Mac Terminal - Create animated gif from png files

Question

I have a bunch of png files named as 1.png, 2.png, etc. and I want to create an animated gif image from them all. I haven't been successful in finding a solution for a terminal command that will convert these png files into a single animated gif.

Can someone post some commands that I can try? I have tried "convert" commands but my terminal always says convert is not found even though I have installed ImageMagik.

If you are (fairly) sure `convert` should be somewhere in your system, try [`whereis`](http://superuser.com/questions/40301/which-whereis-differences). — Jongware, Nov 24 '13 at 17:41

score 46 · Answer 1 · edited May 09 '18 at 16:54

46

convert *.png screens.gif

This answer suggested installing convert with brew install ImageMagick.

edited May 09 '18 at 16:54

kilojoules

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answered Apr 26 '14 at 10:05

ViliusK

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You can run this from the `Finder` context menu with `Automator`: https://jacobsalmela.com/2015/11/02/make-animated-gifs-in-os-x-with-a-right-click/ – Heath Borders Dec 05 '17 at 17:00
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This won't take the ordering of your frames. – Tarantula Jul 20 '19 at 14:09
Thanks a lot!!, I did not know I could convert files so easy – Luis Mata B. Jun 26 '20 at 21:13

score 28 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 21 '20 at 07:08

ImageMagick's convert command works perfectly for this but you'll want to list the filenames in the correct order. Using *.png will jumble frames if the digits don't have the leading zeros because the ordering is alphabetical:

1.png  10.png  11.png  2.png  3.png  ...

If you use zsh you can simply use a glob qualifier:

convert *.png(n) out.gif

Otherwise you can sort the ls output

convert $(ls *.png | sort -V) out.gif

If your filenames have leading zeros go ahead and use *.png. Note that the default delay between frames is small, so depending on your use case the frame rate might be too quick. To change that use the -delay option, for example:

convert -delay 50 *.png out.gif

This will set FPS to 100/50 = 2 frames per second.

Mac Terminal - Create animated gif from png files

2 Answers2