Technology

How to easily reduce the size of GIF images using Photoshop software

Reducing the file size of GIF images is a fundamental technique for those working in design or marketing. Despite being a popular format on the Internet, GIF images often have large file sizes, which can impact page loading performance.

Administrator

11 March, 2024

260

GIF images are a popular form of animated images that can be found on many social media platforms. Although they have smaller file sizes compared to video formats, it is still important to compress GIF files to ensure fast page loading speed. In this article, FPT Shop will reveal how to reduce the file size of GIF images using Photoshop software on your computer.

Why are GIF images larger than static images?

Have you ever wondered why when you convert an MP4 file to a GIF image, the GIF image is much larger in size than the original MP4 format? Let’s take a simple example, a 10-second video in MP4 format has a file size of 2MB, but when converted to a GIF file, it becomes 20MB, 10 times larger than the original size.

So, to explain this, you need to understand the GIF format. GIF images are created from individual static images, which are then combined to create the illusion of animation.

In addition, GIF images use compression algorithms to preserve data. As a result, no information is lost when compressing pixel data. Moreover, GIF images only support 256 colors, which cannot be compared to the 16.7 million colors in JPEG or PNG image formats. This limitation results in GIF images often having lower quality compared to other formats.

Due to the color limitation, GIF images require more information to transmit content to viewers, resulting in larger file sizes. Therefore, reducing the file size of GIF images is an effective solution to optimize the loading speed of your website.

How to reduce the file size of GIF images using Photoshop

With the following steps shared by FPT Shop, you can easily reduce the file size of your GIF images while still maintaining a fun and professional look, and ensuring suitable file size for fast page loading speed.

Step 1: Choose the GIF image

First, access the Photoshop software or the Photoshop online website and open the GIF images you want to reduce in size. Then, click on the Image menu > Select Image Size. Here, you will see the dimensions of the uploaded GIF image and the following parameters:

Width: The width of the image.
Height: The height of the image.
Resolution: The pixel density.

Step 2: Reduce the file size of the GIF image

To reduce the file size of the GIF image, you need to adjust these parameters accordingly. In this example, the parameters will be reduced from 1.03MB to 133.6KB.

Step 3: Export the image

Finally, after reducing the file size of the GIF image, press the Ctrl + Shift + Alt + W keys to export the image. Alternatively, you can use email or web services by selecting File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy).

Results

To check the GIF image, open the Download folder on your computer and find the downloaded GIF image. Right-click on it and select Properties to view the image properties.

Frequently asked questions

You can use Adobe Photoshop software to easily compress the size of a GIF image. Open the GIF in Photoshop, and go to File > Export > Save for Web. Here, you can adjust settings like color reduction, dithering, and lossy compression to reduce the file size while maintaining the image quality.

Reducing the size of a GIF image has several advantages. Smaller file sizes result in faster loading times for web pages and emails, improving user experience and reducing bounce rates. Smaller GIFs also save storage space and bandwidth, which is especially beneficial for mobile users with data restrictions.

Photoshop’s ‘Save for Web’ feature is specifically designed to optimize images for web use. It allows you to adjust settings like color reduction and compression to reduce the file size. You can also preview the image and compare the original with the optimized version to ensure the quality is maintained.

There are several online tools and software available that can help reduce GIF size, such as Ezgif, GIF Optimizer, and GIMP. These tools offer similar compression settings and previews to ensure the final image quality meets your expectations.

Yes, you can further edit your GIF or add effects after compressing it. Photoshop, for example, offers a range of tools and filters to enhance your GIFs, such as adding text, adjusting colors, or applying special effects. Just remember that additional edits may increase the file size again, so it’s important to keep an eye on the overall size.