Making a GIF from photos: order, HEIC, file size, and shape

Each photo you add becomes one frame. These are the cases where that doesn't come out the way you expected, and the settings that suit a few common photo GIFs.

The photos play in the wrong order

Photos are added in file-name order, reading numbers as numbers, so IMG_2 comes before IMG_10. Photos from different cameras or apps often follow different naming schemes, so their names don't match the order they were taken in.

1. Drag frames along the timeline into the order you want.
2. Or rename the files with a shared prefix and a number (trip-01, trip-02…) and add them again.
3. Sort by name, above the timeline, puts frames back in file-name order after you've added more.

iPhone photos (HEIC) won't open

Recent iPhones save photos as HEIC. The GIF maker can only use images your browser can decode, and HEIC support is limited outside Safari.

1. Open this page in Safari on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad and add the photos there.
2. Or export them as JPEG first: in Photos on a Mac, File → Export, and choose JPEG.
3. For new photos, set Settings → Camera → Formats to Most Compatible, which saves JPEG.

A video from the same phone is a different problem: it is often HEVC, which won't open in many browsers.

A photo is skipped as too large

Each image can be up to 20 MB. Larger files, such as uncompressed TIFFs or very high-resolution exports, are skipped so the tab doesn't run out of memory.

1. Export a smaller copy: a GIF frame is at most 1,000 px wide, so a 2,000 px JPEG loses nothing.
2. On a Mac, Preview's Tools → Adjust Size does this; on Windows, the Photos app's Resize option.
3. Add the smaller copy; the frames it makes are the same as from the full-size file.

Photos of different shapes get bars or are cut off

Every GIF frame has the same size, so a portrait photo in a landscape GIF has to be fitted somehow. Canvas → Images of another shape decides how.

1. Choose Fit to show each whole photo, with bars in the background color from the Style tab.
2. Choose Fill to fill the frame and crop the edges of photos that don't match.
3. Or pick the shape that suits most of your photos, such as Square or Story, so fewer of them need either.

What to make

Product spin or demo. Shoot a product from several angles, or record a short clip of it in use, and loop it for a shop listing or a launch post. 80–120 ms · Square · Boomerang.

Custom chat emoji. Turn a tiny animation into an emoji or sticker. The Emoji preset sets 128 × 128 px, and fewer colors keep the file light. Emoji preset · 64 colors · loop forever. Discord's own size caps are in the Discord GIF size guide.

Before and after. Two photos, a long pause on each, and a label on each frame make an edit, a renovation, or a redesign easy to see. 1.5 s per frame · text on chosen frames only.

Photo slideshow. Holiday shots, a countdown, or a set of quotes: drop in up to 150 images and set a steady pace with a single delay. 600–800 ms · Fit · solid background.

Make text easy to read

A thick dark outline around light text stays readable on any background, which is why it's the default. Keep captions short, give viewers at least a second and a half per line, and use Show on frames to swap lines instead of stacking them.

Why the photos stay on your device

The photos people turn into GIFs are often personal: family pictures, portraits, unreleased product shots. Working locally means none of them leave your device. It also means each GIF costs the site nothing to make, so it can stay free with no watermark and no limit. The domain, hosting, and the time spent on fixes and measurements are paid for by Google AdSense ads in the text below the tool.