Convert GIF to PNG
PNG is what GIF should have become: lossless, no colour limit, and with a real alpha channel rather than a single transparency bit. For a still image this conversion is usually both smaller and better, since PNG's compression comfortably beats GIF's LZW.
Best for: Still GIFs that need lossless quality and better transparency handling.
What to know
- Only the first frame is converted.
- GIF's one-bit transparency becomes a full alpha channel, though edges that were already hard-cut stay that way.
- Because GIF is capped at 256 colours, the resulting PNG usually stays indexed and stays small.
About GIF
A 1987 format kept alive by animation, capped at 256 colours per frame.
- 256 colours means visible banding and dithering on anything photographic.
- Its LZW compression is spectacularly inefficient by modern standards.
- Transparency is a single on/off bit, producing hard jagged edges.
- Animated GIFs are routinely ten times the size of the equivalent video or animated WebP.
- Support:
- Every browser ever shipped.
- Transparency:
- One bit — a pixel is either fully opaque or fully transparent.
About PNG
A lossless format built for graphics, screenshots and anything needing a real alpha channel.
- Pixel-exact: what goes in comes out, byte for byte.
- Full 8-bit alpha channel with no fringing.
- The right answer for screenshots, logos, line art and UI assets.
- Support:
- Every browser ever shipped.
- Transparency:
- Full 8-bit alpha.
Frequently asked questions
- Is PNG smaller than GIF?
- For still images, almost always. PNG's DEFLATE compression outperforms GIF's LZW, and OxiPNG optimisation improves it further. GIF's remaining advantage is animation, which PNG largely lacks.
Related conversions
Converting from something else? Convert any image to PNG