Screen recording to GIF, in your browser.

#How to turn a screen recording into a GIF

1. Drop your recording in the box above. QuickTime and Snipping Tool recordings, Loom and Zoom downloads, and OBS files all work, as long as your browser can play them.
2. Find the part you want. Play the video, pause where the GIF should start and press Start here, then pause at the end and press End here. You can also type the times in seconds.
3. Choose the size. 640 px wide suits docs, tickets and README files. 480 px keeps the file small for chat. 800 px is sharper for blog posts.
4. Choose the frame rate. 10 frames per second is smooth enough for clicks and typing. Use 15 for scrolling and animations, or 8 for the smallest file.
5. Press Make GIF, check the preview, and download it.

A GIF can be up to 20 seconds long. That's longer than most GIFs should be: a GIF that shows one action, such as a click and what it opens, is easier to follow than one that shows a whole task.

#Why the video stays on your device

The converter runs in your browser. It reads frames from the video with the same player you see on the page and encodes the GIF on your computer. Nothing is sent to Nook or anyone else, so it's fine for recordings of internal tools, dashboards with customer data, or work you haven't announced yet.

Because the work happens on your machine, a long or large GIF takes a little longer on an older laptop. A 5-second clip at 640 px usually takes a few seconds.

#Tips for a GIF people can follow

• Show one action per GIF. Start just before the click, end once the result is on screen. Two or three short GIFs beat one long one.
• Record at the size you'll show. If you'll show the GIF at 640 px, record a browser window, not a 4K desktop. Small text stays readable.
• Hide what you don't need. Close other tabs, turn on Do Not Disturb, and use test data instead of real customer names.
• Keep the pointer steady. Move to the button, pause for half a second, then click. Fast mouse moves look like flicker at 10 frames per second.
• Check the file size before you post. GitHub, Slack, Notion and most help desks take GIFs up to around 10 MB. If yours is bigger, drop to 480 px or 8 frames per second.

#GIF or video?

GIFs autoplay, loop and work almost everywhere a picture works: READMEs, Jira and Linear tickets, Notion pages, Intercom articles and emails. They have no sound and get large quickly, so they suit a single step.

For a whole walkthrough, a video with narration is clearer. If you upload the same screen recording to Nook, it splits it into steps, writes and voices a line for each, zooms in on every click, adds captions, and writes a step-by-step guide with a screenshot per step. Each step of a Nook video can also be downloaded as its own GIF.

#Questions

#Is it really free?

Yes. There's no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many GIFs you make. It's a small tool from Nook, which makes narrated demo videos from screen recordings.

#Is my video uploaded anywhere?

No. The GIF is made in your browser and the video never leaves your device. You can check by turning off your internet connection after the page loads: the converter still works.

#Which video formats work?

Any format your browser can play. MP4 (H.264) works everywhere. MOV from QuickTime works in Safari and Chrome. WebM works in Chrome, Edge and Firefox. If a file won't load, export it as MP4 first.

#How long can the GIF be?

Up to 20 seconds per GIF. For longer clips, make several GIFs, or use a video instead.

#Why is my GIF large?

GIFs store every frame as an image, so size grows with width, frame rate and length. Halving the frame rate roughly halves the file. Screen recordings with lots of motion, such as scrolling, are bigger than ones where only a menu opens.

#Can I make a GIF from a Loom or Zoom recording?

Yes. Download the recording as MP4 from Loom or Zoom, then drop the file in.