GIF Maker

Convert videos to GIFs with control over size, frame rate, trimming, and compression.

Create GIF opens a form to pick a video and choose the output size, frame rate, and an optional trim. Size is set by the longest side, so a preset means the same thing whether the video is portrait or landscape, and each option shows the exact resolution it will produce.

Quick GIF from Finder converts the video selected in Finder straight away, using the defaults from the extension preferences.

Requirements

ffmpeg is required:

brew install ffmpeg

gifsicle is optional. It powers the Compression setting, which typically shrinks the result by a further 20–35%:

brew install gifsicle

Both are located automatically in the usual Homebrew and system locations. If ffmpeg lives somewhere else, set its path in the extension preferences.

Keeping GIFs small

GIF has no interframe compression, so files get large quickly — a few seconds of video can run to tens of megabytes. Three settings matter, in order:

1. Size — the biggest lever, since halving it roughly quarters the file.
2. Duration — trim to the part you actually need.
3. Frame rate — 15 fps is usually indistinguishable from 30 and half the size. Screen recordings tolerate lower rates especially well.

Reduce grain helps on phone and camera footage, where sensor noise can triple the file size. Leave it off for screen recordings, where it only softens text.