Quick Selection Guide
Sometimes, your GIF comes with unwanted parts you want to crop. Aside from that, you wish to change its aspect ratio to determine the subject’s space. You can achieve this with a dedicated program that can crop .gif files.
This post will give you the top ten programs you can use as a GIF cropper. We will also provide simple steps to help you complete the task. So, what are you waiting for? Dig deep into this post and learn how they work.
To provide a subjective result for the programs we have reviewed, we tested them on a single device as a standard requirement for fair testing. We also edited GIFs with a consistent file size of 3 MB for each tool. Finally, the testing time for the GIF cropping effect was measured by comparing export times across programs.
Since GIFs are now used as online avatars, we also used a more advanced cropping option: a circular shape. This is a significant addition rather than simply editing the GIFs into the standard rectangular shape. We cropped the testing file into both a circular shape and the standard form.
During our testing, some of the GIFs we cropped had their file sizes increase. This is because some of the tools used have a re-encoding system that affects the quality and file size of the edited GIFs.
| Magic resize | Supported Format | File Size Limit | Output Quality | Aspect Ratio Presets | Shape Cropping Options | Batch Processing | AI Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Express | JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG, MP4, MOV, etc. | Up to 1GB (video) / ~80MB images | Standard (480p) | 16:9, 4:3, 21:9, 16:10, 5:4, 1:1, 9:16 | ●Square ●Circle ●Rectangle |
●Magic Resiz ●AI reframe ●AI enhancer |
|
| Adobe Photoshop | GIF, PNG, JPEG, MP4, TIFF, WebP, and more. | No file size limit. | Standard (480p) | 16:9, 4:3, 21:9, 16:10, 5:4, 1:1, 9:16 | ●Square ●Circle ●Rectangle ●Custom masking. |
●AI fill ●AI image generation. |
|
| AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate | GIF, MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, WebM, and more. | No file size limit. | Standard (480p) | 16:9, 4:3, 21:9, 16:10, 5:4, 1:1, 9:16 | ●Square ●Circle ●Rectangle |
●AI video enhcnaer. ●AI video upscaler. ●AI GIF maker. |
|
| Ezgif | GIF, MP4, AVI, WebM, MOV. | 100 MB - 200 MB | Low Quality (360p) | 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16 | None | None | |
| Canva | MP4, MOV, MKV, WEBM. | 1 GB | Standard (480p) | 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16 | ●Square ●Circle ●Rectangle |
●AI Resizer. ●AI color filters. ●AI image generation. |
|
| Photos App | JPG, PNG, MP4, | No file size limit. | Standard (480p) | 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16 | None | None | |
| AnyMP4 Video Cropper Online | MP4, MOV, AVI, and more. | ~50MB | Standard (480p) | 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16 | None | None | |
| Quick GIF Editor | GIF | 100 MB - 200 MB | Low Quality (360p | 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16 | None | None | |
| FFmpeg | MP4, MOV, AVI, GIF, and more. | No file size limit. | Standard (480p) | No presets | Rectangular Only | None | |
| Preview | JPG, PNG, GIF, PDF | 100 MB - 200 MB | Standard (480p) | 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16 | Rectangular Only | None |
When starting with GIF cropping tools, the online and free-to-use version of Adobe is a good option. Like other beginner-friendly online tools, this program also offers GIF cropping through its basic video editor. It makes it a good option if you plan to apply basic adjustments. However, its online nature means that it is not accessible outside browsers.
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1. Go to Adobe Express and Upload the GIF you want to crop.
2. Once the file has been uploaded, find the Crop and Resize tool and then select.
3. In the Crop and Resize Tool, use the Crop option to apply the adjustment manually. You can also choose several Aspect Ratio presets available in it.
4. Then select Download to save the cropped GIF.
Photoshop is a professional image and video editing program used by pro editors. It has editing options to modify, add, or remove unwanted objects from the background, and resize images for social media posts. Besides that, it can straighten, crop, and apply effects to images. And if you’re wondering how to crop a video or GIF in Photoshop, you can easily attain this with the help of the Crop or Rectangular Marquee tool.
Before saving your edited GIF in Photoshop, make sure to use the Save for Web option to avoid losing the animation.
