---
title: "How to make a GIF from a video free · Cutshed"
description: "Make a GIF from a video in the browser. Set a start and end, 8 to 15 fps, and a width of 240 to 640 px. The cap is 15 seconds. Nothing is uploaded."
canonical: "https://cutshed.com/blog/how-to-make-a-gif-from-a-video/"
---

# How to make a GIF from a video free · Cutshed

Make a GIF from a video in the browser. Set a start and end, 8 to 15 fps, and a width of 240 to 640 px. The cap is 15 seconds. Nothing is uploaded.

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How to
# How to make a GIF from a video for free
Published November 13, 2026 .
Open Video to GIF, drop a short video, and set a start and an end in seconds. Pick 8, 10, 12, or 15 frames per second and a width of 240, 320, 480, or 640 pixels. Click Make GIF. The page runs single-thread ffmpeg in the browser, builds a palette, and downloads a looping GIF. The selection cannot be longer than 15 seconds. A source over 200 MB is refused. Nothing is uploaded, and the GIF has no audio.
The tool for this is Video to GIF . It turns a stretch of a video you already have into one GIF. The file stays in the tab. Use a clip you are allowed to post.
A GIF is a stack of pictures. Width, frame rate, and duration all add to the file. The knobs on the page are those three, plus the start and the end. There is no audio track in the result.
## Steps
- Drop a short video Open Video to GIF and drop the file. The hint says a short video, because GIFs get heavy fast. The picker accepts video files plus .mp4, .webm, .mov, .mkv, and .m4v. If the browser can read the duration, Start becomes 0 and End becomes the shorter of 3 seconds and that duration, and never less than 0.5 seconds when the read succeeds. If the duration cannot be read, the fields stay at 0 and 3 and the page says to set them yourself. A file over 200 MB is refused when you click Make GIF.
- Set the start, the end, the frame rate, and the width Start and End are seconds. The inputs step by 0.1. The end has to sit after the start, or the page says the end time has to be after the start. The selection cannot be longer than 15 seconds. Frames per second is 8, 10, 12, or 15, and it opens on 10. Width is 240, 320, 480, or 640 pixels, and it opens on 480. The line under the fields shows how long the selection is, at the frame rate and width you picked, and it repeats the 15 second cap.
- Click Make GIF The button reads Make GIF, then Making GIF. The first run downloads single-thread ffmpeg, about 31 MB, and caches it. Later GIFs in the same browser reuse that download. The status line then says it is building a palette and writing the GIF. The filter is fps at the rate you picked, then a scale to your width with Lanczos, keeping the source shape. Those frames are split. One branch runs palettegen with stats_mode=diff. The other paints the GIF with that palette and a Bayer dither, bayer_scale 3. The output command is -loop 0, so the GIF repeats. The encode writes out.gif only. It does not write an audio stream.
- Look at the image, then download it When the job finishes, the status says GIF ready and the file size. The image sits under the button. Download GIF saves a file named from the source, with .gif on the end. The video you dropped is unchanged. Closing the tab drops the result, so save it before you leave.
## What the GIF page will and will not do
## Width, frame rate, and length decide the size
Every kept frame is a picture, and a GIF palette is 256 colors. The page multiplies three choices: how wide the frame is, how many frames play each second, and how many seconds you kept. Cut one of them when the download is too heavy to post. The tool page already names the settings that usually survive a phone screen. 480 pixels and 10 or 12 frames per second is the starting point. 320 pixels and 8 frames per second is the meme setting. 640 pixels is only for a frame where someone has to read the text. 240 pixels is on the menu when even 320 is too heavy. 15 frames per second is for something that actually moves. A simple reaction does not need it.
The scale filter uses Lanczos and sets the height from the width, so a wide video stays wide and a tall video stays tall. Cropping is a different page. Banding on gradients and smoke is the format. The palette pass, from the frames you kept, is there so flat color and titles stay cleaner than a one-pass conversion. It does not add colors the GIF cannot store.
A four second clip at 480 pixels and 10 frames per second is the example the tool FAQ gives for a GIF you can usually post. That is not a measured byte count. The status line after Make GIF is the size you actually got. If that number is still too big, shorten the selection or drop the width before you raise the frame rate.
