Converting BMP to GIF reduces the image to a 256-color palette. For BMP content that's already palette-limited or stylized (pixel art, old icons, simple UI), the result transfers cleanly. For photographs it produces visible banding and artifacts.
Drag & drop image files here, or browse
Drop your BMP files here
Palette quantization is brutal on photographs but transparent for already-limited art. GIF's LZW compression is effective on flat-color content. Alpha collapses to single-bit transparency.
GIF plays on every browser and email client ever.
BMP is the uncompressed Windows bitmap format from 1990. Files are huge because almost nothing is compressed, but the format is trivial to decode and supported by virtually every Windows utility, embedded system, and legacy tool. Useful as an interchange format when other options fail.
GIF is a 1987 format limited to a 256-color palette. Its lasting relevance is support for simple animation, which kept it in the meme ecosystem after PNG replaced it for static images. GIF compression is lossless within its palette constraints but usually worse than PNG for the same image.
When the source BMP is already palette-limited: old icons, pixel art, simple UI. For photos, GIF's 256-color limit causes visible banding.
Only as binary transparency (fully opaque or fully transparent). Soft-edged alpha becomes jagged.
BMP is the uncompressed Windows bitmap format from 1990. Files are huge because almost nothing is compressed, but the format is trivial to decode and supported by virtually every Windows utility, embedded system, and legacy tool. Useful as an interchange format when other options fail.
GIF is a 1987 format limited to a 256-color palette. Its lasting relevance is support for simple animation, which kept it in the meme ecosystem after PNG replaced it for static images. GIF compression is lossless within its palette constraints but usually worse than PNG for the same image.
Yes. The converter runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. Your images are never uploaded, never sent to a server, and never leave your device.
There's no hard limit, but because everything runs in your browser you're bounded by available memory. Very large images (over a few hundred megapixels) can hit browser memory limits. Process in smaller batches if you run into issues.