GIF Maker

How to use GIF Maker

1. Choose Images to GIF or Video to GIF at the top of the controls.
2. For images, add your pictures, reorder them and set the delay for each frame. For video, choose a clip, then set the start, length (up to 15 seconds) and frame rate.
3. Pick the width and whether the GIF loops forever or plays once. The preview on the right shows the result.
4. Press Create GIF, wait for the progress bar, then press Download GIF.

How the GIF is made

For a set of images, each picture is drawn onto a canvas of the chosen size, centred on a white background without stretching. For a video, the tool jumps to each point in time, waits for the frame to be ready and copies it to the canvas.

The tool then chooses one set of 256 colours that suits all the frames, converts every pixel to the nearest colour, compresses the result and writes a standard GIF file with your timing and loop setting.

Getting a good result

• Start with a short clip. A few seconds is usually enough for a GIF.
• Use 10 frames per second for a good balance between smoothness and size.
• Keep the width at 480 pixels or less for sharing in chat or on web pages.
• Use images with the same shape so there are no white bars around them.
• Try dithering on and off. Gradients like skies look better with it on, flat graphics are smaller with it off.

GIF versus other formats

GIF works almost everywhere, but it is an old format with only 256 colours and weak compression. For photographic or long clips, an animated WebP image or a short MP4 video is usually much smaller and looks better, when the place you are sharing it supports them.

Limits

Videos are limited to 15 seconds and the output is capped at 800 pixels wide. Very large jobs are refused when they would use too much memory, so reduce the width or frame rate. Transparency is not kept; transparent areas become white. Everything is processed in your browser and nothing is uploaded. A recent browser is needed, and long clips on a phone can be slow.

Why use this gif maker tool

• Images or video. Build a GIF from several pictures with their own timing, or capture frames from up to 15 seconds of a video.
• Live preview. See the animation play with your chosen delays before you create the file, and see the finished GIF and its size in the same place.
• Size and loop control. Choose 320, 480, 640 or 800 pixels wide, loop forever or play once, and turn dithering on or off to trade smoothness for file size.
• Private and no watermark. The GIF is built on your device with no upload, no account and no watermark.

Frequently asked questions

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