How to Reduce GIF File Size for Better Website Performance – To make your GIF as efficient as possible:
- Crop any extra space around the image. Reducing the pixel dimensions of an image is the most effective way to reduce the file size. If you use Photoshop, the Trim command works well for this.
- When you prepare a GIF image, reduce the output dimensions. Each graphics-editing program offers different commands for resizing.
- Reduce the number of colors in the image. GIFs only display 256 colors, but if your image only has a few, then reduce the color count anyway. When reducing colors in GIFs, you get the best compression when the number colors are set to the smallest possible of these options: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256.
- Reduce the number of frames in the image for animated GIFs. Avoid useless animation, in general. Excessive animation adds to web page download time, and many people find it distracting.
- If you use Photoshop, create a GIF file by using the Export As menu item. Select File > Export As, When the menu opens, select GIF as the file format and reduce the physical dimensions (width and height) of the image.
- If you use Adobe Photoshop Elements, select File > Save For Web, This process opens the Save For Web dialog box that is also found in Adobe Photoshop at File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy), When it opens, apply dithering, reduce the color, and modify the physical dimensions of the image.
- Avoid dithering. Dithering may make some images look better, but it increases the file size. If your software allows it, use a lower level of dithering to save extra bytes.
- Some software has a lossy option for saving GIFs. This option can significantly reduce the file size, but it also reduces image quality.
- Don’t use interlacing. Interlacing usually increases the file size.
- Both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements show the download time. Pay no attention to it. It is based on the use of a 56k modem. A more valid number appears if you select a cable modem from the drop-down menu.
Why is my GIF size so large?
So if they’re images, why are they exporting bigger than the original video? – Unlike the original video file that you uploaded, a GIF image contains multiple frames – the longer the duration, the more frames. So your 2 seconds of video, could contain up to 20 or more images within a single GIF file.
How do I reduce the size of a GIF in Photoshop Reddit?
Change fps=, scale= and max_colors= to compress the gif. Lower FPS and scale will result in smaller file size. max_colors is out of 255, lower number will result in lower file size. Doing all this will result in the gif to worsen in quality so try to find a good balance.
Does compressing a GIF reduce quality?
Why would you need a GIF compressor? – Theoretically, there is no limit to how large a GIF’s file size is. Depending on the length and visual fidelity of the GIF, it could be quite large indeed. This makes storing, sharing, and uploading GIFs tricky. This is why a GIF compressor tool would be helpful.
Do GIFs lose quality when compressed?
Even though the image format animated GIFs are gaining popularity, their file size is usually large, causing slow loading and incurring high bandwidth costs. Besides, the GIF format is old and not optimized for modern video clips. The developer’s job of effecting fast loading of animated GIFs and delivering optimized images is complex and time-consuming.
With Cloudinary, you can convert animated GIFs to videos, reducing the file size and saving bandwidth (see this post for more details). However, videos are much harder to embed in websites and apps than regular images, let alone that auto-playing of videos does not work in some browsers and mobile devices.
Alternatively, you can convert animated GIFs to animated WebP files. Unfortunately, the WebP format, which, being developed by Google, works only on Chrome, Android, and Opera, but not on most of the other popular mobile devices and browsers. Furthermore, GIF conversion tools tend to produce either large, high visual-quality files or small, low visual-quality ones, neither of which lives up to optimization standards.
- When lossy compression starts, filtering occurs, eliminating certain pixel data through an increase of redundant patterns along scan lines.
- In reality, the term lossy compression is a misnomer for GIFs, whose format is palette based, because the related compression algorithms are lossless, hence no data loss in the output.
Note: Because of the 8-bit GIF limit of 256 colors, converting other image formats to GIF does result in data loss. As reference, read this section in the Cloudinary documentation on image optimization: the whys, the whats, and the tools. Optimizing animated GIFs with a lossy-compression technique yields smaller yet visually appealing images, a win-win.
