GIF animations are used primarily in website design. It can be advertising banners or just interface elements. Larger files play slower. This makes it difficult for users to work with sites. Especially if the computer is not powerful enough or the Internet is weak.

The obvious way is to compress the gif file in Photoshop. But not everyone has installed the program, besides, it is large in size and requires serious computer resources (RAM, video card, processor). Let's look at alternative ways to quickly edit a gif.

A few technical points

You need to think about the size of the gif on the site at the stage of creating the animation. The size of the file depends on the size of the image itself, the number of frames, the duration of the animation, and the quality of the image.

1. Dimensions.

It is necessary to reduce the size of the image itself as much as possible. The most acceptable side size is no more than 640 pixels.

1. The number of frames.

The number of frames played per second also affects the final file size. In fact, how many times you reduce the number of frames, how many times the size of the gif will decrease.

It is recommended to reduce the frames proportionately so as not to damage the image quality. For example, if the animation has 40 frames, you need to reduce from the series those frames that can divide this number. For 40, these are 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, etc.

1. Video duration.

Obviously, the longer the animation lasts, the more voluminous it is. Cut out unnecessary scenes and shorten playback time as much as possible.

1. Quality.

The services that we will describe below offer to compress gif with or without loss of quality. In the first case, the file size will be reduced.

ezgif.com

Free service where you can compress gif online. The limitation on the size of the source file is 35 MB. Immediately after going to the main page, we are prompted to download a gif file.

The service has many editing tools. The bottom menu is important to us - more than a dozen methods for compressing files. Descriptions for them are on the main page of the site. Unfortunately, the descriptions are in English, like the interface.

Let's choose the very first method - compression by color. At the bottom there is a line in which you can set the number of colors. Out of 256, we will leave 200 colors (default value). Strangely, the file size has decreased from 0.96 to 1.02 MB. At the same time, there was no noticeable loss in color quality.

But when we compressed the animation, removing every 4 frame (frame) from it, the volume decreased by almost 25%.

In principle, for such simple animations, any compression method is not critical for quality. You can safely try different methods and achieve the minimum file size.

IloveIMG

Now let's try a Russian-language service for compressing gif files. On the initial page, we need to select the desired animation.

The service does not offer compression tools like the previous one. Let's see what happens.

Our animation has been compressed by 12%. As the service assures, without loss of quality and with the choice of the optimal size. Indeed, we did not notice any changes in quality. The advantage is a very simple interface, fast compression and instant saving to disk.

Online-Convention

Another site in Russian. It is immediately suggested to download the file and select the percentage of quality by moving the slider.

Unfortunately, the resource does not show results online. You need to download the optimized file and check the compression quality yourself.

Our original animation with Winnie the Pooh "weighed" a little more than 120 KB. The file compressed to 80% quality has become almost 99 KB in size. The result is better than the IloveIMG service. But do not forget that in this case we lost 20% of the quality.

Compressor.io

And again the English-speaking service. On the main page, click Try it!

Let's try to compress a larger GIF file. The resource limits the size of uploaded GIFs to 10 MB. Let's choose the average one - with a volume of 4.32 MB.

Compression.io reduced our file by 61% - down to 1.69 MB! At the same time, we did not notice any significant loss in quality.

An interesting possibility is to compare the source file with the received one "in real time". You can move the cursor over the image - from the original to the compressed one, and see the changes at the same time. It is also suggested to upload the file to a computer, Google Drive or Dropbox.

GIF Compressor

The service is interesting because it allows you to compress files up to 50 MB. Let's try to compress the previous file and compare the results with Compressor.io. Surprisingly, this resource also compressed our animation by 61%.

You can view the compression results only by downloading the file to your computer. The advantage of the program is the Russian language, an extremely simple interface, good results in reducing the size of the GIF.

Results

It would be superfluous to consider third-party software with such a variety of online services. We tried the work of five resources - three in Russian and two in English. All services offer approximately the same tools. The only difference is Ezgif.com, where you can choose the compression method (reducing the number of frames, the number of colors, etc.).

Of all the ones we reviewed, we personally liked Compressor.io the most:

• simple interface;
• visuality (the ability to view the results of compression);
• a large percentage of compression;
• small loss in quality.

GIF Compressor is suitable for those who need to optimize large gif animations. In addition, it shows good results, similar to Compressor.io. The IloveIMG service is good because it does not reduce the quality of the resulting compressed images. And on the Online-Conventering resource, you can choose the percentage of quality loss - from 1 to 100.

Files with GIF animation sometimes take up a lot of space on the media, so it becomes necessary to compress them. Of course, this can be done using special software, but this is not always convenient. Therefore, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the options for reducing the size of GIFs through online services.

