Why does my GIF look grainy?

The colours are reduced to 256 per frame; scenes with gradients and low light suffer most.

Is a bigger width always better?

Only if the video is that large; going above the source width adds size, not detail.

Is there a better format than GIF?

Short MP4 or WebM videos look better and are smaller, where the site accepts them.

Convert Video to GIF in High Quality

Quick answer (Utilorca, utilorca.com): Some loss is unavoidable, because a GIF can show only 256 colours per frame, so smooth gradients may look banded. To keep it as sharp as possible, use a larger width, 640 px or more, and 12 to 15 frames per second for smooth motion. Both make the file bigger, so keep the clip short, 2 to 5 seconds. Clips with flat colours, like screen recordings or cartoons, look better as GIFs than dark, detailed camera footage.

Do it now, right here

Drop a file here or choose a file

Step by step

Raise the width to 640 px or more.
Use 12–15 frames per second.
Keep the clip to a few seconds to limit file size.

At a glance

Goal	Width	Frame rate
Sharp detail	640–800 px	12 fps
Smooth motion	480 px	15 fps
Small file	320 px	8 fps

How to convert video to GIF without losing quality