Customize, preview and download

Add Text to GIF

Add text to an animated GIF online. Upload a GIF, choose your caption, font and position, and download a new animation with the original frame timing.

How to make it

Choose an animated GIF within the upload limits. Watch the original loop and decide where the caption can remain visible.
Type your caption, choose the font and text color, then compare top, center and bottom placement.
Check contrast across the moving background. Shorten the caption if it covers the subject or wraps awkwardly.
Sign in, generate for 2 credits and download the new GIF. Your original upload remains unchanged.

Examples you can customize

WHEN THE BUILD PASSES

Place a short reaction caption where it will not cover the face.

NEW COLOR AVAILABLE

Use a product caption with a contrasting outline.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Keep the greeting clear while the original animation plays.

Put a caption on the GIF you already have

Use this tool when the animation already exists and you want to add words over it. Upload a reaction GIF, a short product loop or another animation you have permission to edit. Enter your caption, choose a font and place it at the top, center or bottom. The exporter composites the caption onto the animation and creates a separate GIF file, leaving your original untouched. If you want the words themselves to move on a plain background, start with Text GIF Maker instead; creating animated lettering and captioning an existing GIF are different workflows.

Prepare an upload that can be processed reliably

The upload must be a GIF file, up to 5 MB, no more than 720 pixels wide or high, no longer than five seconds and no more than 120 image frames. There is also a 32-million decoded-pixel budget, so a large GIF with many full-size frames may need to be reduced even when its compressed file is small. These limits keep decoding and export manageable. If your file exceeds them, trim the animation, reduce its dimensions or remove unnecessary frames before uploading. Changing an MP4 or PNG filename to .gif does not convert it into a GIF.

Place text where it does not cover the action

Watch the source animation before deciding where the caption belongs. A face may move into the top third halfway through the loop, or a product may occupy the center only briefly. The top, center and bottom presets let you compare simple placements without dragging individual layers. Choose the position that remains clear across the whole animation. Keep the caption compact and avoid covering essential visual details. This version adds one caption layout throughout the GIF; it does not offer separate timed subtitle tracks or a different sentence on every frame.

Keep captions readable on changing backgrounds

A moving background may change from dark to light, so check more than the first frame. The caption uses a dark outline to separate the letters from the underlying image. White or another bright text color is a useful starting point, but the right choice depends on the source. A bold font generally survives small playback sizes better than a fine serif. If the image is very busy, move the caption toward a quieter area or shorten the wording. The live preview overlays your text on the uploaded GIF, while the final export uses the bundled fonts for a consistent result.

Retain frame timing and export a new GIF

The caption exporter reads the source frames, applies their disposal rules and composites the text over the reconstructed animation. It keeps each frame’s playback delay, with a minimum of 20 milliseconds for extremely short delays, and keeps the original canvas dimensions within the supported limits. The result is encoded as a new looping GIF, so palette reduction can change some colors compared with the source. This is not a lossless container edit. Your original file remains unchanged, and it is worth comparing the original and captioned versions before sharing a color-sensitive image.

Understand credits, privacy and common upload errors

Previewing the caption does not spend credits. A successful captioned GIF uses two credits, and the account’s one-time welcome gift can cover that export. Files are sent to the server for this generation and are not kept as uploaded media; the account records the text and export settings for billing and retry protection. Do not upload material you cannot share with the service. If you see an unsupported-file error, confirm the file is a real GIF and check its dimensions, duration and frame count. A failed render is not charged, and retrying the same interrupted request does not charge twice.

Frequently asked questions

Can I add text without losing the animation?

Yes. The exporter processes the source frames and produces an animated GIF with the caption composited over them. It does not simply save the first frame as a still image.

Can I change the text that is already inside a GIF?

This tool adds a new caption. It cannot recover editable text layers from a finished GIF or automatically erase lettering already baked into the frames.

Can I add timed subtitles or multiple captions?

The current tool applies one caption layout throughout the animation. Timed subtitle tracks, multiple draggable layers and per-frame caption editing are not included.

Will transparency and colors stay identical?

The renderer handles transparent source pixels and GIF disposal, but re-encoding uses a new palette. Some colors and antialiased edges may change, so inspect the downloaded result.

Why was my small GIF rejected?

Compressed size is only one limit. Large dimensions, long duration, too many frames or too many decoded pixels can exceed the processing budget even for a small upload.

Are uploaded GIFs stored in a public gallery?

No. The upload is processed for your export and is not published to a public gallery. Download the result before closing the page; the account stores text and settings, not the uploaded GIF file.

Add Text to GIF

Add a caption