It should be noted right away that almost all web resources for compressing animated images will not be able to reduce the size by more than seventy percent, consider this before starting processing. Then it remains only to choose the right site, we will look at the two most popular and demonstrate how to use them.

In case the gif hasn't been downloaded yet, download it first and then proceed to follow our guide. You can familiarize yourself with the methods of downloading such files to your computer in our other article at the link below.

Method 1: iLoveIMG

The incredibly convenient and free online service ILoveIMG allows you to perform a wide variety of actions with graphic data, including compressing them. This also applies to GIF animation. This procedure is carried out as follows:

1. Go to the ILoveIMG website using the link above and select the section "Compress Image".



2. Start downloading a file from any available resource.



3. If you are using local storage to add, such as a hard drive or flash drive, simply select the image with the left mouse button and click on "Open".



4. You can add more GIFs if you want to process them all at the same time. Click on the plus button to open the pop-up menu.



5. Each loaded object is available for removal or rotation by a certain number of degrees.



6. Upon completion of all manipulations, proceed to start the compression.



7. You can download all compressed files or upload them to the online storage by clicking on the appropriate button. In addition, the automatic download of the archive will start if several images were initially added.

Now you see that there is nothing complicated in reducing the size of a GIF animation, the whole process is done in just a couple of clicks and does not require huge efforts or certain knowledge from you, just download the GIF and start processing.

On the Internet, the GIF format is considered one of the most common. The high popularity is due to the fact that the gif file has an impressive compression algorithm, supports the transparency function. Therefore, creating banner ad animations is as easy as kicking a ball into an empty net.

True, there is a small nuance. From time to time, designers are faced with the need to resize GIFs. Someone needs to reduce it, others need to increase it. How to edit such content? For example, crop it or compress it? If you had a regular jpeg file, these questions would not arise. Compress it in a graphics editor, even without special knowledge. Just a couple of clicks of the mouse - and the work is done perfectly.

How to edit GIF

As you know, most graphic editors work exclusively with still images. Especially for you, we have created a selection of the most effective programs for compressing such files, cropping them and further processing the animation. Now you will no longer have questions about how gifs are compressed online. Choose a program from the list - we wish you a pleasant use!

GIF Resizer

A unique editor in every sense that allows you to change the size of GIFs in just a few clicks. To do this, you need to perform elementary steps:

• Run the program.
• Find the "Resize" button in the menu and click it.
• By clicking the "Browse" button, select the file you are interested in.
• Enter the required parameters (length and width).
• Click "Apply" and wait a few seconds.
• Done - the dimensions of the animated content are now as expected.

In addition, using GIF Resizer, you can solve the following tasks:

• Change format.
• Remove the logo from the animation.
• Reduce/increase the size of the animated image.
• Convert GIF to JPG, decompose into separate frames.
• Convert to PNG.

We will not dwell on this functionality, because we are only interested in compressing animations in the GIF format. Just know that when faced with a variety of animation editing tasks, it makes sense to use Resizer .

Ezgif

A premium service that lets you compress GIF and PNG files. In addition, it has many different tools that allow you to apply the effect.

How to use ezgif? Open the main page of the service, click "Browse". When the file is selected, it remains only to click Upload. Various compression options will become available after download. The best option in terms of size / quality ratio is Medium.

GIF Compressor

The GIF Compressor program is interesting in its own way. She can compress animation in just 2 simple compressions. You can do this with several files at once. The maximum GIF file size is 50 MB.

Which app did you like the most?

Animated GIF files are very popular on the Internet. However, many sites still have limits on the size of GIFs that can be uploaded. Therefore, today we want to present ways in which you can change the height and width of such images.

Since a GIF is a sequence of frames, not a single picture, resizing files in this format is not easy: you need an advanced graphics editor. The most popular today are Adobe Photoshop and its free counterpart GIMP - using them as an example, we will show you this procedure.

Method 1: GIMP

The free GIMP graphics editor has extensive functionality that is not inferior to a paid competitor. Among the options of the program there is also the ability to change the size of "gifs". This is done like this:

1. Launch the program and select the tab "File", then use the option "Open".



2. Using the built-in file manager in GIMP, get to the directory with the desired image, select it with the mouse and use the button "Open".



3. When the file is loaded into the program, select the tab "Image", then point "Mode", in which check the option RGB.



4. Next, go to the tab "Filters", click on the option "Animation" and select an option "Deoptimize".



5. Notice that there is a new open tab in the GIMP working window. All subsequent manipulations should be carried out only in it!



