Best GIF Settings for Quality vs File Size
Sourabh Choraria7 min readThere's no single “best GIF setting.” The best settings depend on what your GIF is (screen recording vs animation vs photo-like), where you're posting it, and how strict the size limit is.
The good news: you only need to understand a few levers. Change them in the right order and you'll get a GIF that still looks great—without shipping a 12MB brick.
Pick your best GIF settings
Choose your goal and content type. We’ll recommend a setup you can apply in Compress GIF.
Goal
Content type
Best balance (recommended)
The “looks good, loads fast” setup for most GIFs.
The 4 settings that actually matter
If you only remember one thing: reduce pixels first, then reduce colors. Dithering and lossy are your “fine-tune” knobs when you need more shrinkage.
Resolution scale (biggest lever)
GIF size scales with the number of pixels. Dropping from 100% → 90% often looks identical at normal viewing sizes. 75% is usually safe. 50% is aggressive (but sometimes perfect for embeds).
- Start here: 90%
- Go smaller: 75% (then 50% if needed)
Color palette (32–256 colors)
GIFs have a limited palette. Fewer colors means smaller files—but also more banding in gradients and less detail in photo-like content.
- Most GIFs: 128 colors
- Flat animations/icons: 64 (or 32)
- Photos/gradients: 256
Dithering (banding vs grain)
Dithering fakes extra colors by sprinkling patterns. It can make gradients look smooth—but it can also add “noise” that makes files bigger and screen recordings look messy.
- Screen recordings/UI: Off
- Gradients/photos: Floyd-Steinberg
- Balanced: Ordered dithering
Lossy compression (extra shrink)
Lossy compression removes redundant pixel changes across frames. In practice, light/medium lossy is often “free” size reduction. Heavy lossy can introduce artifacts—use it when you have a strict cap.
- Start: Light/Medium
- Strict limits: Heavy
- Highest quality: Off
Cheat sheet: best GIF settings by use case
Quick recipes
- Slack/Discord: 75–90% scale, 64–128 colors, dithering off (screen) or ordered (animation), lossy medium
- Email: 50–75% scale, 64 colors, dithering off, lossy heavy
- Website (fast load): 75–90% scale, 128 colors, ordered dithering, lossy light/medium
- Portfolio (looks best): 100% scale, 256 colors, Floyd-Steinberg dithering, lossy off
Try it: compress your GIF in seconds
Drop your GIF below. We'll take you straight into Compress GIF where you can pick presets or fine-tune custom settings.
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How to dial in the perfect balance (fast)
Here's the fastest workflow we've found:
- Start with Balanced (or custom: 90% scale, 128 colors, ordered dithering, lossy medium).
- If it still looks great, drop to 75% scale.
- If you need more shrinkage, drop colors to 64.
- If you're still over the limit, increase lossy to heavy.
Frequently asked questions
For most GIFs, start with 90% resolution scale, 128 colors, ordered dithering, and a medium lossy level. If it still looks good, push smaller: 75% scale or 64 colors.
Resolution scale is usually the biggest lever, followed by the number of colors. Lossy compression can add another big reduction, especially on noisy GIFs.
Turn dithering on for gradients and photo-like GIFs to avoid banding. Turn it off for screen recordings and crisp UI clips (dithering can add grain).
Usually, yes. Lossy compression removes redundant pixel data to shrink the file. Keep it light/medium for minimal visible change, and go heavy only when you must hit a strict size limit.
Long duration, high resolution, lots of motion, and gradients all make GIFs large. If you need aggressive shrinkage, reduce resolution scale and colors, then increase lossy. For screen recordings, consider using a shorter clip.