Why does my GIF lose its animation in other image editors?

Most image editors open only the first frame of a GIF and discard the rest, so saving gives you a still picture. The tools here read the full frame stack, keep each frame's individual delay and transparency, and write a valid animation back out.

What is the best order for shrinking a large GIF?

Resize the dimensions first, then reduce the colour palette, and only drop frames as a last resort. Halving the width and height removes about three quarters of the pixel data with no effect on motion, while dropped frames are immediately visible as stutter.

Should I convert my GIF to MP4 instead of compressing it?

If the destination accepts video, yes. GIF is limited to 256 colours per frame and has no modern inter-frame compression, so an MP4 or WebM of the same clip is often ten to twenty times smaller and looks better. Use the GIF to MP4 tool when the platform allows it.

Will editing a GIF here damage its transparency?

No. GIF transparency is a per-frame index rather than an alpha channel, and it is preserved through resizing, cropping, rotation and re-timing. Tools that must re-quantize the palette keep a slot reserved for the transparent index.

How many frames or how large a GIF can these tools handle?

Practical limits depend on available memory, since every frame is expanded to full RGBA while it is being worked on. A few hundred frames at typical social-media dimensions is comfortable on a phone; very long or very large animations are noticeably faster on a desktop browser.

Do my GIFs get uploaded to a server?

No. Decoding, editing and re-encoding all run on your device, not our servers, so private chat reactions, unreleased product clips and client work are never uploaded.

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Tools hub

GIF Tools

Make, convert, compress, resize and edit animated GIFs frame by frame.

About this category

A GIF is not one picture — it is a stack of frames, each with its own delay, its own palette and its own transparency mask. That is why so many general-purpose image tools quietly ruin one: they read the first frame, throw the other ninety away, and hand back a still. Every tool in this suite is frame-aware. Resize, crop, rotate or recolour an animation here and the loop count, the per-frame timing and the transparent pixels all survive the round trip.

The suite covers the whole life of an animation. Build one from a video clip or a folder of stills, convert it to MP4 or WebM when a platform will not take a GIF, then bring it back the other way. Shrink an oversized file with palette and dither control instead of blind quality sliders. Change the geometry, re-time the playback, reverse it, trim the dead frames off the front, or burn a caption into every frame at once.

Processing runs on your device, not our servers, so reaction GIFs from a private chat, unreleased product clips and client work are never uploaded. Use the grouped shortcuts below to jump straight to creation, conversion, size reduction, geometry, timing or frame editing — each tool page explains what it changes and what it deliberately leaves alone.

Workflows

Browse GIF tools by task

Create a GIF

Turn video clips, image sequences or several GIFs into one animation.

GIF to video

Swap an animation for a real video container when a platform rejects GIF.

Video to GIF

Pull a loop out of an MP4, WebM or MOV file.

Shrink & optimize

Cut the file size with palette, dither and frame-rate control.

Size, shape & framing

Change dimensions, trim the edges, or fix the orientation.

Timing & playback

Re-time the loop, run it backwards, or cut frames off either end.

Frames & captions

Burn text into an animation or break it apart frame by frame.

Image format conversion

Move between GIF and the still and animated image formats.

About GIF Tools

We provide free online GIF tools for making, converting, compressing, resizing and editing animated GIFs. Turn a video clip into a loop, convert a GIF to MP4 when a platform will not accept it, cut an oversized animation down to an attachable size, or change the geometry and timing frame by frame. Specialized tools cover palette and dither control, per-frame delay editing, reversal, captioning and frame extraction

Reach for colour reduction before frame dropping when you are shrinking a GIF — a smaller palette costs detail you rarely notice, while dropped frames make the motion visibly stutter.

Browse the tools above to get started. For questions, visit our Contact or FAQ page.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my GIF lose its animation in other image editors?: Most image editors open only the first frame of a GIF and discard the rest, so saving gives you a still picture. The tools here read the full frame stack, keep each frame's individual delay and transparency, and write a valid animation back out.
What is the best order for shrinking a large GIF?: Resize the dimensions first, then reduce the colour palette, and only drop frames as a last resort. Halving the width and height removes about three quarters of the pixel data with no effect on motion, while dropped frames are immediately visible as stutter.
Should I convert my GIF to MP4 instead of compressing it?: If the destination accepts video, yes. GIF is limited to 256 colours per frame and has no modern inter-frame compression, so an MP4 or WebM of the same clip is often ten to twenty times smaller and looks better. Use the GIF to MP4 tool when the platform allows it.
Will editing a GIF here damage its transparency?: No. GIF transparency is a per-frame index rather than an alpha channel, and it is preserved through resizing, cropping, rotation and re-timing. Tools that must re-quantize the palette keep a slot reserved for the transparent index.
How many frames or how large a GIF can these tools handle?: Practical limits depend on available memory, since every frame is expanded to full RGBA while it is being worked on. A few hundred frames at typical social-media dimensions is comfortable on a phone; very long or very large animations are noticeably faster on a desktop browser.
Do my GIFs get uploaded to a server?: No. Decoding, editing and re-encoding all run on your device, not our servers, so private chat reactions, unreleased product clips and client work are never uploaded.

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