6. Use item again "Image", but this time select the option "Image Size".

   

   A pop-up window will appear with settings for the height and width of the animation frames. Enter the desired value (manually or using the switches) and press the button "Change".



7. To save the results, go through the steps "File" – "Export As...".
   
   
   A window will appear to select the storage location, name and extension of the file. Navigate to the directory where you want to save the modified file and rename it if necessary. Then click "Select file type" and select the option from the list that appears. "Image GIF". Check the settings, then click on the button "Export".



8. The export settings window will appear. Be sure to check the box "Save as animation", you can leave the rest of the parameters unchanged. Use the button "Export" to save the image.



9. Check the result of the work - the image has been reduced to the selected size.

As you can see, GIMP does a great job of resizing GIF animations. The only drawback is the complexity of the process for inexperienced users and the brakes in working with three-dimensional images.

Method 2: Adobe Photoshop

The latest version of Photoshop is the most powerful image editor on the market. Naturally, it has the ability to resize GIF animations.

1. Open the program. First of all, select the item "Window". In it go to the menu "Working environment" and activate the item "Traffic".



2. Next, open the file you want to resize. To do this, select the items "File" — "Open".
   
   
   will start "Conductor". Navigate to the folder where the target image is stored, select it with the mouse and click on the button "Open".



3. The animation will be loaded into the program. Pay attention to the panel "Timeline"- it displays all the frames of the edited file.



4. To change the size, use the item "Image", in which select an option "Image Size".
   
   
   A window for setting the width and height of the image will open. Make sure the units of measurement are set to "Pixels", then enter in the fields "Width" and "Height" the values ​​you need. The rest of the settings can be left untouched. Check the settings and click "OK".



5. To save the result, use the item "File", in which select an option "Export", and then - "Export for Web (old version)...".
   
   
   It is also better not to change the settings in this window, so immediately click on the button "Save" at the bottom of the workspace of the export utility.



6. Select in "Explorer" location of the modified GIF, rename if necessary and click "Save".

   
   After that, Photoshop can be closed.

7. Check the result in the specified folder when saving the folder.

Photoshop is a faster and more convenient way to resize GIF animations, but there are also disadvantages: the program is paid, and the trial period is too short.

Regardless of how you got the GIF animation, you can reduce its size.

If you have used our service to create GIF animation from video, then we recommend using the original for experimentation, because. how each conversion can degrade the quality of the resulting file.

All examples will be based on a short clip of FullHD video 16 seconds and 30 frames per second.

A little theory about GIF

In short: GIF is a maximum of 256 colors (8 bits) + lossless (LZW) compression.
Like any lossless compression, it doesn't compress the file too much. As a result, we will reduce the size by no more than 50% (very much depends on the picture).

Test video:

We consider the size of one frame: 1920 * 1080 * 40%-100% = 0.8-2 mb.

And now let's calculate for 16 seconds of the video: 16 sec * 30 fps * (0.8-2) mb = 384-960 mb!
Our original file when converted turned out to be 309mb. Less than estimated, but also large.
Surprised? But the size of the original video is only a few megabytes! How can this?
It's simple: GIF is a mammoth, yes, it's cool, but you need to be able to work with it.

Step 1. Reduce GIF. Image size

Be sure to reduce the size to adequate (no more than 640 pixels on the largest side).
In this case, the size will be: 640 * 360 * 40%-100% = 90-225 kb.
And video size: 16 sec * 30 frames * 90-225 kb = 42-105 mb.
Our original file when converted turned out to be 38mb. Less than estimated, but also large.
A lot of? Yes. Move on...

Step 2. Number of Frames

30 frames is cool, but unfortunately for a GIF, it's a lot.
Reduce the number to 10 frames and you've cut the size by 3! times.
We believe: 16 sec * 10 frames * 90-255kb = 14-35 mb.

Our original file when converted turned out to be 14.5 mb. Already better.

For example, if you have a video of 60 frames per second - you can reduce from the range: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 15, 20, 30.
And if there are 25 frames, then the row will be: 1, 5 ...
Or 30: 1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 15.

Step 3: Decrease the Animation Duration

Reduce/delete the scenes you don't need, here the dependence is simple - reduced by 2 times - got the size 2 times smaller.

Step 4. Optimize the GIF. Quality choice.

There are special utilities for compressing GIF animations, such as GIFsicle.

Especially for you, we made it online. Just select your file and click optimize.

You can also control the quality of the file.

For you, we made three different versions of the GIF animation to evaluate the compression using quality reduction:

• Size at 100% quality: 13.3 mb
• Size at 50% quality: 13.3 mb
• Size at 0% quality: 10.1 mb