GIF from images

Turning photos into a GIF

Drop the images in, put them in the order they should play, and set how long each one stays on screen. You can play the preview before the file is built, so the timing is settled before anything is computed.

The images can be different sizes. The tool takes the largest width and height, fills the rest with white and centres the smaller frames, so nothing is cropped or stretched.

When different frame lengths help

• Step-by-step walkthroughs: hold the first frame with the task longer, run the middle steps faster.
• Before and after: two photos at a second and a half each say more than a smooth animation.
• Jokes and memes: the punchline deserves a longer pause than the setup.

Why a GIF looks coarser than the original photos

A GIF holds only 256 colours per frame. The tool therefore computes a shared palette from your images and maps the colours into it. On drawings, screenshots and graphics you will not notice; on photos with gradients you get faint banding. Dithering softens that at the cost of a somewhat larger file; without it the file is smaller and the flat areas cleaner.

What really drives the size of a GIF is the width and the number of frames. If the file is too big, try a smaller width first and only then drop frames.

Frequently asked questions

How many images can I use?

Up to sixty. The assembly runs in your browser, so with a lot of large photos expect a wait, especially on an older computer.

Are the images sent to a server?

No. The GIF is assembled on your machine by ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. The first run downloads its core, about thirty megabytes; after that it stays in memory.

Will the GIF loop?

Yes, endlessly, as a GIF is expected to. There is no way to stop the playback; that is a property of the format.

Can I add sound to a GIF?

No, a GIF cannot carry audio. If you need an animation with sound, build a video from the photos in the video editor and add music there.

Can I make a GIF from a video?

There is a separate tool for that, Video to GIF, where you pick the section of the video and the frame rate.