- With Cloudinary, you apply lossy compression through the platform’s on-the-fly, dynamic URLs with no need for any software or additional computational power.
- Why? Because the compression process takes place in the cloud.
- All you need to do is set the flag parameter to lossy ( fl_lossy in URLs).
- For example, this animated GIF named kitten_fighting, already uploaded to Cloudinary, is 6.3 MB in size.
Loading code examples Adding the fl_lossy parameter to the delivery URL reduces that size by 40 percent to 2.5 MB, The optimized GIF, as shown below, looks just as sharp as the original. Loading code examples An excellent tip on GIF compression: to fine-tune the level of lossy compression in compressed animated GIFs, add the quality parameter ( q in URLs), whose default value is 80, Enabling lossy compression and setting the quality parameter to 50 for the kitten GIF produces a 2.1-MB image, approximately 30 percent of the original size: Loading code examples You can apply lossy compression on Cloudinary with any of the platform’s rich set of image optimization and transformation capabilities to match any graphic design, dimension, device, browser, responsive layout, and such. Lossy compression can also optimize generated images.
- Crop the GIF to a width of 50 percent and a height of 80 percent.
- Add an uploaded PNG image named cloudinary_icon as an overlay. Resize the overlay to a width of 40 pixels, positioned 5 pixels from the top-right corner of the animated GIF; and make the overlay 40 percent semitransparent.
- Apply lossy compression with a quantity value of 50 percent.
Voila! The optimized GIF size is only 765 KB, 60 percent less than the original size of 1.9 MB.)”,”status”:0,”statusText”:”Ok”,”displayName”:”Ruby”,”packageName”:”cloudinary”,”packageStatus”:””,”packageVersion”:”1.x”},,,,,, )\n\t overlay(Overlay.source(\n\tSource.image(\”cloudinary_icon\”) )\n\t adjust(Adjust.opacity(40)) })\n\t }) )\n\t })\n\t delivery(Delivery.format(\n\tFormat.gif()) )\n\t delivery(Delivery.quality(50)) \n}.generate()”,”codeSnippet”:”cloudinary.image )\n\t overlay(Overlay.source(\n\tSource.image(\”cloudinary_icon\”) )\n\t adjust(Adjust.opacity(40)) })\n\t }) )\n\t })\n\t delivery(Delivery.format(\n\tFormat.gif()) )\n\t delivery(Delivery.quality(50)) \n}.generate()”,”status”:0,”statusText”:”Ok”,”displayName”:”Kotlin”,”packageName”:”kotlin-url-gen”,”packageStatus”:””,”packageVersion”:”1.x”},,, ]})”,”codeSnippet”:”$.cloudinary.image(\”kitten_fighting\”,,\n,\n \n ]})”,”status”:0,”statusText”:”Ok”,”displayName”:”jQuery”,”packageName”:”cloudinary-jquery”,”packageStatus”:””,”packageVersion”:”2.x”}]” parsed-url=”,, ],”transformation_string”:”c_crop,w_0.5,h_0.8\/l_cloudinary_icon,c_scale,w_40,g_north_east,o_40,x_5,y_5\/fl_lossy,q_50″,”url_suffix”:””,”version”:””,”secure”:true,”public_id”:”kitten_fighting.gif”,”extension”:”gif”,”format”:”gif”,”format_code”:true,”signature”:””,”private_cdn”:false,”result_asset_type”:”image”}” with-url=”true”> Loading code examples To recap, applying lossy compression to animated GIFs yields two major benefits: the flexibility of displaying those lively GIFs and the bandwidth savings from smaller yet still-visually-pleasing images, not to mention an enhanced user experience. The setup takes only minimal effort on your part, freeing you up to focus on developing websites and apps. Keep in mind these two handy tips:
- To generate much smaller images in which to embed videos, have Cloudinary ( https://cloudinary.com/blog/reduce_size_of_animated_gifs_automatically_convert_to_webm_and_mp4 ).
