On Mon, 15 Jan 2001, Derrick Shoemake wrote:

> If I change it to:
> 
> im.png STDOUT   # it works fine
> 
> 
> im.gif STDOUT # gives the following error
> 
> ./fills.rb:31: undefined method `gif' for #<GD::Image:0x402504b0>
> (NameError)
> 
> Is GIF no longer supported by the GD library?

From http://www.boutell.com/gd/

  HEY! READ THIS! gd 1.8.3 creates PNG, JPEG and WBMP images, not GIF
  images. This is a good thing. PNG is a more compact format, and full
  compression is available. JPEG works well with photographic images,
  and is still more compatible with the major Web browsers than even PNG
  is. WBMP is intended for wireless devices (not regular web
  browsers). Existing code will need modification to call gdImagePng or
  gdImageJpeg instead of gdImageGif. Please do not ask us to send you
  the old GIF version of GD. Unisys holds a patent on the LZW
  compression algorithm, which is used in fully compressed GIF
  images. The best solution is to move to legally unencumbered,
  well-compressed, modern image formats such as PNG and JPEG as soon as
  possible.

   - Aleksi