GIF Background Remover
Remove the background from a GIF and keep the animation. Works on white backgrounds, green screens, and flat colors — then export a transparent GIF, APNG, or PNG frames. Your file never leaves this tab.
How to remove the background from a GIF
- Drop the GIF. It is decoded frame by frame in this tab. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
- Pick the background color. The tool samples the edges of the first frame. Click Pick and then the canvas if the guess is wrong; Shift+click adds a second color for gradients or two-tone backgrounds.
- Tune the edge. Raise tolerance until the background disappears without eating the subject. Feather softens the edge, shrink removes a one-pixel halo, and despill pulls green or blue spill off the subject.
- Download. Choose a transparent GIF for compatibility, APNG for smooth edges, or a ZIP of PNG frames for editing.
A GIF background remover has one hard limit: GIF only supports one-bit transparency. Each pixel is either fully opaque or fully transparent, so curved edges look stepped no matter how good the cutout is. If the edge quality matters more than file compatibility, export APNG — it keeps eight-bit alpha and looks smooth in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Discord.
GIF vs APNG vs PNG frames
| Format | Alpha | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transparent GIF | 1-bit | Discord emoji, Slack, older software, anywhere that only accepts GIF | Hard edges, no soft shadows |
| APNG | 8-bit | Discord animated stickers, modern browsers, smooth edges and shadows | Larger file than GIF |
| PNG frames (ZIP) | 8-bit | Game engines, video editors, sprite work | Not a single animation; you reassemble it |
Making a GIF transparent is not the same as making it look clean. If you see a white fringe after export, the source had light edge pixels blended with the background. Turn on shrink, add a little feather, and set the GIF matte to the color the GIF will sit on.
Platform limits for animated emoji and stickers
| Platform | Format | Limit | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discord emoji | GIF or PNG | Under 256 KB; 128×128 recommended | 128×128 is a recommendation, not a hard rule |
| Discord sticker | APNG or PNG | 320×320, 512 KB | A GIF will not work as an animated sticker |
| Slack emoji | GIF | Square, under 128 KB, 50 frames max | The 50-frame cap is a hard limit |
| Twitch emote | PNG or GIF | 28/56/112 px tiers, 512 KB each; 60 frames max | Automatic uploads accept up to 1 MB |
| WhatsApp sticker | WebP | 512×512, 500 KB, 10 seconds | Coming in a later update; GIF is not accepted |
FAQ
Does this upload my GIF?
No. Decoding, background removal, and encoding all run in your browser. There is no upload endpoint and no account. Your file also never appears in analytics.
Why are the edges jagged after export?
GIF transparency is one-bit: a pixel is either visible or invisible. Use APNG for smooth alpha, or add feather and shrink before exporting GIF.
The background did not disappear. What now?
Raise tolerance, or click Pick and sample the actual background. If the background has two colors, Shift+click the second one. Turn off “Remove enclosed background” if matching colors inside the subject are being erased.
Can I remove a white background from a GIF?
Yes. White and near-white backgrounds are the easiest case for color keying; start with tolerance around 12–20 and raise it slowly. For photos with soft shadows, a color key will leave a halo — that is where AI cutout is the better tool.
What is the file size limit?
25 MB and 1,000 frames. Very large GIFs are usually a frame-rate or dimension problem; resize or trim first, then come back.
Is a transparent GIF the same as an APNG?
No. Both animate, but GIF stores one-bit transparency while APNG stores full eight-bit alpha. APNG is the right choice for Discord animated stickers.