GIFs are short, silent animations that play automatically almost everywhere: in chats, emails, websites and presentations. You can make one from a few pictures or from a video clip in a minute. Here's how, and how to keep the file small.
From pictures
- Collect the images in order: photos, drawings, screenshots or slides.
- Open the GIF maker and choose them.
- Set how long each picture shows. Half a second is good for slideshows; 0.1 seconds or less gives smooth motion.
- Choose the size and preview it, then download.
Try the boomerang option: the animation plays forwards and then backwards, so it loops smoothly without jumping back to the start.
From a video
To turn part of a video into a GIF, use Video to GIF: pick the moment, a length of a few seconds and the frame rate. Ten to fifteen frames per second looks smooth and keeps the file manageable.
Keep the file small
GIF is an old format (from 1987), and it isn't efficient: a few seconds can easily be several megabytes. To make it smaller:
- Make it narrower. 480 pixels wide is plenty for chats and most websites. Halving the width makes the file about four times smaller.
- Use fewer frames. Shorter animations and lower frame rates help the most.
- Use fewer colours. Each GIF frame can have at most 256 colours. Dropping to 128 or 64 often looks nearly the same for graphics.
- Simple pictures compress best. Flat colours and drawings make much smaller GIFs than detailed photos.
Where to use them
- Step-by-step instructions: a few screenshots showing where to click.
- Before and after: two photos flipping back and forth.
- Products: a product from several angles.
- Reactions: a funny moment from your own video.
Note that GIFs have no sound. If you need sound or a long animation, share a short video instead and make it smaller with Compress Video.