# Making animated images smaller for the web

- Link: https://tomas-shejbal.cz/en/wordpressito/making-animated-images-smaller-for-the-web/
- Published: 2026-02-25T10:27:17+01:00
- Author: tom

# Making animated images smaller for the web

A designer sent me a 3MB gif to put on a website. 🤯

No way, I said. We have to do something about this. One image that big — even a 
side image — will make the site slow for everyone.

There is a simple way to fix it.

![Snímek obrazovky animovaného obrázku nůžek rozloženého do jednotlivých snímků](
https://tomas-shejbal.cz/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/wordpressito_gif_avif.webp)

_Last changed: 25. 2. 2026_

If you do not want to read, I made a short video (under 4 minutes) showing every
step.

## How to make a moving image (gif) smaller

### Step 1: Canva

 1. Make a new design in Canva with the right size (for example 300 x 200 pixels)
 2. Put your gif into the design, then make it the right size and direction
 3. Download it as a gif with a clear (see-through) background
 4. This step alone will make the file go from 3 MB down to about 1 MB

### Step 2: Change gif to avif

 1. Go to [https://ezgif.com/](https://ezgif.com/)
 2. Put in your gif from Canva
 3. Click "Upload Files" and wait
 4. Select "Make avif"
 5. Download the new file

**Important:** The file will come with the ending _.avifs_ — change it to _.avif_,
or WordPress will not know what to do with it.

### Step 3: Check that your server can work with avif

 1. In your WordPress admin, go to "Site Health" > "Info" > "Media handling"
 2. Check that ImageMagick shows support for the avif format
 3. If it does not, you will need to turn on _ImageMagick_ support on your server. 
    On low-cost shared hosting, you may need to write to the support team.

## The result

 * First gif: 3.6 MB
 * After Canva: about 500 KB
 * Final avif: only 200 KB

The moving picture is still there. The clear background is still there. The designer
is happy. I am happy. And most of all — the people who visit the site are happy.

_Note: why go through Canva? Other online tools for making images smaller will destroy
the clear background. At least, I have not found one that does not._