Images to GIF

Create an animated GIF from a small ordered set of images and control how long each image remains visible.

Select 2–5 images (JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, TIFF)

Frame Timing Logic

How Ordered Still Images Become Animation Frames

An animated GIF functions as a multi-image stack where each frame includes a delay parameter measured in hundredths of a second (centiseconds). When images are arranged sequentially, each picture is assigned an identical display interval (e.g., 0.5 seconds per frame).

Total animation duration is the mathematical product of the frame count and the display interval (e.g., 4 images × 0.5s = 2.0s total runtime). Once the final frame completes, the GIF loops back to frame #1 continuously (-loop 0).

Pacing Recommendations

0.2s — Fast Flipbook Effect Creates dynamic action movement, rapid transitions, or stop-motion simulation.
0.5s — Balanced Slideshow (Default) Optimal duration for showcasing before-and-after comparisons, multi-angle product views, or meme punchlines.
1.0s – 1.5s — Step-by-Step Instructions Gives viewers ample time to absorb text, graphics, or diagrams in each slide before proceeding.

Pipeline Engineering

Proportional Scaling: All images are scaled down to fit within a common bounding box defined by the primary frame, capping large dimensions at 1200px while maintaining the original aspect ratio without distortion.

White Canvas Padding: Rather than stretching portrait and landscape images into strange shapes, ScanPDF centers every image on a clean white background using pad=(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2:color=white.

Sierra-2-4A Palette Generation: GIF files are limited to 256 colors. ScanPDF executes a two-pass palette pass (palettegen followed by paletteuse=dither=sierra2_4a) to prevent color banding and optimize gradient smoothness.

Canvas & Color Quality

Canvas Normalization & High-Quality Color Palette

In real-world projects, users frequently combine images taken from different cameras or crops (such as combining a 16:9 landscape photo with a 9:16 portrait screenshot). Standard GIF encoders fail or severely distort mixed aspect ratios.

ScanPDF's server pipeline calculates a unified output canvas, letterboxes mismatched images with neutral margins, and samples color palettes across every frame simultaneously. The result is a clean, uniform presentation where every photo looks natural and sharp.