Sample GIF Files — Download Animated GIF Test Images
Graphics Interchange Format (animated) · .gif · MIME type image/gif
Download a sample GIF file — every one is animated, because the reason people test GIFs is to find code that silently keeps only the first frame. A bouncing ball moves across a branded test card at 12 frames per second, so it is immediately visible whether a previewer, converter or CDN preserved the animation.
GIF dates from 1987, is limited to 256 colours per frame and 1-bit transparency, and compresses poorly, yet it remains the universal format for short looping animations because every browser, chat app and CMS has always supported it.
Download sample GIF files
| File | Details | Size | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
sample-animated-320x180-small.gif | 320 × 180 · 12 fps · 24 frames | 22 KB | |
sample-animated-640x360-medium.gif | 640 × 360 · 12 fps · 36 frames | 47 KB | |
sample-animated-960x540-large.gif | 960 × 540 · 12 fps · 48 frames | 80 KB |
Need one of every images format? Download the images sample pack (1.3 MB, one small file of every images format (10 files)).
Use these files from the command line or CI
Every URL is stable and CORS-open. Pin the SHA-256 in your test and you will know the moment a fixture changes.
# Download one file curl -O https://pnb-website-bucket.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/samples/images/gif/sample-animated-320x180-small.gif # Verify it (SHA-256 is listed for every file above) shasum -a 256 sample-animated-320x180-small.gif # Machine-readable index of every sample file curl https://pnb-website-bucket.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/samples/index.json | jq '.files[] | select(.format=="gif")'
GIF format at a glance
| Full name | Graphics Interchange Format (animated) |
|---|---|
| Extensions | .gif |
| MIME type | image/gif |
| Introduced | CompuServe, 1987 (GIF89a in 1989) |
| Compression | Lossless LZW, but 256-colour palette per frame |
| Transparency | 1-bit (on/off) only |
| Animation | Yes — frame delays, looping |
| Magic bytes | 47 49 46 38 39 61 ("GIF89a") |
What people test with sample GIF files
- Does the thumbnailer keep animation, or flatten to frame 1?
- Animated-GIF to MP4/WebP conversion
- Chat, comment and CMS upload handling
- Palette and dithering quality comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Why are GIF files so large compared with video?
GIF stores every frame as a separately compressed palette image with no inter-frame prediction, so a two-second clip can be bigger than a two-minute MP4. That is why most platforms silently convert uploaded GIFs to MP4 or WebP — and why you should test that they do.
Is GIF pronounced with a hard or soft G?
The format's creator, Steve Wilhite, said soft G (like 'jif'); most of the internet says hard G. Both are accepted, and neither affects your test results.
Are these GIF files safe to download?
Yes. Every file is generated by our own open script from scratch — nothing is scraped or user-uploaded — and contains no scripts, macros or executables. The SHA-256 of each file is published on this page so you can verify what you received.
Can I use the sample GIF files commercially?
Yes. They are free for any purpose, including commercial products, test suites, demos and redistribution, with no attribution required. There is nothing to license and no one to ask.
Can I hotlink these files or use them in CI?
Yes. Every link is a stable direct URL over HTTPS with Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * and long cache headers, so curl, wget, fetch() and test runners can pull them directly. A JSON index of every file is linked from each page (see the command-line section).
Related sample files
Free tools that work with GIF
- Image Converter — Convert images between PNG, JPG, and WebP right in your browser. Files never leave your device.
Testing a file pipeline? We build them.
Uploads, conversions, previews, document processing and media workflows are the kind of production systems Pine & Birch designs and runs for clients — which is why we needed these files in the first place.
See how we can help