Convert GIF to PNG
Drop a GIF file below and get a PNG back. The conversion happens on your own machine, so nothing is uploaded and there is no size or quantity limit beyond what your browser can hold in memory.
Drop images here
Ctrl/⌘ VPaste a screenshot or copied image
Accepts GIF
Lower means a smaller file. 75 is a good default for photos.
100% in your browser Files are never uploaded.
Why convert GIF to PNG?
Expect the PNG file to come out larger than the GIF you started with. That is the price of the broader compatibility and simpler decoding PNG gives you.
PNG is lossless, so the conversion adds no new compression artefacts. Whatever detail survives in the GIF file is carried across exactly.
PNG is the format most image editors and design tools expect, which makes it the practical choice when the file is headed for further editing rather than straight onto a web page.
GIF is a format from 1987 that survived on the strength of one feature nothing else had for a long time: it moved. For a still image it is comprehensively outclassed — it cannot hold more than 256 colours and its transparency is crude. Converting a still GIF to PNG is almost always an upgrade in capability, though as with any conversion it cannot add back what the source never had.
Before you convert
The 256-colour ceiling is baked in and stays
A GIF holds a palette of at most 256 colours, chosen when the file was made. Every smooth gradient in the source was already approximated with dithering — that speckled, grainy look across skies and shadows. PNG can hold sixteen million colours, but there are only 256 arriving. The dithering pattern comes across faithfully as part of the picture.
Jagged edges do not smooth out
This is the one that surprises people. GIF transparency is a single on/off flag per pixel — a pixel is either fully visible or fully gone, with nothing in between, which is why GIF logos have those stair-stepped edges. PNG has a proper 8-bit alpha channel with 256 levels of partial transparency, so it is fully capable of a smooth edge. But the conversion only carries over the two states that exist in the source. Getting a soft edge means re-cutting it in an editor; no format change will do it for you.
Animation stops at frame one
If the GIF moves, you get its first frame. That frame is often not the one you would have picked — many animations open on a blank or near-blank state. If you wanted to keep the motion, animated WebP is the modern equivalent and needs a different kind of tool than a still image converter.
What carries over
- All 256 colours, exactly
- Transparent areas, as on/off
- Room to edit without further loss
What does not
- Animation beyond the first frame
- Usually some file size — PNG may be larger
GIF vs PNG at a glance
| Property | GIF | PNG |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless | Lossless |
| Transparency | Yes | Yes |
| Typical file size | 200-400% of an equivalent JPEG | 300-500% of an equivalent JPEG |
| Compatibility | Opens everywhere, including decades-old software | Opens everywhere, including decades-old software |
| Usually comes from | Websites optimising page weight | Screenshots, logos and graphics |
Frequently asked questions
Are my GIF files uploaded anywhere?
No. The decoder and encoder are WebAssembly modules that run inside this page. The network tab may show a codec downloading the first time you use a format, but no request contains your file. On supported browsers, a codec that has already been used is cached so the same conversion can work offline.
Is there a file size or quantity limit?
There is no limit imposed by us. The practical ceiling is your device’s memory, since the image has to be held uncompressed while converting. On a typical laptop, images up to around 100 megapixels convert without trouble.
Will converting to PNG lose quality?
PNG is lossless, so every pixel is preserved exactly. The file will usually be larger than the original, which is the trade-off for keeping all the data.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. The same WebAssembly modules run on mobile browsers. Conversion is slower than on a desktop because phone CPUs are weaker, and very large images are more likely to hit memory limits.
What happens to an animated GIF?
Only the first frame is converted. PNG is a still image format, so there is nowhere for the remaining frames to go. If you need to keep the animation, you are looking for a video conversion rather than a still image one.
Why is the PNG bigger than the original?
PNG is lossless, so it stores every pixel exactly instead of approximating them. For photographs that usually means a file several times larger than a lossy original. PNG earns its keep with screenshots, logos, line art and anything needing transparency — not with photos.