What happens when you convert GIF to PDF
- The GIF is placed on a PDF page the same size as the image, stored losslessly.
How to convert GIF to PDF online
- Press "Choose GIF files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. You can add files of any size your device can hold in memory.
- Adjust the settings if you need to. The output is lossless, so there is no quality setting to worry about.
- Press "Convert to PDF". Images convert in a second or two each.
- Save each PDF with its download button. Close the tab and every trace of the files is gone from memory.
Why convert GIF to PDF?
GIF files usually come from short looping animations, reactions and simple graphics. People convert them to PDF because a PDF looks the same on every device and is what forms, portals and printers ask for.
In short, GIF is good at what it was made for, and PDF is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. GIF opens and animates in every browser, while PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer.
How to convert GIF to PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your GIF files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each PDF is saved to your Downloads folder.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the GIF files from Finder onto the drop zone and the PDF files land in Downloads. Preview can do single images too: open the file, choose File, then Export, and pick PDF.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose GIF files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted PDF appears in Files, in the Downloads folder.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose GIF files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The PDF is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for GIF to PDF
Each image becomes one page sized to the image at 96 pixels per inch, so a 1200 pixel wide image makes a page 12.5 inches wide. PDF viewers and printers scale pages to fit, so the page size rarely matters on screen.
The GIF is stored with lossless compression inside the PDF, so it is exactly as sharp as the original. Transparent areas are placed on a white page.
GIF vs PDF: the differences
| GIF | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graphics Interchange Format | Portable Document Format |
| Type | image | document |
| Created by | CompuServe | Adobe |
| First released | 1987 | 1993 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Animation | Yes | No |
| Vector or raster | Raster | Vector |
| Colour | 256 colours per frame from a palette | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| In a browser | opens and animates in every browser | opens in every browser's built-in viewer |
| Common uses | short looping animations, reactions and simple graphics | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files |
| MIME type | image/gif | application/pdf |
About GIF and PDF files
What is a GIF file?
GIF stores each frame with a palette of at most 256 colours, so photos turn grainy and animations get large fast. Transparency is on or off per pixel, with no soft edges.
What is a PDF file?
A PDF fixes the layout of every page so it looks the same on any device. Converting a PDF to an image renders each page to pixels; converting an image to PDF wraps it as a page.
GIF to PDF not working? Common problems
- Colours look slightly different. Browsers convert images to the standard sRGB colour space when they decode them, so wide-gamut and CMYK images can shift a little.
- A phone photo comes out upright even though it looked sideways elsewhere. That is correct: the rotation stored in the photo is applied during conversion, so the PDF is always the right way up.
- Transparent areas turned white. PDF cannot store transparency; convert to PNG or WebP instead if you need it.
Convert GIF to PDF from the command line
If you work in a terminal, ImageMagick converts GIF to PDF in one line:
magick input.gif output.pdfTo convert every GIF in a folder at once, use magick mogrify -format pdf *.gif. The converter on this page does the same job without installing anything.
GIF to PDF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting GIF to PDF?
No. PDF is written losslessly, so the result matches the GIF exactly.
Why is the PDF a different size from the GIF?
It depends on the settings. At the defaults, the PDF usually comes out close in size to the GIF; lower the quality for a smaller file.
Are my GIF files uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion runs inside this browser tab using your browser's own image decoder, so your files stay on your device. You can disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded and it still works.
Can I convert several GIF files to PDF at once?
Yes. Select or drop as many files as you like; they are converted one after another and each gets its own download button.
How do I open a PDF file?
PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer. PDF is common for documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files.
Is this GIF to PDF converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many files you convert. The site is paid for by advertising, and because conversions run on your device there is no server cost per file.
Can I convert GIF to PDF on my phone?
Yes. The converter works in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome on Android. Converted files are saved to the Downloads folder.