- Likewise, to enable users to upload videos but display them as animated GIFs, have Cloudinary dynamically convert videos to GIFs, Also, as a display enhancement, consider creating a single animated GIF from multiple images, whereby each image is shown as a single frame of the single GIF.
Lossy compression for animated GIFs is available in all of Cloudinary’s free and paid plans. To give it a try, sign up for a free account and forge ahead. You’ll likely be impressed.
- Image Formats: Getting it Right
- Progressive JPEGs and green Martians
- Animated WebP – how to convert animated GIF to WebP and save up to 90% bandwidth
- JPEG Image Optimization Without Compromising Quality With JPEGmini and Cloudinary
- Check for WebP Browser Support to Dynamically Deliver Images
- Adopting the WebP Image Format for Android on Websites Or Native Apps
- Optimizing Animated GIFs With Lossy Compression
Why is a GIF bigger than a JPEG?
Are GIF’s typically larger or smaller file sizes than JPEG or PNG’s? In this video, Nick tells us that GIF’s and PNG’s are typically larger file sizes than JPEG’s. But when I watched the “Photoshops Foundation, Optimization:Part 1” video, it states that GIF’s typically have smaller file sizes(specifically 3:30 into the video) than JPEG and PNG-24’s. What is the correct answer?
- In short, it depends GREATLY on the content of the image itself. Let me explain:
- If you take a photograph and save it as a gif or png the file size will be much larger than a jpg because those format are better suited for graphical elements with larger areas/cells of color that are the similar or the same.
- Personally I try to use the following criteria to determine format:
- If it’s a photograph or a complex image with lots of color variation: JPG
- If it’s graphic without animation OR you need alpha transparency: PNG
- If animation is needed OR gif compression results in a smaller file size (while preserving the image quality) AND your use case allows you to use a matte: GIF
: Are GIF’s typically larger or smaller file sizes than JPEG or PNG’s?
How many MB should a GIF be?
Follow our best practices for making GIFs to optimize your GIFs on GIPHY! Uploads are limited to 15 seconds, although we recommend no more than 6 seconds. Uploads are limited to 100MB, although we recommend 8MB or less.
Is GIF more compressed than JPEG?
What is GIF? – GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. The file extension used for a GIF image file is “.gif” or “.GIF”. GIF is an image format primarily used for animated and graphic images. Similar to the JPEG format, GIF is also a raster image format.
- It is essentially a bitmap image file.
- It is basically a map of bits or a spatially mapped array of bits.
- A bitmap image file uses different color pixels that are arranged in a manner to display an image.
- GIF is commonly used for small images such as icons and logos, as well as for simple animations.
- Unlike JPEG, GIF uses a lossless compression method, which means that no image data is lost when the file is compressed.
This makes GIF a good choice for images that require high quality, such as line art or logos with text. However, GIF files are generally larger than JPEG files, so they are not the ideal option when the images are to be stored on the cloud or transmitted over a network.
Key | JPEG | GIF |
---|---|---|
Stands for | JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. | GIF stands for Graphical Interchange Format. |
Compression Algorithm type | JPEG uses lossy compression algorithm. | GIF uses lossless compression algorithm. |
Image Quality | JPEG image may lose some image data causing quality loss. | GIF image is of high quality. |
Colors | JPEG image supports 16 million colors. | GIF image supports only 256 colors. |
Transparency | JPEG does not supports transparency in images. | GIF supports transparency in images. |
Extensions | JPEG images use “.jpeg” or “.jpg” extension. | GIF images use “.gif” extension. |
Animation | JPEG images do not support animation. | GIF images support animation. |
Usage | JPEG images are used in photography. | GIF images are generally used in logo or animated image creation. |
What is the best size for a large GIF?
