GIF to PNG Converter In your browser, nothing uploaded
EXIF metadata is removed. Decoding and redrawing the image carries no GPS coordinates, camera model or timestamp across, so the file you download has none of it. If you need that data kept, copy the originals instead.
Drag & drop images here
or click to browse — HEIC, AVIF, WebP, PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, TIFF
How to Convert GIF to PNG
- Drag and drop your GIF files into the converter above, or click to browse.
- The converter automatically outputs PNG format. Adjust quality if needed.
- Click download to save your converted PNG files. For multiple files, use "Download All as ZIP."
What is PNG?
PNG arrived in 1995 as a patent-free replacement for GIF. It improves on it in very nearly every dimension that matters for a still image. It stores up to 16.7 million colours, where GIF stops dead at 256. It carries an 8-bit alpha channel: 256 levels of transparency per pixel, against GIF's single on-or-off transparent colour, which is the difference between a soft edge and a jagged one. Compression is lossless, through DEFLATE. A PNG is a pixel-exact record of what went in. Every browser, operating system and image editor released in the last two decades reads one without plugins or codecs, which is what makes PNG the safe default for screenshots, logos, diagrams, interface assets and anything with text in it.
What is a GIF File?
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is a bitmap image format that supports animation and transparency. While GIF is universally supported, it's limited to 256 colors per frame, making it unsuitable for photographs. Converting GIF to other formats can improve quality for static images.
GIF vs PNG
GIF and PNG were designed for much the same job, twenty years apart. It shows. GIF's defining limit is its palette. Every image is reduced to a lookup table of 256 colours, which is why photographs saved as GIF come out banded and speckled with dithering, and PNG has no such ceiling. GIF's transparency is one bit deep — a pixel is either fully visible or fully invisible — which produces the jagged, halo-edged cutouts anyone who worked on the early web will recognise. PNG's alpha channel handles soft edges and anti-aliasing properly. Animation is the one thing GIF still does that PNG does not, and it is the real trade-off here. For a still image, PNG is strictly the better container.
Why Convert GIF to PNG?
- PNG stores the full colour range.
- PNG's alpha channel replaces GIF's all-or-nothing transparent pixel, which is what produces the jagged edges and white halos you get around a GIF cut-out on any background but the one it was made for.
- PNG discards nothing, so what you get back is a pixel-exact copy of the frame.
- PNG is a first-class format in every editor, design tool and CMS upload field, in a way GIF quietly stopped being some years ago, which matters the moment you hand the file to somebody else's pipeline.
- PNG renders identically everywhere, with no palette quirks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to an animated GIF?
You get the first frame, as a still PNG. PNG has no animation in its standard form. The conversion reads one frame and drops the rest. If keeping the animation is the whole point, then this is the wrong conversion. Keep the GIF, or find a dedicated GIF-to-video or GIF-to-APNG tool. If you only wanted a still out of it, the first frame is usually the one.
Will the image actually look better as a PNG?
It will not look worse. It will not magically improve either. Colours that GIF discarded when the file was created cannot be recovered, and if the original was reduced to 256 colours and dithered, that dithering is baked into the pixels and comes through into the PNG. What you gain is headroom from here on. Further edits, resizes and re-saves will not compound the damage.
Is the PNG file bigger or smaller than the GIF?
It depends on the image. Photographic or heavily dithered content usually favours PNG. DEFLATE handles that kind of noise a good deal better than GIF's palette scheme does. Very simple flat graphics go the other way: a plain logo or a two-colour icon can be smaller as a GIF, so expect the PNG to grow a little there. You trade a little size for full colour and real transparency.
Does converting GIF to PNG lose any quality?
No. PNG compression is lossless, so every pixel of the frame is preserved precisely as it was. Converting to JPG is the different case, where the encoder discards detail to save space. If you want a smaller file and pixel-exactness is not the priority, JPG is the alternative, but for anything with text, sharp edges or transparency, PNG is the correct target.