GIF Forge FAQ
Answers about GIF Forge, from the first frame to a small GIF.
Last Updated: November 11, 2026
1. Basics
Q1: What is GIF Forge?
A1: A free GIF maker and editor that runs in your browser. It turns part of a video, a screen recording, pictures or a sprite sheet into frames, lets you edit them, and saves a GIF, an MP4 video, an animated WebP or PNG, every frame as a picture, or a sprite sheet.
Q2: Is it free, and do I need an account?
A2: It is free and there is no account or registration. Like every page on ZeroDataUpload, it is supported by advertising.
Q3: Are my videos and pictures uploaded?
A3: No. The files you open are read, edited and saved by this browser on your device and are never sent to a server. The page itself, its ads and its analytics load from the internet as on any website.
Q4: What is kept in my browser?
A4: Your choices in the Open, Text and Save windows, and your last animation with the files it was made from (up to 120 MB of files), so it comes back after a reload. Nothing is kept until you open something or change a setting. Start over, or Forget it on the start screen, removes the animation; clearing this site's data in the browser removes everything.
Q5: Which browsers does it work in?
A5: Current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on computers and phones. A few parts depend on the browser: MP4 needs a browser that can make video, WebP needs one that can write WebP pictures, animated WebP and PNG open frame by frame only where the browser can take them apart, and Record the screen needs screen sharing, which most phones do not offer. The buttons say so when something is not available.
2. Opening
Q6: How do I turn part of a video into a GIF?
A6: Open the video. In the window, play it and press Start here and End here, or move the Start and End sliders. Choose the frames each second (15 is smooth and small; 25 or 30 for fast movement) and the width, check the estimate, then press Make frames. The frames are taken from the video in your browser.
Q7: Which videos can it open?
A7: Any video your browser can play, such as MP4 and WebM, and MOV in most browsers. If a video does not open, an MP4 with H.264 video usually works.
Q8: How do I make a GIF from photos?
A8: Open several pictures at once. Put them in the order you chose, by file name or reversed, pick the width and shape, how pictures of another shape are fitted, how long each shows, and whether each blends into the next. Make frames builds the animation.
Q9: Can I open a GIF to edit it?
A9: Yes. A GIF opens frame by frame, each frame drawn in full as a browser shows it, with its own timing. The Open tab then shows what is inside it: its colours, the area each frame changes, how each frame is cleared, see-through parts and any comment in the file.
Q10: What is a sprite sheet, and can I open one?
A10: A sprite sheet is one picture with all the frames of an animation side by side in rows. Choose Sprite sheet, say how many frames across and down there are and how many to use, and it is cut into frames read row by row.
Q11: How does Record the screen work?
A11: Your browser asks which screen, window or tab to share. Recording starts at once and a bar with Stop recording appears; stopping opens the recording in the video window so you can choose the part. The recording stays in this browser. No sound is recorded.
Q12: Can I add more frames to an animation?
A12: Yes. Drop or open more files while an animation is open and choose Add at the end, or use Insert after this frame under Frames. Pictures of another size are fitted into the animation's size.
Q13: How large can an animation be?
A13: Up to 2,000 pictures, 1,600 MB of them in memory, and 5,000 frames in the strip (copies of a frame use no extra memory). Anything more is left out with a message, and the video, pictures and sprite sheet windows tell you before you make the frames. Pictures are read with the long side at most 1,600 pixels, and a GIF can have up to 50 million pixels.
3. Editing
Q14: How do I choose several frames?
A14: Click a frame in the strip, Shift-click another for the run between them, or Ctrl-click (Cmd-click on a Mac) to add or remove one. On a phone, turn on Choose several and tap frames. Choose all appears with Choose several.
Q15: How do I change the speed?
A15: Under Frames and speed, move the Speed slider, press one of the quick speeds, type a total length, or give every frame the same speed in frames a second. Set how long the chosen frames show with the box or the quick times.
Q16: Why is 20 ms the shortest frame time?
A16: A GIF stores frame times in hundredths of a second, and most browsers play frames of 10 ms or less at 100 ms, so they would look slower, not faster. GIF Forge keeps every frame at 20 ms or more.
Q17: What do Reverse, Boomerang and Play twice do?
