Convert BMP to GIF

Convert BMP to GIF where two old formats meet: the picture was exported as BMP and the receiving side understands GIF alone. The file gets several times lighter along the way.

What happens when you convert BMP to GIF

The pixel-by-pixel record of BMP gives way to a palette: GIF keeps a limited set of colours and references to it. For a diagram, a drawing, or a black-and-white scan that is more than enough, while a photo stored in BMP picks up banding on its smooth transitions.

There is still a single frame: a still BMP produces no animation. The size in pixels stays the same; what changes is the file volume and the set of colours.

• Diagrams, drawings, and scans carry over with no visible difference.
• Photos lose the smoothness of their transitions.
• The file is markedly lighter than the source BMP.

How to convert BMP to GIF

1. Upload your image in BMP.
2. Select GIF as the result format.
3. Start the conversion.
4. Open the result and make sure the look works for you.

Who needs this pair

• Upload a drawing to a system that takes GIF and nothing else.
• Put a diagram into an old wiki or documentation set.
• Lighten an archive of scans where every file weighs tens of megabytes.
• Prepare a frame for an animation you will assemble in an editor.
• Pass an image to a program that knows no modern formats.

Other options for BMP files

• For a website the BMP to WebP converter suits better.
• Text from a scan comes out with the BMP to TXT converter.
• If the picture holds a table, the BMP to CSV converter lays it out.

FAQ

Is GIF suitable for a photo?

Poorly: smooth transitions will show banding. For photos choose WebP or JPG.

Will there be animation?

No, one picture gives one frame. Animation is assembled from several images in an editor.

Does the picture change size?

The size in pixels stays as it was; only the file volume and the number of colours change.