---
title: "Resize an animated GIF in C#"
url: https://recursiveai.org/oneimage/cookbook/resize-animated-gif/
description: "Resize an animated GIF in C# and keep every frame, its delay and the loop setting. Read the frame count, make a still preview, or shrink the file as animated WebP. Runnable code with OneImage."
version: "1.10.4"
---

# Resize an animated GIF in C#

Load the GIF, call `Resize` and save it as a GIF. Every operation applies to every frame, so the frames, their delays and the loop setting come through with no extra code. The program below halves a 44-frame GIF of the rotating Earth from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

```shell
dotnet new console -o ResizeGif && cd ResizeGif
dotnet add package RecursiveAI.OneImage --version 1.10.4
curl -L -o earth.gif \
  "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Rotating_earth_(large).gif"
```

OneImage needs the .NET 10 SDK. Put this in `Program.cs` and run `dotnet run`:

```csharp
using OneImage;

Image gif = Image.Load("earth.gif");
Console.WriteLine($"earth.gif: {gif.Width}x{gif.Height}, {gif.FrameCount} frames, "
                + $"{gif.Frames[0].Delay.TotalMilliseconds} ms each");

// Every frame is resized; delays and the loop count are kept.
gif.Resize(width: 200).Save("earth-200.gif");

Image small = Image.Load("earth-200.gif");
Console.WriteLine($"earth-200.gif: {small.Width}x{small.Height}, "
                + $"{small.FrameCount} frames, "
                + $"{small.Frames[0].Delay.TotalMilliseconds} ms each");
```

```text
earth.gif: 400x400, 44 frames, 90 ms each
earth-200.gif: 200x200, 44 frames, 90 ms each
```

Frames come out composited: each is the full picture at that moment, with the GIF’s disposal and transparency rules applied, which is why one `Resize` call is enough. The same holds for `Crop`, `Rotate`, color changes and watermarks. Fit modes work too, such as `Resize(width: 200, height: 200, fit: Fit.Cover)` for a square.

## A still preview, and a smaller file

`Frames[i].ToImage()` turns one frame into an ordinary image. Animated WebP is usually far smaller than GIF and plays in current browsers:

```csharp
using OneImage;

Image gif = Image.Load("earth.gif").Resize(width: 200);

// The first frame as a plain PNG. Saving the whole animation to .png
// would write an animated PNG.
gif.Frames[0].ToImage().Save("poster.png");

gif.Save("earth-200.webp");
gif.Save("earth-200-64.gif", new SaveOptions
{
    EncoderOptions = new GifEncoderOptions { MaxColors = 64 },
});

foreach (string file in new[] { "earth.gif", "earth-200.gif", "earth-200-64.gif",
                                "earth-200.webp", "poster.png" })
{
    ImageInfo info = Image.Identify(file);
    long kb = new FileInfo(file).Length / 1024;
    Console.WriteLine($"{file}: {info.Frames.Count} frame(s), {kb} KB");
}
```

```text
earth.gif: 44 frame(s), 978 KB
earth-200.gif: 44 frame(s), 453 KB
earth-200-64.gif: 44 frame(s), 318 KB
earth-200.webp: 44 frame(s), 98 KB
poster.png: 1 frame(s), 43 KB
```

To get every frame as a file, loop over `Frames` and save each `ToImage()`.

## Limits

- **JPEG and BMP hold one image.** Saving an animation to `.jpg` writes the first frame only. GIF, WebP, PNG (APNG) and TIFF keep every frame.
- **Each frame is re-quantized** to a palette of at most 256 colors, so a resized GIF is smaller but not proportionally: expect about half, not a quarter.
- **At most 1,000 frames** load by default; raise `LoadOptions.Limits` if you need more.

To watermark every frame, see [Add a watermark](https://recursiveai.org/oneimage/cookbook/add-watermark/); for WebP settings, [Convert an image to WebP](https://recursiveai.org/oneimage/cookbook/convert-to-webp/). Animation is covered in the [guide](https://recursiveai.org/oneimage/docs/guide/#animation-and-multi-page-files).