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1. Launch Photoshop on your computer. From the top menu, go through the Window tab, and select Workspace, followed by Motion. Then, go to the File tab and click Open to add the GIF file.
2. Select the Crop icon from the selection of tools on the left-hand side. Drag the Adjustable Frame to the GIF and place it in the area you want to keep.
3. Once done, click the File tab and select Save for Web & Devices. Afterward, click Save to apply the changes.
AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate is a multi-functional program with many powerful features. It comes with a Toolbox containing many editing tools, including the Video Cropper. You can also use this tool to crop GIFs to your desired aspect ratio since the tool offers presets from 9:16, 4:5, 1:1, and more. These presets are an excellent solution to ensure that your cropped GIF will fit nicely for social media. In addition, you can save your output in 4K resolution for the best output quality.
All of these GIF cropping features may all be applied to up to 50+ GIF files at once as the software offers a highly functional batch processing feature. This is a solid addition for all the AI enhancement tools also present in the software.
Besides the video cropper it offers, it also includes a GIF Maker to create custom GIFs. This feature allows you to import various image and video files and combine them to produce GIFs. Without prior knowledge of how to handle such a program, you can use it effortlessly as intended for beginners.
Recommendation
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1. Beforehand, download AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate on your computer. Follow the installation process and launch it afterward.
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2. Head to the program’s Toolbox tab and look for the Video Cropper from the selection of tools.
3. After clicking the Video Cropper tool, a new window will appear on your screen. Click the + icon to add the GIF file to the program. Select the GIF you wish to crop from a local file that will appear.
4. Once the GIF file is loaded into the program, it will offer three options to crop the file:
5. Once the cropping is done, click the Output tab and modify the video settings. Select 4K as your video resolution and 60 fps for the frame rate. Afterward, click the Export button to complete the process.
Ezgif is a web-based program you can use to crop and resize GIFs, whose main function is as a GIF maker and editor. It includes editing options to crop GIFs and other image files. Aside from that, it provides predefined aspect ratios, including the square and golden ratios, or you can freely select the portion you want to crop. However, keep in mind that Ezgif has a limited 200 MB file size limit. Avoid using it for producing GIFs from video files.
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1. Using a browser, go to Ezgif’s official website.
2. Click the Choose Files button to import the GIF file into the program. On the other hand, you can paste the GIF URL if the file is hosted on an online website.
3. Set the height and width according to your preference, then select your Aspect Ratio. Otherwise, manually crop the GIF frames by dragging the adjustable frame’s pointers.
4. Once done, click the Crop Image button to crop the GIF successfully. If you want to crop a video in Ezgif, check the details here.
When it comes to one of the top online multimedia tools, Canva is highly popular due to its versatility for editing different multimedia files. GIF editing is not an exception in the program as well. However, editing basic GIFs within the program uses their entire video editor feature. It may be functional, but it is not efficient since a video editor uses so much more resources than a regular cropping tool.
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1. Open Canva and then drag-and-drop the GIF file you want to edit in their editing timeline.
2. Once the file has been added, click on it and then adjust the Crop Tool surrounding the GIF. Apply the cropping settings based on your editing needs.
3. With your GIF now cropped, go to Share tab and select Download to import the file back on your computer.
If you are looking for a functional alternative to some editing tools in Canva, Microsoft PowerPoint is a good option. One example is that you can use it to resize images.
If you are using an Apple device, whether macOS computer or an iOS device, the Photos app should be enough if you want to crop GIFs. Fortunately, this is as simple as locating the GIF you want to edit and then selecting the Edit option. However, you have to manually edit your GIF since Photos has limited cropping presets and no circular cropping option.
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1. Open the Photos app and then locate the GIF file you want to edit. Then click Edit once it's located.
2. In the Edit menu of the Photos app, go to the Crop and Rotate tab.
3. In the Crop and Rotate tab section, drag the edges of the GIF to apply the cropping adjustment. You may also select Aspect Ratio to choose among the available presets.
4. Finally, click Save a Copy to create a brand new file of your edited GIF.
AnyMP4 Video Cropper Online is a free web-based program to crop videos into GIFs. It lets you crop videos in various sizes for your social media posts. On the other hand, you can also crop videos freely by adjusting the frames to make a perfect cut-out. It supports nearly all the most-used formats, like MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WMV, etc. All of these functions leave no watermark.
