BMP to GIF

BMP to GIF Converter

Convert Windows bitmaps into GIF images in your browser. GIF and many classic bitmaps share the same idea — an indexed palette of up to 256 colors — which makes this conversion a natural fit for icons, sprites, and old graphics. Drop your files above; the GIF encoder runs locally, and nothing is uploaded.

Indexed color, then and now

In the early 1990s most PC graphics were 8-bit: each pixel was an index into a 256-entry color table. Both BMP and GIF were built for that world. Converting an 8-bit bitmap to GIF therefore preserves the palette exactly, and the result is typically a fraction of the size thanks to GIF's LZW compression. That makes the tool handy for:

• Retro game assets and sprites from DOS and early Windows titles.
• Icons and toolbar images exported as BMP by old resource editors.
• Pixel art that should stay crisp and indexed.
• Simple diagrams that need to be shared on platforms that accept GIF but not BMP.

Converting full-color bitmaps

For 24-bit or 32-bit bitmaps the converter reduces the colors with the median cut algorithm, which concentrates palette entries where the picture has the most detail. With dithering enabled, the remaining error is diffused to neighboring pixels (Floyd–Steinberg), which keeps gradients smooth. With dithering disabled, you get clean flat areas, which suit logos and charts better.

Transparency

32-bit bitmaps with alpha keep their transparent areas as GIF transparency when Keep transparency is on. Otherwise they are blended onto your chosen background color first.

Need lossless full color instead? Use BMP to PNG. To decode a GIF back into a bitmap, open GIF to BMP.