well, you can't read any file without opening it (At least, at the OS level...) .gif files are binary data, so it tends to look like garbage if you're expecting something readable...

What are you expecting? Where does the CRC-16 come in?

Are you just trying to get a checksum for a gif file, like to generate a list of duplicate images? you might try some MD5 routines, which will have a smaller chance of duplicate checksums (or "digests" as they're also called) for many files. If you're on a windows platform, set  binmode FILEHANDLE to read the file properly.

Do you want to try to edit a gif file? You might try installing perlmagic.

If this still doesn't describe what you want, try the following template :

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I would like to perform a/an( noun : operation or transformation) on a GIF file because I am trying to achieve ( noun : goal ). I have tried to ( list : things I have attempted), but they don't seem to work, because (list : results of attempts).

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Update : Nits annoy me. changed template to work with nouns.