How to make a GIF from a video
- Add your video. Drop an MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV or AVI file. The badge on the preview shows its resolution and length.
- Pick the moment. Drag the start and end handles on the timeline, or focus a handle and use the arrow keys (hold Shift for one-second steps). Press Preview Clip to play only the selected part.
- Add captions if you like. Top and bottom text appear in the preview at the size they will have in the GIF.
- Set frame rate, width and dithering, then press Generate GIF. The result shows the GIF size next to the original video size.
Keeping GIF files small
A GIF stores every frame as a separate image with at most 256 colours and no modern compression, so it is usually many times larger than the video it came from. Three settings control the size:
| Setting | Smaller file | Smoother or sharper |
|---|---|---|
| Clip length | 2–4 seconds | Longer clips grow the file in proportion |
| Frame rate | 10 FPS | 15 FPS standard, 24 FPS smooth |
| Width | 320 px | 480 px standard, 720 px large |
Halving the width cuts the pixels per frame to about a quarter, which is the biggest single saving. Many chat apps and forums limit GIF uploads, so start at 480 px and 15 FPS and adjust from there.
Why colours look clean
The tool makes the GIF in two passes. The first pass analyses the clip and builds a 256-colour palette from its own colours; the second maps every frame to that palette. Sierra dithering blends neighbouring pixels to smooth gradients such as skies and skin. None keeps flat graphics and screen recordings crisp and often makes a smaller file.
Captions
Captions are drawn in Anton, a bold condensed typeface similar to classic meme text, with a black outline so they stay readable on any background. The font is downloaded the first time you add a caption. Choose a colour and a size in GIF pixels; 40 px suits a 480 px GIF.
How your file is handled
The FFmpeg engine and the caption font are downloaded from public content networks, and the GIF is created inside your browser tab. Your video is not uploaded to FastSaveMedia. To post a clip with sound instead, crop it to the right shape with the Video Cropper.