GIF
CAPTIONER

GIF uses a 256-color palette with lossless frame storage, but text without anti-aliasing appears blocky. Our tool renders text using vector paths where possible, then quantizes to the nearest palette color. For best legibility, we recommend sans-serif fonts at 24px or larger, and avoiding fine serifs that degrade in palette conversion.

We support SRT-style timestamped captions, plain text overlay (single line), and multi-region text placement. Each caption can have independent timing, position, and styling. The tool parses line breaks as paragraph separators within a single caption block.

Text is composited as a separate layer on each frame. Position is relative to the canvas (top-left origin), not the moving subject. For memes where text should follow motion, you'll need to manually keyframe positions or use our motion-tracking assist feature (available for GIFs under 5 seconds).

We bundle fonts licensed for web use: Inter (SIL Open Font License), Roboto (Apache 2.0), and Impact (bundled for legacy compatibility). Commercial use of memes created with these fonts is generally permitted, but embedding fonts in further distribution may require additional licensing. Check the specific font's license for commercial merchandise use.

Text introduces high-frequency edges that compress poorly in GIF's LZW algorithm. A rule of thumb: each unique text element adds 5-15KB depending on font weight and color count. Using 2-3 colors max for text, applying slight transparency (95% opacity), and using the "Optimize Colors" option can reduce file size by 30-50%.

Burn-in permanently modifies pixels and works with any GIF player. Overlay text uses GIF's text extension (not widely supported). We default to burn-in for compatibility. For subtitles that need to be removable post-export, use our companion JSON track export feature which embeds timing data for external players.