Convert text to GIF from a plain .txt file
Turn a text file into a GIF online. No account needed.
or drop your TXT anywhere on this page
TXT → PDF → GIF
What this converter makes
This text to GIF converter turns a plain .txt file into still GIF pictures of its pages. To convert text to GIF online, press Select TXT file (or drop the file anywhere on this page), pick a Resolution and press Convert to GIF. Our server sets your words on A4 pages, then draws each page as a GIF, which is why the route reads TXT → PDF → GIF.
What you get is a picture of a printed page, not moving text. The words are black on a white page in Liberation Mono, a font in which every letter takes the same width, so a price list or a log lined up with spaces stays lined up. The accents in our UTF-8 test note, such as café and jalapeños, came through as typed.
Resolution is the only setting for TXT to GIF: there is no box to type into and no choice of font or colour. At 96 DPI a page is 794 × 1123 pixels, enough for a screen; 150 DPI, the default, gives 1241 × 1754; 300 DPI gives 2481 × 3508 for printing.
How to convert TXT to GIF
- 1Select or drop your text file
Nothing uploads until you press convert.
- 2Choose your options
We show the route and its fidelity grade up front.
- 3Download your GIF
Then it is deleted after 24 hours, automatically.
Just the words. No fonts, no layout, no arguments.
256 colours and a loop. Old, limited, immortal.
GIF keeps only 256 colours, so fine detail is lost. It looks right at normal size.
Good to know about converting TXT to GIF
- Every page becomes its own GIF. One page gives one picture; a longer file gives a ZIP named after it, in order: notes.txt gives notes-p001.gif, notes-p002.gif and so on.
- The text is laid out on A4 pages in a fixed-width font (Liberation Mono). Long lines wrap instead of being cut off.
- GIF keeps only 256 colours. That is plenty for text on a plain page: in our test, each GIF page matched the PNG of it to within one shade.
- At the default 150 DPI each page is 1241 × 1754 pixels. Up to 100 pages at a time.
Long text files
Every page of the file becomes a GIF of its own, not just the first. In our test a page held 64 short lines, and a line longer than 80 characters wrapped onto the next row. So 150 numbered lines came back as a ZIP of three GIFs: two full pages and a third with the last 22 lines.
To guess how many GIFs a file will make, divide its lines by 64, counting a long line once for every 80 characters. The page limit is 100, about 6,400 short lines: a longer file is stopped with a message that gives its page count, so split it into parts first.
GIF or another picture format for text
The same pages can be saved as other kinds of picture. We converted a full page of text and a nine-line note at 150 DPI to each:
| GIF | PNG | WebP | JPG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A full page (64 lines) | 263 KB | 486 KB | 234 KB | 413 KB |
| A short note (9 lines) | 14 KB | 32 KB | 13 KB | 48 KB |
- GIF came out at about half the size of PNG and looked the same: black text on white needs far fewer than 256 colours, so the GIF limit costs nothing here.
- PNG keeps every pixel exactly. Convert text to PNG for a picture you will edit further or print.
- WebP was the smallest, but some older programs refuse to open it. Convert text to WebP for pictures that go on a website.
- JPG was larger than GIF and WebP for both pages, and it softens the edges of the letters. Convert text to JPG when a form or upload only accepts JPG.
Looking for an animated text GIF?
This page cannot make one: each GIF it gives you is a single still frame. For words that appear, flash or change, make the frames yourself with two of our image tools. They work inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded:
- Open a picture in Add text to image, type your words, pick the Font, Size and Colour, and save it. Do it again for each frame, changing the words each time.
- Add the saved pictures to Images to GIF, drag them into order, and set the Time per frame (0.1 to 3 seconds) and whether the GIF plays Forever, Once or 3 times.
To show the pages of a text file one after another instead, convert it with Text to PDF, then open the PDF in PDF to GIF and choose Animated GIF of all pages. Each page stays on screen for the time you pick, from half a second to 5 seconds, and the GIF loops. That is two conversions, so it uses two of the free plan's three a day. For words already on slides, convert PowerPoint to GIF turns each slide into one frame of a looping GIF.
Questions people ask
Will the GIF be animated, one page after another?
No. Each page is its own still GIF, and a file of more than one page gives a ZIP of them, numbered in order.
Is there a box to type my words into?
No. The tool takes a file ending in .txt and nothing else. Save your words as plain text first, for example from Notepad with Save as, then drop the file on the tool.
What happens if my text file is longer than one page?
Each page becomes its own GIF, and you download them together as a ZIP named after your file, numbered in order. A page holds about 64 short lines. The page limit is 100: a longer file stops with a message that gives its page count.
How do I make a GIF where the words move?
Write the words on a picture with Add text to image, once for each frame, then put the pictures together in Images to GIF, where you set the time per frame and how often it repeats. Both tools run in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.
Can I change the font or the colours?
No. Resolution is the only setting, and the GIF always shows black Liberation Mono text on a white A4 page. For your own font and colours, write the words on a picture with Add text to image, where you pick the Font and the Colour.
Is converting Text to GIF free?
Yes. Up to 25 MB and three conversions a day are free, with no account. Pro and Business lift the file limit to 100 MB and remove the daily cap.
What happens to my files?
Both your Text and the GIF we produce are deleted 24 hours after each conversion, automatically. Try again and Continue to another tool start a new conversion, with its own 24 hours. Nothing is used for training and no human looks at your documents.
Will the GIF look exactly like the Text?
This pair grades as “Very good”. We show the exact route and that grade before you convert, so there are no surprises about what survives the trip.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Nothing to install. Pick or drop a file here, it's converted on our servers, and you download the result.
How large can my file be?
25 MB on the free plan, and 100 MB on Pro and Business.
Can I convert several files at once?
On Pro and Business, yes: add up to 100 files before converting. The free plan converts one file at a time.
