Turn PNG files into GIF in your own browser

Content last reviewed:2026-09-30

Add your PNG files and download GIF files with their transparent background kept. In our measurement a logo with a transparent background went from 52.1 KB to 15.8 KB, because GIF stores at most 256 colours.

Files in queue

Add PNG files on the left to start converting to GIF.

What is PNG and what is GIF?

PNG is a lossless format: it keeps every pixel of the image, stores full transparency and opens in every browser[1]. W3C approved the third edition of the specification on 24 June 2025. It describes lossless storage by the deflate method, 8 or 16 bits per colour channel, an alpha channel and APNG animation[2].

GIF is described by the GIF89a specification, which CompuServe published on 31 July 1990. In it an image has a colour table of at most 256 entries, transparency stored as a single entry of that table, and LZW compression[3].

Turning PNG into GIF helps when a program or a service takes that format and nothing else. The file comes out lighter, but not for free: the image loses colours, because millions of them come down to 256 at most.

A graphics tablet with a stylus and a mouse on a desk mat — GIF stores at most 256 colours, so graphics built from a few flat colours come out best on it. Photo: Workperch, Unsplash.

How do you convert PNG to GIF?

Drag your files onto the Add files area, or click it to pick them from your disk. Any number of PNG files is fine, each up to 100 MB.
Click Convert. Every finished file gets the Done status.
Save one file with Download, or all of them with Download all, which packs several into a ZIP archive. Only the extension changes, to .gif.

The queue shows every file with its Before and After weight, the difference in percent, and the batch totals.

GIF has no quality setting, because it stores the image in a table of at most 256 colours, and the converter picks those colours from your file. When the image holds even one transparent pixel, one entry of that table goes to transparency.

Remove takes one file out of the queue, Clear all empties it.

Everything happens in your own browser: the PNG file is read by an image element, and the GIF is assembled by the gifenc library, which also runs in the browser.

How much does a file weigh before and after PNG to GIF conversion?

Eight PNG files went through this converter with no quality setting, because GIF has none: two Unsplash photos at different resolutions, a product photo, a leaf macro, a real screenshot with text, a logo and an icon with a transparent background, and a page of text at scanner resolution. Weights are written the way the tool prints them in the queue: in kilobytes and megabytes of 1024 bytes, with the same rounding. We took the measurement ourselves on 11 September 2026 in a Chromium browser, and the result depends on the content of the image, so your file may come out differently.

Test file	Dimensions in pixels	PNG	GIF	Change
Landscape photo	1920 × 1280	3.06 MB	970.7 KB	3.2 times smaller
High-resolution camera photo	4000 × 2667	11.1 MB	3.50 MB	3.2 times smaller
Product photo on a light background	1200 × 1200	2.12 MB	766.7 KB	2.8 times smaller
Leaf macro with fine detail	1600 × 2015	6.52 MB	2.79 MB	2.3 times smaller
Screenshot with text	1440 × 900	100.5 KB	56.1 KB	44 percent smaller
Logo with a transparent background	1024 × 1024	52.1 KB	15.8 KB	3.3 times smaller
Icon with transparency	256 × 256	6.57 KB	1.68 KB	3.9 times smaller
Text page, as from a scanner	1654 × 2339	240.1 KB	135.7 KB	43 percent smaller

A lighter file is not a better one here: the weight drops because the colours come down to 256. The weight of your own file sits in the Before and After fields of the queue.

Why is a GIF lighter than a PNG and still worse?

Every file went down in the measurement: the landscape photo at 1920 × 1280 pixels from 3.06 MB to 970.7 KB, which is 3.2 times smaller, and the screenshot with text came out 44 percent smaller. That saving does not come from better compression but from throwing colours away: PNG stores millions of them, GIF at most 256[3].

On a photograph you see it as banding across smooth gradients, a sky among them. The logo with a transparent background (1024 × 1024) came out 3.3 times smaller and the icon with transparency came out 3.9 times smaller. With graphics like those the loss is invisible, because they hold a few colours and fit the table with room to spare.

If you want a lighter file without losing colours, pick the PNG to WebP converter or the PNG to AVIF converter. The way back is the GIF to PNG converter, and you set smaller pixel dimensions in the image editor.

PNG versus GIF: how do the formats differ?

The table gathers the properties that decide whether GIF suits your image at all.