GIF Resolution – Optimizing your canvas for the GIF format from the get-go is the first step you can take. Resolution represents the size of a media file measured in pixels (more pixels to display = more data = larger file size). Whether you’re going for a square, horizontal, or vertical aspect ratio, a larger canvas will almost always result in an above-average GIF size after export.
Due to the GIF format being compressed using LZW lossless compression, the canvas size you choose, along with the complexity level of your animated graphics, will determine how large of a,gif file you’ll end up with. If exported to newer image file formats, like APNG or WebP, the same animation could be less heavy.
So, it’s simply a matter of taking into account the inherent characteristics of the GIF format. The average GIF size dimensions are 480p resolution (4:3) — at 640 width ×480 height. You’ll find platforms advising to keep dimensions under 1200x900px, and others encouraging the use of GIFs that are 500px wide at most. By SVGator
Is there a limit to how big a GIF can be?
What Is GIF File? GIF Size? Dimension? Animated GIF Length? – Fun GIF Image from GIPHY: Confused Simpsons. What is GIF? GIF, also called “Graphical Interchange Format” or CompuServe’s GIF, is a bitmap image either moving/animating or still. GIF is invented by USA computer scientist Steve Wilhite on 15 June 1987.
Any GIF standard size? There seems to be a web etiquette when making a GIF, People tend to make their GIF file size as small as possible, and in most cases, GIF size is around 20Kb & no larger than 1M. GIF compression is inferior to the compression of PNG & JPEG/JPG, and that makes GIF top edge – its small size by compromising image quality.
GIF dimension? There exists no standard for GIF dimension, but you should know that the dimension will also decide the size of your GIF file: GIF file size = GIF length pixel * GIF width pixel * the number of frames. So the smaller your GIF dimension is, the smaller & more friendly your GIF will become.
Can GIFs be optimized?
Optimize images for GIF or PNG-8 format
Introduction to Photoshop Elements Workspace and environment Fixing and enhancing photos Adding shapes and text Guided edits, effects, and filters Working with colors Working with selections Working with layers Creating photo projects
Saving, printing, and sharing photos Keyboard shortcuts
The GIF format uses 8‑bit color and efficiently compresses solid areas of color while preserving sharp details like those in line art, logos, or type. You also use the GIF format to create an animated image and preserve transparency in an image. GIF is supported by most browsers. GIF image with selective color (left), and GIF image with web color (right) You can choose the number of colors in a GIF image and control how colors dither in a browser. GIF supports background transparency or background matting, by which you blend the edges of the image with a web page background color.
- The PNG‑8 format uses 8‑bit color.
- Like the GIF format, PNG‑8 efficiently compresses areas of solid color while preserving sharp detail like those in line art, logos, or type.
- Because PNG‑8 is not supported by all browsers, you may want to avoid this format when you are distributing the image to a wide audience.
The PNG‑8 format uses more advanced compression schemes than GIF does, and a PNG‑8 file can be 10% to 30% smaller than a GIF file of the same image, depending on the image’s color patterns. Although PNG‑8 compression is lossless, optimizing an original 24‑bit image as an 8‑bit PNG file can subtract colors from the image.
With certain images, especially those with simple patterns and few colors, GIF compression can create a smaller file than PNG‑8 compression. View optimized images in GIF and PNG‑8 format to compare file size. As with the GIF format, you can choose the number of colors in an image and control how colors dither in a browser.
The PNG‑8 format supports background transparency and background matting, by which you blend the edges of the image with a web page background color. PNG‑8 with 256 colors and no dither (left), and PNG‑8 with 16 colors and dithering (right)
Does GIF have a size limit?
Twitter images –
Photos can be up to 5MB, animated GIFs can be up to 5MB on mobile, and up to 15MB on web. Supported image types are GIF, JPEG, and PNG files. BMP and TIFF files are not supported. Your image will be automatically scaled when a user expands a Tweet, or when displayed in your gallery
Learn more about Twitter image requirements in Twitter’s Help Center,