Convert GIF to JPG

One frame: the first

A JPG holds one still picture, so an animated GIF can give only one of its frames, and Octoolo's picture tools take the first. A GIF that does not move at all has just the one picture, and that is what you get.

If the first frame is not the moment you want:

• open the GIF in the Video Editor, stop on the right frame, and press Save this frame to get a PNG (saved at the video project's size, such as 1920 × 1080),
• then convert that PNG to JPG here, as described on PNG to JPG.

The frames from a video page walks through the Video Editor part.

Not sure whether a GIF is animated? The Convert tool shows it: the original side plays the GIF as it is, so a moving one moves there, while the result stays on the first frame.

JPG and GIF artwork

JPG was designed for photographs. GIFs are often the opposite: logos, cartoons, pixel art and text in a few flat colors. JPEG compression puts faint ripples around hard edges and can make flat areas slightly blotchy, especially at lower quality.

Two ways to keep that in check:

• Use a high Quality, 90 or more. The result shows what that costs in file size, right next to the GIF's own size.
• Ask whether the place you are sending it really needs a JPG. If PNG is accepted, GIF to PNG keeps every edge exactly, and the transparency too.

For GIFs made from video or photos, JPG works well at the usual settings.

Why do sites ask for a JPG rather than a GIF in the first place? Usually because they want a still: profile pictures, product images and ID photos are expected to hold still, and an animated GIF may be refused or shown as a single frame anyway. Converting lets you decide which picture they get.

See-through pixels on white

Many GIFs have a transparent background so they sit on any page. JPG has no transparency, and the Convert tool fills those pixels with white, which suits documents, forms and most profile picture uploads.

Need another color behind it, such as the color of the page it goes on? Open the GIF in the Photo Editor instead, press Export, choose JPG and pick the color under See-through parts become.

If the GIF is going onto a dark background, white will show as a box around the shape. A PNG keeps the transparency and avoids it.

One quirk of GIFs: their transparency is all or nothing, so the smooth edges of a shape were often blended into a particular background color when the GIF was made. A GIF made for white pages looks clean on the white fill; one made for a dark page may show a thin dark fringe around its shapes.

A GIF as a profile picture

Profile pictures are usually square, and many sites want them as JPG. If your GIF is not square, shape it in the Photo Editor in one go:

• Open the GIF, press C for the Crop tool, pick Square 1:1, drag the box over the part you want and press Enter.
• Press Export, choose JPG, and keep white, or pick another color, under See-through parts become.
• Sites show profile pictures small: if the GIF is wider than 1080 or 800 pixels, pick one of those widths under Size.

Want it round on the page? Most sites crop profile pictures into a circle themselves, but the Photo Editor can also make a circle crop, which should stay a PNG so its corners remain clear.