How to Make an Animated GIF from Images

Published 2026-05-27

Upload images, set frame order and timing, export as animated GIF. Free, private, runs in your browser. No watermark, no signup.

Try GIF Creator free →

The problem

You have a series of images — screenshots from a process, frames from a design iteration, product photos from different angles, or pixel art sprites — and you want to turn them into an animated GIF. The alternatives are Photoshop (expensive, complex timeline editor), ffmpeg (command-line knowledge required), or online tools that watermark your output or require an account.

For the common case of "put these images in order, set a delay, export a GIF," you shouldn't need professional software.

How it works

  1. Upload your images — drag multiple files at once, or click to browse. Supports PNG, JPG, and WebP.
  2. Arrange the frames — thumbnails appear in a strip. Drag to reorder, click X to remove, click + to add more.
  3. Set the timing — a global delay slider applies to all frames. If specific frames need different timing, override them individually.
  4. Choose dimensions — by default, all frames resize to match the first image. Or set a custom width and height.
  5. Set loop behavior — infinite loop (default), or a specific number of repeats.
  6. Preview — watch the animation play at your settings before committing.
  7. Download — one click, no watermark.

All processing happens in your browser. Images are quantized to 256 colors (a GIF format limitation) and encoded locally.

The 256-color limit

GIF is a 30-year-old format with a hard limit of 256 colors per frame. For pixel art, logos, and simple graphics, this is plenty. For photographs, you'll see color banding — smooth gradients become visible steps.

Tips for working within the limit:

Frame delay guide

Pixel art workflow

If you're creating animated sprites or pixel art animations:

  1. Draw frames in the Pixel Art Editor — export each frame as PNG at 1x scale
  2. Open GIF Creator, upload all frames
  3. Set dimensions to your sprite size (e.g., 32x32 or 64x64)
  4. Set a fast delay (50-100ms) for smooth animation
  5. Export — the GIF preserves crisp pixel edges because the source images are already at target size

Built with vanilla HTML/JS. No frameworks, no backend, loads instantly.

Related tools