Convert PNG to GIF
Free online converter for PNG files. Indexed-colour format with animation support. Nothing to install, no watermark, and every file is deleted automatically.
Drag and drop your files
or
Upload a PNG file to convert it to GIF. Up to 3 files at once, 100 MB each.
Free · up to 3 files · 100 MB each · files deleted automatically after 1 hour.
About PNG and GIF
PNG .png
A lossless image format built for graphics rather than photographs. Every pixel it stores comes back exactly as it went in, and it carries a full alpha channel for transparency.
Good for
- Lossless — no generation loss no matter how often you re-save
- Full 8-bit alpha, so edges blend cleanly over any background
- Sharp on text, screenshots, logos and line art
Trade-offs
- Much larger than JPEG for photographs
- No animation in the baseline format
- Large photographic PNGs are slow to transfer
image/png
GIF .gif
A 1987 format that survives for one reason: it animates, and it plays everywhere without a video player. Its palette is capped at 256 colours per frame.
Good for
- Animation that works in any browser and any chat app
- Lossless within its 256-colour palette
- Universally supported after nearly four decades
Trade-offs
- 256 colours means visible banding on photographs
- Transparency is on-or-off per pixel, so edges look jagged
- Far larger than a real video file for the same clip
image/gif
PNG and GIF side by side
| PNG | GIF | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless | Lossless, 256-colour palette |
| Transparency | Yes — 8-bit alpha | Yes — 1-bit, no partial |
| Animation | No | Yes |
| Typically used for | Screenshots, logos, UI assets, anything with transparency | Short loops, reaction clips, simple animations |
What changes when you convert PNG to GIF
Down to 256 colours
GIF stores a palette of at most 256 colours per frame. A photograph converted from PNG has to be reduced to fit, which shows as banding across skies, skin and gradients. For a still image this is almost never the right format — GIF is worth choosing only when something must animate everywhere without a video player.
Camera data is removed by default
A PNG straight from a phone or camera carries EXIF metadata — model, settings, timestamp and, quite often, the GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken. The converted GIF is written without it, so a file you are about to share does not quietly carry your location. The orientation flag is read and applied to the pixels first, so the image will not come out sideways once the tag holding it is gone. If you need the metadata kept, there is a setting for it.
How the GIF is written
Our default is a high effort setting on the palette search, which is where GIF quality is won or lost. The quality control on the converter moves this if you need to — the default aims to be indistinguishable from the source at a sensible file size, rather than to win a compression benchmark.
Nothing is lost in this step
Both PNG and GIF store every pixel exactly, so this conversion changes the container rather than the content. What changes is file size and what will open it — convert freely, and as often as you like, without degrading anything.
Other PNG conversions
Other ways to get GIF
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