Moreover, it works in any web browser, including Google Chrome, MS Edge, Safari, and Firefox. Since it is a web-based program, downloading and installing any program is unnecessary. In other words, you can crop your videos directly to your Windows or macOS browser. AnyMP4 VideoCropper Online is safe to use as it deletes the uploaded files within 24 hours.
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1. To begin with, visit the AnyMP4 Video Cropper Online’s official website. You can use this link to the program’s main profile.
2. Click the Upload File button to add the file. Choose the video you wish to crop and make a GIF from the local file that will appear on your screen.
3. From the default option, choose an aspect ratio according to your needs. Otherwise, move the frame border to get your precise cut. Also, you can input the value as you desire.
4. Click the Cogwheel icon and select the best format. Afterward, click the Save button to download the cropped file.
Quick GIF Editor is a straightforward app on iOS devices that works as a GIF editor. With it, you can crop, resize, rewind, speed up, and make a boomerang. Besides that, it provides various proportions of aspect ratios. You can follow the instructional guide below to learn how to crop a GIF on an iPhone. Alternateilvey, you can also use its Chrome extension version to enjot a much more lightweight editing tool.
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1. Get the Quick GIF Editor on the App Store and install it on your iPhone afterward.
2. Tap the Crop icon on the main profile of the app. Afterward, it will go through the cropping section.
3. Start cropping your GIF by using the aspect ratio provided by the app, or crop it manually.
FFmpeg is an open-source command-line program that can perform various tasks. Some people use Ffmpeg to crop GIFs through the command line. For basic GIF cropping, you can use the simple command: ffmpeg -i in.gif -vf "crop=w:h:x:y" out.gif.
However, make sure to only use this program if you have enough technical skills. FFmpeg is a developer use product.
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1. Download FFmpeg on your computer.
2. Launch the command prompt as the administrator and type: ffmpeg -i input.gif -filter:v “crop=w:h:x:y” output.gif.
3. Next, return to your computer and check if the GIF is cropped as you wish. To use FFmpeg to crop a video, you can find the details here.
Preview is a program infused in all Mac operating systems. Besides viewing documents, you can also use this program as an image editor. It has nearly everything you need to edit the GIF, including crop, rotate, color, and size adjustments. If you want to learn how to crop GIFs on Mac, follow the steps below.
When cropping in Mac Preview, make sure to select all the frames of your GIF in the sidebar; otherwise, only the first frame is cropped. If you fail to do so, Preview will cause the GIF to lose animation, which will flatten your GIF file into a single image.
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1. Look for the GIF saved in your files, and click the GIF to open it in Preview.
2. Click Tools, followed by Annotate, and select the Arrow, Add Oval, or Rectangle.
3. Click and drag the GIF to overlay the shape on the GIF.
4. Click File and select Save to make the changes complete.
What determines GIF size?
The overall number of frames rendered in the final image will depend on how many frames per second your GIF has.
What is the GIF’s ideal resolution?
The best resolution for GIF files is 480x489.
Are GIFs of good quality?
GIFs are great file formats for creating small banners, such as logos, buttons, and charts.
What is the best free GIF cropper that doesn’t add a watermark?
Built-in editing tools are equipped with crop feature that is watermark free. Alternatively, you can also use Canva for online solutions. For desktop tools, AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate is a good option.
How can I crop an animated GIF into a circle for my Discord profile?
You need to use a crop tool offering circle cropping. AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate is an excellent choice for this. You may also check the basic edit function of your gallery if it has circle cropping.
Why does my GIF stop animating after I crop it on Mac Preview?
Unfortunately, Preview removing animation is a common issue. To avoid this, you have to select all the frames of the GIF from the sidebar. If these frames are not selected, it will become a flat static image.
Which online GIF cropper is safe and doesn’t store my uploaded files?
Privacy issues are a common concern when using online editors. Fortunately, AnyMP4 Video Cropper Online is a perfect solution for this. The tool ensures that uploaded videos being edited in it will be deleted immediately within 24 hours.
Cropping a GIF is now easy with the help of the GIF Cropper online, offline, and mobile apps. Each program is reliable for cropping GIFs. For a more reliable GIF cropper without losing quality, consider AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate. Which program do you think meets your standard? Is it online? Offline? Or mobile apps?
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