How to make a GIF from a video
- Choose a video: MP4, iPhone MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI or 3GP.
- Set the start and end by dragging the handles or typing the times. The first five seconds are selected to begin with, and a clip can be up to 30 seconds.
- Pick a width (240 to 800 px, never larger than the video itself) and a frame rate (5 to 25 frames per second).
- Check the size estimate, then press Make GIF and save it.
Why GIFs get big, and how to keep them small
A GIF stores every frame as its own picture. Its size therefore grows with three things you control: the width (and with it the height), the number of frames per second, and the length of the clip. Doubling the width roughly quadruples the pixels in every frame; doubling the frame rate doubles the number of frames.
| Setting | Smaller file | Smoother or sharper |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 240 or 320 px for chat and reactions | 640 or 800 px for showing detail |
| Frames per second | 5 or 10 for simple movement | 15 to 25 for fast action |
| Length | 2 to 5 seconds | Up to 30 seconds |
The tool shows a rough size before you start, and warns you when a GIF is heading for an unusually large file. 480 px wide at 10 frames per second is a sensible default for most uses. Trimming the clip first with the video trimmer is not needed: you choose the part here.
The optimised colour palette
Each GIF can use at most 256 colours. A general-purpose palette spreads those colours across every possible shade, so a clip of a sunset or a face ends up with visible bands and speckles. With Optimised colour palette switched on, the tool first looks through your clip, chooses the 256 colours that suit it best, and then builds the GIF from those. It takes a little longer, and the result is usually much cleaner. Switch it off only if you want the quickest possible result.
GIF or video?
GIFs loop forever, play automatically almost everywhere and have no sound, which is exactly why they are popular for reactions, short how-to steps and product demos. But they are an inefficient format: an MP4 of the same clip is typically far smaller and sharper. Many apps and websites quietly turn GIFs into short silent videos for that reason. For anything longer than a few seconds, or anything that needs sound, keep it as a video and, if it is too big, shrink it with the video compressor. For still images, the image compressor is the right tool.
The engine behind this tool
Video and sound are processed by FFmpeg, the open-source engine behind most of the world's video software, compiled to run inside your browser as ffmpeg.wasm. It is downloaded from this site (about 31 MB) the first time you use a video or audio tool, and your browser keeps it for next time. FFmpeg and ffmpeg.wasm are free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later; their source code is at github.com/ffmpegwasm/ffmpeg.wasm.