How to Get GIF Images to Work on Tumblr

Tumblr CEO David Karp reacts to Tumblr's public offering.
... Andrew Burton/Getty Images News/Getty Images

The micro-blogging website Tumblr and the animated GIF may be two peas in a pod, but sometimes larger GIFs will not animate properly because of Tumblr's limit on their file size. Tumblr limits GIFs to 1 megabyte or less and sets limitations on the width of the image by not properly displaying GIFs greater than 500 pixels wide. Several free online services exist that allow users to reduce the size of GIFs so the animation will work properly on Tumblr.

1 Using GIF Reducer

2 Navigate to the GIF Reducer's website

Navigate to the GIF Reducer's website (link in Resources).

3 Click Choose File

Click "Choose File" and select the GIF you want to reduce. The GIF Reducer only allows GIFs that are a maximum size of 2MB.

4 Click Reduce It .''

Click "Reduce It."

5 Click View

Click "View the reduced images" to produce four different GIFs of varying color reductions, with the last being the one that was reduced the most.

6 Right click the image

Right-click the image that best meets Tumblr's standard and select "Save Image As."

7 Using EZ Gif

8 Navigate to EZGIF.com

Navigate to EZGIF.com and select the GIF Resize option.

9 Click Choose File-2

Click "Choose File" and select the GIF you want to reduce. EZ GIF allows uploads of up to 12MB.

10 Click Upload

Click "Upload" and the GIF will appear on the page with several options above it.

11 Crop the GIF by clicking Crop

Crop the GIF by clicking "Crop" if there is a portion of the GIF that could be removed. Drag the cursor over the portion of the GIF you want to keep then click "Crop it!"

12 Click Resize

Click "Resize" to reduce the GIF's width and height. Remember that Tumblr requires GIFs be no larger than 500 pixels in width. Resizing significantly reduces the file's size. Type "auto" for the height to maintain proportions when reducing the width.

13 Use Optimize to reduce the color

Use "Optimize" to reduce the color of the GIF. Set the colors to a lower variation, as listed on the page, to reduce the file size. With 256 colors, the file is at its largest and at its smallest with only eight colors. This significantly affects the quality of the GIF.

14 Try a combination of resizing

Try a combination of resizing, cropping and optimization to reduce large GIF files to the necessary 1MB limit.

15 Click Save'' when finished

Click "Save" when finished.

16 Using Online Image Editor

17 Navigate

Navigate to the Online Image Editor's website (link in Resources).

18 Click Choose File-3

Click "Choose File" under the "Upload" tab.

19 Click the Resize during upload box

Click the "Resize during upload" box and select a percentage to automatically reduce the size of the GIF during the upload process.

20 Click Wizards

Click "Wizards" at the top of the page once the GIF is uploaded. Then select "GIF Only."

21 Click the button

Click the button next to "Reduce Colours" to lower the number of colors used in the file.

22 Click GIF

Click "GIF Only" again to bring up the options again. Select "Remove every 2nd frame from GIF" to eliminate excessive frames in large GIFs and dramatically reduce the size of the file.

23 Click the GIF

Right click the GIF and select "Save Image As."

24 Upload Reduced GIF to Tumblr

25 Click Photo from the Tumblr dashboard

Click "Photo" from the Tumblr dashboard. This will upload either animated or non-animated GIFs as long as it meets Tumblr's size standard.

26 Click the camera with a plus symbol over it

Click the camera with a plus symbol over it. Select the GIF and click "Open."

27 Click Post .''

Click "Post." A GIF that exceeds the file size or pixel width limits will not upload.

  • Check the file size by right-clicking on the GIF file and selecting "Properties."

Roger Mock began reporting in 2008 at the "B.G. News" in Bowling Green, Ohio. He has a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Bowling Green State University.

×