Convert GIF to PNG — Frames & Transparency

Why convert a GIF to PNG

GIF and PNG are both lossless, but PNG is the better still-image format: it stores up to 16.7 million colours and smooth alpha transparency, every editor opens it, and it is what design tools, slide decks, app stores and print shops expect. Converting is the right move when you want to edit a GIF, use one frame as a thumbnail or sticker, or pull an animation apart into frames for a game, a video editor or a sprite sheet.

Three ways to export an animated GIF

Frames are numbered with leading zeros so they sort in the right order in any file manager, and each one is the full composed picture rather than the small changed patch many GIFs store — so frame 37 looks exactly as it does when the GIF plays.

File size: PNG vs GIF

For a single frame, a PNG is usually about the same size as the GIF or a little smaller, because PNG's compression is more modern. A folder of every frame is naturally much bigger than one GIF, which stores only what changes between frames. If you just want a smaller animation, the GIF compressor or GIF to MP4 is the better tool; to go the other way, PNG to GIF turns PNGs back into a still or animated GIF.