PNG to GIF Converter
Convert PNG files (released 1996, Lossless) to GIF (Lossless (256-color palette), typically Bloated for photos, fine for short loops). Runs in your browser — no upload, no signup.
Based on 12,431+ conversions delivered
Teams convert PNG to GIF mostly for compatibility: GIF fits Short looping animations on platforms that don't accept video and runs on Universal — older than the web, while PNG earns its place for Screenshots, icons, logos, any image with transparency. Standardising on GIF across a pipeline — uploads, a CMS, a design system — removes the friction of mixed formats downstream. In our sample set, PNG files came out about 59% smaller as GIF. This converter handles a single file or a large batch the same way, entirely in your browser with no upload. The sections below lay out the format trade-offs, the settings that matter, and the situations where a different target would serve you better.
Looking to programmatically convert PNG to GIF?
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
PNG vs GIF — side-by-side
The numbers and capabilities at a glance, so you know what you're trading.
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
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
Real PNG → GIF 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 | PNG size | GIF size | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo | 174.4 KB | 70.6 KB | -60% smaller |
| Screenshot / UI | 488 B | 786 B | +61% larger |
| Logo / transparency | 6.8 KB | 2.5 KB | -63% 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 PNG → GIF
What changes — and what your conversion will cost — based on how PNG and GIF differ.
Embedded color profile gets dropped
PNG can carry an embedded ICC color profile; GIF doesn't preserve one. Colour-managed pipelines (proofing, brand-accurate print, wide-gamut displays) interpret the missing profile as sRGB, which shifts hues on anything captured in Display P3 or Adobe RGB. If the colour math matters, convert the image to sRGB explicitly before exporting to GIF.
Best practices for PNG → GIF
Concrete settings to pick before you convert PNG to GIF.
- Always preview the GIF 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.
- GIF 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 GIF.
- When converting to GIF (animated), confirm the frame timing matches your source — some encoders default to a fixed 100ms delay per frame instead of preserving the original timing.
- For web GIF delivery, encode in sRGB — wider colour spaces (Display P3, ProPhoto) render unpredictably across browsers and email clients.
- Converting to GIF silently drops EXIF/XMP metadata embedded in the source. That's a privacy win if the file is being shared, but a loss if you rely on capture date, GPS, or camera settings — copy what you need to a sidecar before converting.
- Re-encoding a PNG (lossless) source into another lossless format like GIF 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 PNG original.
When NOT to convert PNG → GIF
Honest cases where this conversion is the wrong call — pick a different format or keep your PNG source.
Skip if the file is bound for print
GIF is a delivery-grade web format. Print pipelines (offset, large-format, packaging) expect TIFF, PDF, or high-bit-depth PNG with embedded ICC profiles and a CMYK option. Converting PNG to GIF for a print job will likely fail prepress checks — keep the original or convert to a print-friendly format instead.
The importance of a good image conversion
Why getting PNG → GIF right matters more than you think.
Frequently asked
The basics everyone asks before dropping a file.