Convert GIF to APNG

What GIF to APNG does

APNG (animated PNG) and GIF both store animations, but they handle color differently. GIF allows at most 256 colors per frame, and each pixel is either fully transparent or fully visible. APNG supports millions of colors and soft, semi-transparent edges, and it plays in all modern browsers.

The tool decodes every frame into full pixels together with its display time and writes the frames into the other format. From APNG to GIF, each frame is reduced to a color palette. From GIF to APNG, the frames are stored losslessly, so nothing is lost.

How to use GIF to APNG

1. Drop your GIF files into the box, or click to choose them.
2. Pick the output format and any options.
3. Click Convert. The conversion runs on your device.
4. Download each file, or all of them at once as a ZIP.

When to use GIF to APNG

• Convert an animated PNG sticker or emoji to GIF for chat apps and forums that only accept GIF animations.
• Turn animated LINE stickers, which are APNG files, into GIFs that other messaging apps and websites can show.
• Make an APNG exported from a design or animation tool usable in email, where GIF has the widest support.
• Turn a GIF into APNG for a website, keeping every frame exactly as it was in a format modern browsers play.

Settings explained

Colors

APNG to GIF only. Sets the palette size of each frame, from 8 to 256; the default of 256 gives the best quality. Lower it to make the GIF smaller when the animation uses only a few colors.

Download all (ZIP)

You can add several animations at once, and each is converted separately. When more than one file is ready, this button saves them all in one ZIP file. GIF to APNG has no other settings.

What changes when you convert GIF to APNG

Both GIF and APNG are lossless, so the image data stays exactly the same. Only the file structure changes, and the file size may go up or down.

Both formats support transparency, so transparent backgrounds are kept.

Animation is kept: every frame and its timing are copied to the APNG file.

Format comparison

What is GIF?

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is an image format introduced by CompuServe in 1987. It uses lossless compression, supports transparency and can store animation. Files use the .gif extension.

GIF was introduced by CompuServe, and the later GIF89a version added animation timing and transparency. Each frame uses a palette of up to 256 colors and is compressed with the LZW algorithm. The LZW patents caused disputes in the 1990s, but they have expired and GIF is now free to use.

GIF is useful for short, simple animations, reaction images and small graphics with few colors, especially where an animation must play without a video player, such as in some email clients, chat apps and older websites.

The 256 color limit makes photos and video look grainy or banded. Animated GIFs are very large compared with the same clip as MP4 or WebM. Each pixel is either fully transparent or fully visible, so edges can look rough.

GIF opens and animates in every web browser, on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, and in almost all messaging apps, email clients and image viewers. Some image editors only show or edit the first frame.

What is APNG?

APNG (Animated Portable Network Graphics) is an image format introduced by Mozilla in 2004. It uses lossless compression, supports transparency and can store animation. Files use the .png or .apng extension.

APNG extends PNG with extra data blocks that store animation frames and their timing. It was proposed by Mozilla developers and first supported in Firefox. The first frame is a normal PNG image, so programs that do not understand APNG simply show a still picture instead of an error.

APNG is a good choice for animated graphics that need full color and smooth transparency, such as animated stickers, icons and interface animations. It looks much better than GIF for these uses because it is not limited to 256 colors.

APNG files are lossless, so they can be large for long or photographic animations, where video formats are much more efficient. Many image editors, chat apps and upload forms treat APNG as a still PNG and drop the animation.

Current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari play APNG. Many system image viewers and apps show only the first frame. It often uses the .png extension, so it can be hard to tell apart from a still PNG.

Why use FansBond GIF to APNG

Most online converters upload your files to their servers. FansBond GIF to APNG does the work inside your browser instead, using WebAssembly and modern browser APIs. Your files stay on your device, which is safer for private photos, contracts and unreleased work, and it is often faster because nothing has to upload or download.

There are no queues, no watermarks and no account. Once the page has loaded, the tool keeps working even on a slow connection.

Tips for the best result

• Converting to GIF turns soft, semi-transparent edges into hard edges. Animations on a transparent background may show jagged outlines on dark pages.
• APNG files use the .png extension. Some programs show only the first frame, so open the file in a browser to see it play.
• A GIF converted to APNG keeps its original 256-color look. The conversion cannot add back colors that were removed when the GIF was made.
• Frame timing is copied from the source. Delays shorter than 20 milliseconds are raised to 20, so a few very fast animations may play slightly slower.

How GIF to APNG works in your browser

GIF files can only hold 256 colors per frame, so the tool analyzes each frame, builds the best palette for it and maps every pixel to that palette. Video frames are first extracted with a WebAssembly build of FFmpeg.

The encoder and the GIF decoder run in JavaScript and WebAssembly inside your browser tab. Frame timing, looping and size are written directly into the GIF file, so the result plays the same way in every browser and chat app.

Privacy and security

Most online converters upload your files to a server, process them there and keep a copy for some time. GIF to APNG works differently: the code is downloaded to your browser once, and your files are read and written only on your device.

You can check this yourself: after the page has loaded, turn off your internet connection and the tool still works. This makes it safe for contracts, IDs, medical records, private photos and unreleased work.