Property	PNG	GIF
Colours in the file	millions	at most 256
Transparency	yes, a full alpha channel	yes, but all or nothing
Storage	lossless, by the deflate method	lossless, by the LZW method
Bits per colour channel	8 or 16	8, through a colour table
Animation in the file	yes, as APNG	yes, though the specification did not plan for it
Browser support	every version of every browser	every version of every browser

GIF according to the GIF89a specification[3], which says plainly that the format was not intended as a platform for animation. PNG according to the W3C specification[2], browser support according to the MDN guide[1].

Which PNG files does the converter take?

We checked every row on files put through the converter on 15 September 2026. The right column says what you get.

The file you add	What the converter writes in GIF
A photo or graphic saved as PNG	a GIF at the same dimensions, with the colours brought down to 256
A PNG with a transparent background	a GIF with a transparent background, because one entry of the colour table goes to transparency
A PNG with a semi-transparent shadow or glow	a GIF in which a pixel more than half opaque stays fully visible and a weaker one disappears
A PNG with 16 bits per colour channel	a GIF with colours from a table of 256 entries, because that is all the format holds
An animated PNG (APNG)	the first frame of the animation, and the queue carries a note: This file is animated, so only the first frame is saved.
A file with EXIF data, for example a rotated photo	a GIF with no EXIF data, but in the orientation stored in that data
A file larger than 100 MB	the message File is too large (max 100 MB).
A damaged file, or text with a .png extension	the Error status and the message Failed to load the image.

Files in other formats are skipped as they are added, with the message: Add PNG files. Files in other formats were skipped.

What happens to transparency, colours and EXIF data?

GIF knows two states of opacity only: a pixel is visible or entirely transparent. Our converter therefore splits the scale in half at the value 127: a pixel above it stays fully visible, a weaker one disappears. A soft shadow under a graphic loses its smooth edge that way, while a transparent background comes out clean.

The GIF file is put together here by the gifenc library running in the browser, because a browser canvas does not write this format: asked for a GIF it hands back a PNG. The colours for the table are picked from your own image, so every file gets its own palette.

EXIF data does not reach the GIF file, and the orientation stored in that data is applied. An animation in GIF form is put together in an animation program, and a single frame out of a finished GIF comes from the GIF to PNG converter.

Convert other files to GIF

JPG to GIF WebP to GIF SVG to GIF BMP to GIF AVIF to GIF

Convert PNG to other formats

PNG to JPG PNG to WebP PNG to BMP PNG to AVIF PNG to TIFF PNG to PDF PNG to Base64

Sources

Image file type and format guide — MDN Web Docs
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Specification (Third Edition) — W3C
Graphics Interchange Format Version 89a — CompuServe

The file sizes in the tables were measured by running finished images through this converter in a browser, and we report them the way the tool counts them. What the page says about either format rests on the sources listed above.

Content last reviewed: September 30, 2026 · written and checked by the Arteon team

Common questions about turning PNG into GIF

How do you turn PNG into GIF for free?

Drag your PNG files onto the Add files area, click Convert and save the result with Download all. The converter is free, needs no account, and your files stay on your own device.

Does GIF keep a transparent background?

Yes, a transparent background stays. GIF knows two states of opacity only, so a semi-transparent pixel either becomes fully visible or disappears: the line sits at half the scale.

Why does a photograph look worse as a GIF?

Because GIF holds at most 256 colours and a photograph has millions. Banding appears across smooth gradients, a sky among them. For photographs WebP, AVIF or JPG is the better pick.

Will the GIF be lighter than the PNG?

Every file went down in our measurement, for example the landscape photo came out 3.2 times smaller and the icon with transparency came out 3.9 times smaller. The weight drops mostly because colours are gone.

Will several PNG files make an animated GIF?

No, every PNG file gives its own single-frame GIF. An animation is put together in an animation program or a video editor, because the order and the timing of the frames have to be set by hand.

Can I convert many files at once?

Yes. The queue takes any number of files, each up to 100 MB, and you can add them in batches because it keeps the earlier ones. The Download all button packs the finished files into a single ZIP archive.

Why does a library write the GIF instead of the browser?

Because a browser canvas does not write this format: asked for a GIF it hands back a PNG. The file is therefore put together by the gifenc library running in your own browser.

Are the files uploaded to a server?

No. The PNG file is read by the browser on your own device, and the GIF is assembled by a library running in that same browser. Nothing of them is left once you close the page.