Drop your images into the converter above and each one comes back as a GIF, ready to download on its own or with the others in a ZIP. It takes JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC and BMP files. Photos are reduced to 256 colors with a fine dot pattern that keeps gradients smooth, while logos and other flat graphics keep their exact colors. Everything happens in your browser, so the files are never uploaded, and there is no signup or watermark.
When GIF is the right format
GIF was released by CompuServe in 1987 and is still used where maximum compatibility matters. It is a safe choice when a site, a program or a form asks specifically for a GIF, and it suits logos, icons and simple graphics with a handful of flat colors, where GIF keeps every pixel exact.
For photos, GIF is rarely the best format. It stores at most 256 colors per image, so photos lose some color and usually end up larger than a JPG. If the destination accepts it, PNG to JPG or WebP will look better and weigh less.
How photos become GIFs
A GIF's color table holds at most 256 colors. For every image with more colors than that, the converter picks the 255 colors that best cover the picture, keeping one slot for transparency. It then places each pixel with dithering: when a pixel's color falls between two palette colors, the difference is carried over to its neighbors, so the next pixels lean the other way. From a normal distance, the mix of dots reads as the original shade, and skies and skin don't break into bands.
Images with 255 colors or fewer, such as pixel art, simple icons and flat graphics without smoothed edges, skip this step and keep their exact colors, with no dots at all.
Transparency in a GIF
PNG, WebP and AVIF can store soft, partly transparent pixels. GIF stores only two states: a pixel is either fully transparent or fully visible. The converter keeps every pixel that is at least half opaque and makes the rest transparent.
That works well for cutouts with crisp edges, such as logos and stickers. Around hair, fur or soft shadows, the edge becomes sharper and can look jagged, and a pale fringe may show on dark backgrounds. For those, a PNG keeps the soft edge; what a transparent background is compares the formats.
Smaller GIF files
GIF compresses areas of flat color very well, and photos much less so, because the dither dots vary from pixel to pixel. Two settings help, both under Crop, resize and file size:
- Resize by width, height or percentage. Halving the width cuts the pixel count to a quarter, and the file with it.
- Crop to a shape such as square, so the GIF holds only the part you need.
Each row shows the original and new file size, so you can compare before you download.
Animated GIFs
This converter turns each image into a still, one-frame GIF. For animations you already have, two other tools help: the GIF background remover makes the background of every frame transparent and keeps the timing, and GIF to PNG saves every frame as a separate PNG.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my photo look grainy as a GIF?
A GIF holds at most 256 colors. To show a photo's thousands of shades, the converter mixes the available colors in a fine dot pattern, called dithering. It keeps gradients smooth from a normal viewing distance, but you can see the dots up close.
Is the GIF animated?
No. Each image becomes a still, one-frame GIF. To work with an existing animation, the GIF background remover edits every frame and GIF to PNG saves the frames as separate images.
Does a transparent PNG stay transparent?
Yes, with one limit: a GIF pixel is either fully transparent or fully solid. Pixels that are at least half opaque stay visible and the rest become transparent, so soft edges such as hair look sharper and more jagged.
Why is my GIF bigger than the JPG?
GIF compresses flat areas well but not the fine detail and dither dots of a photo, while JPG was made for photos. Resizing the images first makes the GIFs much smaller.
Can I turn a GIF back into a PNG?
Yes. The GIF to PNG converter saves any GIF as a PNG with the same pixels, and can save every frame of an animated GIF.
Are my files uploaded?
No. The converter reads, converts and saves each file inside your browser, so the pictures never leave your device.