Convert GIF to PNG
GIF is limited to 256 colors and a one-bit transparency mask, which is why gradients band and edges look jagged. PNG has neither limit. Converting fixes the transparency and stops the color loss getting worse — but if the GIF is animated, you are left with one frame.
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Up to 50 MB. Deleted automatically after 30 minutes.
What it does
- No account, deleted within 30 minutes
- Hard-edged GIF transparency becomes a proper alpha channel
- Animated GIFs return the first frame only
- Batch conversion with a ZIP download
How to use GIF to PNG
- 1
Add the GIF
Logos, diagrams, old web graphics, or anything else with a .gif extension. Check first whether it is animated — that determines whether this is the right conversion at all.
- 2
Convert
The GIF is decoded and re-encoded as PNG. A PNG holds one picture, which is why animation cannot survive this route.
- 3
Check the edges
GIF transparency is on or off with nothing in between, so an image made for a colored background often has a visible fringe of that color around its edges. PNG cannot remove it — the fringe is baked into the pixels.
How it works
The browser decodes the GIF, draws it to a canvas, and encodes the canvas as PNG, on our server.
A PNG holds one picture. That is the entire explanation for the animation limit — it is a property of the target format, not a shortcut taken here, and it is why the second example is in the examples rather than a footnote.
What GIF actually is
GIF dates from 1987, and its constraints are all artifacts of that year.
256 colors, maximum. Every GIF carries a palette of at most 256 entries and each pixel is an index into it. A photograph has to be reduced to fit, usually by dithering — scattering pixels of available colors to approximate the missing ones. That is why old GIF photographs look speckled.
Transparency is one bit. A pixel is transparent or it is not. There is no partial transparency, so no soft shadows and no smooth edges over an unknown background.
LZW compression. Effective in 1987, comprehensively beaten since.
What GIF did have was animation, in a single file, playable by every browser without a plugin. That is the only reason it survived the web's first two decades, and the reason it is finally fading is that WebP and short MP4s now do the same job an order of magnitude smaller.
When converting is right
A static GIF you want to keep using. PNG is better in every respect at roughly the same size.
A logo or icon that needs clean edges. Only if you can find the original — PNG cannot repair a fringe that is already baked in, but it can stop the next export from adding one.
Anything headed into a design tool. Working from PNG avoids a second round of palette reduction.
When it is not
An animation you want to stay animated. Convert to WebP or MP4.
A GIF you only need to view. Every browser already displays it; converting gains nothing.
A dithered photograph. The damage is done, and the PNG will be larger than the GIF while looking identical. If the file needs to be smaller, JPEG or WebP is the target, not PNG.
Examples
An old site logo
Clean conversion. The transparency becomes a real alpha channel, so the logo now sits properly on any background instead of only the one it was matted against.
An animated reaction GIF
Thirty-three frames gone. This is the case that catches people out, and the reason it is stated in the feature list rather than buried. If you want to keep the animation, convert to WebP or MP4, both of which hold motion and are far smaller than the GIF was.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to an animated GIF?
Only the first frame is kept. PNG is a single-image format — the animated variant, APNG, exists but is not what this conversion produces and is not what most software expects from a .png. If the animation matters, convert to WebP or MP4 instead; both keep the motion and are a fraction of the GIF's size, because GIF's compression is nearly forty years old.
Will the colors improve?
No, and this is worth being clear about. A GIF has already been reduced to 256 colors, and that reduction is permanent — banding in a gradient stays banded, and dithering noise stays as noise. Converting to PNG stops any further loss and gives you a format that can hold full color, but it cannot invent the colors the GIF discarded.
Why does my logo have a colored fringe?
Because GIF transparency is binary — each pixel is either fully visible or fully invisible, with no partial values. To make edges look smooth, the original was blended against a specific background color, usually white, and those blended pixels are ordinary opaque pixels in the file. PNG reproduces them faithfully, fringe included. Removing it means editing the image or finding the original.
Will the PNG be bigger than the GIF?
Sometimes, and it is not a fault. GIF stores at most 256 colors per image and PNG usually stores full color, so PNG is carrying more information per pixel even when the picture looks the same. For a simple graphic the difference is small; for a dithered photograph the PNG can be several times larger. Nothing has gone wrong.
Further reading
- GIF Was Perfect on a Page of Text and Ruined the PhotographGIF is usually described as a lossy format, or at least as one that ruins images. That is not quite right. GIF's compression is lossless; what it cannot do is hold more than 256 colors. On an image that already has fewer than that, GIF is perfect. On a photograph it is a disaster. The same format, two completely different outcomes.
- GIF Transparency Has Exactly One Bit, and It Shows on Every EdgeA PNG can record a pixel as 37% transparent. A GIF cannot — each pixel is either fully visible or fully invisible, and there is nothing in between. On a shape with a soft anti-aliased edge, that difference is measurable, and it is why a logo saved as GIF gets a jagged fringe that no amount of care in the original file prevents.