GIF to PNG Converter
Convert GIF files (released 1987, Lossless (256-color palette)) to PNG (Lossless, typically Larger — 2–10× JPEG for photos). Runs in your browser — no upload, no signup.
Based on 12,431+ conversions delivered
Converting GIF to PNG turns a single GIF frame into a sharp, lossless still with proper transparency — far better than GIF for static logos, icons, and screenshots. In our sample set, GIF files came out about 16% smaller as PNG. PNG supports millions of colours and full alpha, so it fixes GIF's two big limitations: the 256-colour palette and the crude 1-bit transparency that leaves jagged edges. One caveat: PNG is a still format, so an animated GIF collapses to its first frame. The conversion runs in your browser.
Looking to programmatically convert GIF to PNG?
Same engine, available as a JSON API. Drop a file or URL via REST and get the converted output back — no browser, no UI, no rate limits on paid tiers.
Sub-second response on common pairs
Webhook delivery for batch jobs
100+ format pairs supported
GIF vs PNG — side-by-side
The numbers and capabilities at a glance, so you know what you're trading.
GIF
- Year released
- 1987
- Compression
- Lossless (256-color palette)
- Transparency
- Yes (1-bit, on/off only)
- Animation
- Yes
- Browser support
- Universal — older than the web
- Best for
- Short looping animations on platforms that don't accept video
PNG
- Year released
- 1996
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes (full alpha)
- Animation
- No (use APNG / GIF / WebP)
- Browser support
- Universal (every browser since the 90s)
- Best for
- Screenshots, icons, logos, any image with transparency
Real GIF → PNG file sizes
We ran a fixed set of sample images through this exact converter so you can see the typical size impact before converting your own files.
| Sample image | GIF size | PNG size | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo | 70.6 KB | 58.8 KB | -17% smaller |
| Screenshot / UI | 786 B | 464 B | -41% smaller |
| Logo / transparency | 2.5 KB | 2.4 KB | -4% smaller |
Measured on a 256×256 sample set with this converter on 2026-05-28. Real-world files vary with resolution, colour and content.
Heads up before converting GIF → PNG
What changes — and what your conversion will cost — based on how GIF and PNG differ.
Animation collapses to a single frame
GIF can hold multiple frames in one file; PNG cannot. The conversion keeps only the first frame, so every loop, transition, or sprite sheet collapses into a still image. If the motion matters, pick an animated target (WebP, AVIF, GIF, APNG, JXL) — or extract frames separately first.
Best practices for GIF → PNG
Concrete settings to pick before you convert GIF to PNG.
- Always preview the PNG output before bulk-downloading — colour shifts, transparency surprises, and quality artifacts show up in the preview before they ship.
- Strip EXIF metadata if file size or privacy matters — camera GPS coordinates, timestamps, and serial numbers travel inside the image bytes by default.
- PNG is lossless, so quality settings don't apply — but you can still shave bytes by quantising the palette (pngquant for PNG, gif2webp for GIF) when the image has a limited colour count.
- Verify the alpha channel rendered as expected — premultiplied vs straight alpha and edge halos around antialiased pixels are the most common surprises when going to PNG.
- Re-encoding a GIF (lossless) source into another lossless format like PNG preserves every pixel, but the file size can swing in either direction with no gain in quality. If the goal is smaller files, pick a lossy target (JPEG, WebP, AVIF); if it's pixel fidelity for archival, keep the GIF original.
The importance of a good image conversion
Why getting GIF → PNG right matters more than you think.
Frequently asked
The basics everyone asks before dropping a file.