Darnly
Free tools

Video to GIF: turn a screen recording into a GIF

Drop in a screen recording, trim it, and get a GIF for your README, bug report or post. You see the GIF and its size as you change things, and whether it fits on GitHub and X. It runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.

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How it works

  1. Drop in a screen recording: MP4, WebM or MOV. A Mac recording (Cmd + Shift + 5) or a Loom or OBS download all work. No recording at hand? Try the sample.
  2. Drag the two handles on the strip under the video to keep just the part you want. Pick a width, a frame rate, a speed and whether it loops.
  3. Watch the GIF and its size update as you go. When it says it fits where you’re posting, download it, or copy the Markdown for your README.

Questions

Is my video uploaded anywhere?

No. Your browser reads the video and makes the GIF on your own computer. Nothing is sent to us or anyone else.

How big can a GIF be?

GitHub takes images up to 10 MB in READMEs, issues and pull requests. Discord’s free limit is also 10 MB. X takes GIFs up to 15 MB. The tool shows a green tick or a red cross for each as soon as your GIF is ready.

My GIF is too big. What should I change first?

In this order: make the clip shorter, then pick a smaller width (480 is still readable for most screen recordings), then a lower frame rate (10 fps is fine for clicking around an app). Or press Make it smaller and the tool steps them down for you. Speeding the clip up to 1.5× also helps, because there are fewer frames.

Why is a GIF so much bigger than my video?

GIF is a format from 1987. It stores every frame as a picture with at most 256 colors, with no clever video compression. That’s why the tool can also make an MP4 or WebM of the same clip, often 5 to 20 times smaller. GitHub plays MP4 and WebM files you drag into an issue, a pull request or a README you edit on github.com.

Why do some colors look a bit grainy?

A GIF can only use 256 colors per frame. Flat app screens look fine; photos, gradients and shadows can look grainy. If that matters, use the MP4 instead.

What’s the Markdown for my README?

Put the GIF in your repo (for example in a docs/ folder) and add ![Demo](docs/demo.gif) to your README. The Copy Markdown button gives you that line with your file’s name.