A17: Reverse plays the frames backwards (only the chosen ones when several are chosen). Boomerang plays forwards and then backwards without repeating the end frames. Play twice repeats all the frames once more.
Q18: What is the difference between Drop frames and Join repeated frames?
A18: Drop frames keeps every second, third or fourth frame and gives each kept frame the time of the ones dropped after it, so the length stays the same with fewer frames. Join repeated frames finds frames that look the same as the one before and makes them one longer frame.
Q19: What is Smooth loop?
A19: It adds 3, 6 or 10 frames that blend the last frame into the first, so the jump back to the start is softer.
Q20: How do I crop?
A20: Under Crop and size, drag the crop box or its corners on the picture, or type the left, top, width and height. Pick a shape such as 1:1 or 9:16 to keep the box to it. Cut off plain edges finds borders of one colour around every frame and crops them away.
Q21: How do I make a square or tall GIF without cutting anything?
A21: Use Shape with space around: it adds space around the picture in a colour you choose, or see-through, to make it square, 4:5, 9:16 or 16:9.
Q22: How do I add text?
A22: Under Text, press Add text, type it and pick a style, font, size, colours, outline, shadow or a box behind it. Drag it on the picture or move it with the arrow keys when its box has focus. Choose the frames it shows on and how it appears.
Q23: Can I add a logo or a sticker?
A23: Yes. Add a picture under Text; PNG pictures keep their see-through parts. Set its width and how see-through it is, and drag it into place.
Q24: How do I make a green screen see-through?
A24: Under Effects, turn on Make a colour see-through, press Pick from the picture and click the background, then set How close a colour counts until the background goes. Save as GIF, WebP or APNG to keep the see-through parts.
Q25: Can I undo?
A25: Yes, every change: press Undo or Ctrl+Z, and Redo or Ctrl+Y. The last 200 steps are kept while the page is open.
4. Saving
Q26: What do Best look, Balanced and Small mean?
A26: They set the GIF's colours, dithering, how much a pixel may change before it is stored again, and the lossy packing. Best look stores every change exactly, Balanced allows small changes that pack much better, and Small packs hardest. Fine-tune shows each setting.
Q27: How does Fit a size work?
A27: Enter the largest file size, such as 8 MB. GIF Forge makes the GIF, and if it is too big tries stronger compression, then a smaller picture, then every second frame, up to eight tries, and keeps the smallest. It says what it had to change, or that it could not get under the size.
Q28: When should I save an MP4 instead?
A28: When the animation is long or made from a video: an MP4 is usually much smaller than the same animation as a GIF and most phones and chat apps play it. It has no see-through parts and plays once, so use Play the frames to repeat a short clip.
Q29: What are WebP and APNG?
A29: Animated WebP and animated PNG keep millions of colours and soft see-through edges instead of a GIF's 256 colours. WebP files are often smaller than a GIF; APNG keeps every colour exactly at a larger size. Current browsers play both; some older apps show only the first frame or nothing.
Q30: What is in the zip of frames?
A30: Every frame, or only the chosen ones, as a PNG, JPG or WebP picture numbered in order, and a file timing.csv with the frame number, the file name and its time in milliseconds.
Q31: Why is my GIF larger than the original?
A31: A GIF made by another program may use fewer colours or a smaller size. Choose Small or Fit a size, crop or reduce the width, or drop frames. The result shows how much smaller or bigger it is than the GIF you opened.
5. Privacy and help
Q32: Does it work offline?
A32: The page must load from the internet first. After that, opening, editing and saving all happen in the browser, but the page does not install itself for offline use.
Q33: Can I use it with the keyboard or a screen reader?
A33: Yes. Tab reaches every button and box, 1 to 6 switch tools, Space plays, the arrow keys step through frames and C copies the chosen frames while you use the tool, and changes are announced. The crop box and texts can be moved with the arrow keys.
Q34: How is GIF Forge different from the MORPH media converter?
A34: MORPH converts whole files between formats, and turns a whole video into an animated GIF at 12 frames a second and 480 pixels wide. GIF Forge is an editor: you choose the part of the video, the frame rate and the width, edit the frames, add text and effects, choose how small the GIF should be, or save MP4, WebP, APNG, frames or a sprite sheet.
Still have a question?
The help page walks through every part of GIF Forge. For anything else, use the contact form.