges (only the stars have slanted slides) it is a perfect contender for the .gif format because, even when enlarged, pixelation will not be very noticable (except in the stars). This is because when the square pixels are grouped together using a .gif format, areas that meet at perfect 90 degree angles, like the bars on the flag, will produce smooth, clean edges. The flag is also only comprised of web-safe basic primary colors, which, too, makes it ideal for the .gif format. The range of colors a .gif file can display is limited, so an insignia with basic colors, as opposed to unique blends, would be better optimized in a format like .gif than some of the others that would be available -- you would get the same colors from other formats, just not for fewer total bytes. And although not taken advantage of in the above example, a .gif file can also be transparent. This can be useful at times when a designer is trying to overlay a small logo on top of a distinctly colored background.

For similar reasons as noted above, all of the small iconic linking buttons on this website, as well as the logo in the upper right, are also saved as .gif files. Their smaller file size allow for faster load times for each page. As the buttons are very small, generally only about 50 pixels in height, a .gif byproduct of lower image resolution is not really a major hinderance in this case.