## Trim tight, and only call it a loop if the ends meet
Dead time at the start is weight with nothing happening. Set the start just before the motion and the end as soon as the point lands. The times are seconds, not frames. 1.4 means 1.4 seconds. The command sends those times to ffmpeg with three decimal places.
Looping is on, because the encode passes -loop 0. If the first frame and the last frame do not almost match, the repeat jumps. Trim so they nearly meet, or do not treat the file as a seamless loop. A hard cut in the middle of a gesture will flash every time it repeats. Shorten the selection until the jump is gone, or leave it as a one-shot moment people will watch once.
The hard cap is 15 seconds. Past that the page stops you, with a message that names the cap and the length you asked for. The tool page says a moment longer than about ten seconds is usually better as a video. Fifteen seconds is the limit so a forgotten end time cannot hold every frame in the tab.
## Crop or trim first, or post the video
A square or a vertical frame is a crop, not a width setting. Crop and resize center-crops to 1:1, 9:16, or 16:9 and downloads an MP4. The menu opens on 1:1. Switch it to 9:16 when you want a tall frame. A face at the edge leaves the frame, because the crop does not follow a subject. Bring that MP4 to Video to GIF and keep the GIF width at 480 or below unless the text has to stay readable.
A long source should be shortened before the GIF page has to hold it. Video trimmer cuts a start and an end and re-encodes that span to MP4, so the first frame is the time you typed. The trimmer limit is 3 minutes or 200 MB. The GIF page then only has to read the short file. You can also type the same start and end on the GIF page and skip the extra file, as long as the whole source is under 200 MB and the selection is 15 seconds or less.
Post a video when the moment needs sound, or when it runs longer than the GIF cap. Compress video re-encodes an MP4 in the browser. The walkthrough is how to compress a video for Discord . That guide is for a file someone will watch with the sound still attached. A GIF cannot do that job.
The sound, if you still want it, is a separate file. Video to MP3 pulls an MP3 and discards the picture. Files over 250 MB are refused there. The walkthrough is how to extract audio from a video . Send the MP3 next to the GIF, or send the compressed MP4 instead and skip the GIF. A controller, a headset, or a desk light for the person who plays is in Christmas gifts for gamer and tech boyfriends .
## Do this part in Cutshed
- Video to GIF Start and end in seconds, 8 to 15 fps, width 240 to 640 px, 15 second cap, 200 MB source cap. Palette, Lanczos, Bayer dither, looping GIF, no audio. Nothing is uploaded.
- Crop and resize Center-crops to 1:1, 9:16, or 16:9 before you make the GIF, when the frame shape is the problem.
- Video trimmer Cuts a long source to a start and an end. The limit is 3 minutes or 200 MB. The download is a new MP4.
- Compress video Re-encodes an MP4 when the moment should stay a video, with the sound still in the file.
- Video to MP3 Keeps the sound the GIF cannot carry. Files over 250 MB are refused.
## FAQ
- How do I make a GIF from a video for free?
Open Video to GIF, drop the file, set a start and an end in seconds, pick a frame rate and a width, and click Make GIF. The work runs in the browser. There is no account. The selection has to be 15 seconds or less, and the source has to be 200 MB or less.
- Is the video uploaded?
No. Single-thread ffmpeg reads the file in the tab. The first visit downloads about 31 MB of that runtime and caches it. The video itself is not sent anywhere.
- Why is the GIF so large?
Width, frame rate, and duration multiply, and each frame is a picture with a 256-color palette. Cut one of those three. The tool page points at 480 pixels and 10 or 12 fps as the usual starting point, and at 320 pixels and 8 fps for a meme.
- Does the GIF include sound?
No. The encode writes a GIF and does not write an audio stream. Use Video to MP3 if you also need the sound, or compress the video and post that instead.
- What does the palette step do?
The encoder looks at the frames you kept, builds a palette from them with palettegen, and writes the GIF with a Bayer dither. Flat titles stay cleaner than a one-pass conversion. Gradients can still band. That is the format.
Files stay on this device.
Free tools never upload the file you open. Studio is the only paid part of the site, and the only place a prompt is sent to a video model.

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