Add Text to GIF

Put text on a GIF in seconds - classic meme captions, a white caption bar like a reaction GIF, or clean subtitles. Drag, resize and rotate every line right on the animated preview, and download a GIF that looks exactly the same. Need to trim it first? Use the GIF Cutter or the GIF Resizer.

How to Add Text to a GIF

  1. Add your GIF. Drop an animated GIF into the box, browse for it, paste it with Ctrl+V or paste a Tenor or GIPHY link.
  2. Pick a caption style. Meme for top and bottom text, Caption bar for a white band above the GIF, Subtitle for a dark box at the bottom, or Plain.
  3. Type and style your text. Choose the font, size and colour, then add an outline, a shadow or a background box. Emoji welcome.
  4. Place it on the preview. Drag the text to move it, use the corner handle to resize and the top handle to rotate. Under Timing, show a line on some frames only, with a fade or typewriter effect.
  5. Add the text and download. Press Add text to GIF, check the real file size and download your GIF - or open it straight in another GIF tool.

No GIF handy? Grab one of our sample GIF files and caption away.

Starting from a clip? Turn it into a GIF with Video to GIF or MP4 to GIF, then come back here.

Three Ways to Caption a GIF

Pick the style that matches where the GIF is going.

Meme

White Impact-style capitals with a black outline, at the top and the bottom.

The classic meme GIF look. Long lines shrink to fit, so nothing gets cut off.

Caption bar

A white band above the GIF with black text - the reaction GIF style.

The picture stays clean, and the band grows when your caption runs to two or three lines.

Subtitle

Smaller text in a soft dark box near the bottom.

Great for quotes, dialogue and tutorials, and readable over any frame.

Make Text Appear, Fade or Type Itself

A caption does not have to sit there the whole time.

Under Timing & animation, give each text layer its own first and last frame. The coloured bars under the timeline show when every layer is on screen.

Add an entrance - fade, pop or typewriter - and a fade-out at the end. Set up a joke on frame 1 and land the punchline on frame 20.

GoalBest settingTip
Classic memeMeme styleKeep each line short and punchy
Reaction GIFCaption barWrite it like a tweet: "me when..."
Quote or dialogueSubtitle + TimingOne layer per sentence, back to back
Punchline revealTiming from a later frameUse the Playhead buttons to pick the frame
Title cardPlain + Typewriter0.8-1.5 s of typing reads best

Tips for Readable GIF Text

Use a bold meme font

Anton, our Impact-style font, is the classic meme font. It stays readable even on small GIFs.

On a GIF under 300 px wide, keep the text large - Auto-fit stops it from spilling over.

Add an outline

A black outline makes white text pop on any background, light or dark.

Prefer a softer look? A drop shadow or a background box does the same job.

Position carefully

Keep text away from faces and the main action.

Top and bottom placements work best for meme captions, and the bar keeps the picture completely clear.

Watch the file size

New text adds a little weight. The result shows the real size before you download.

Too heavy for a chat app? Pick a smaller output or use the GIF compressor.

What Stays the Same

Adding text changes the words, not the animation.

Every frame keeps its own delay, the loop count stays as it was, and transparent GIFs keep their transparent background. GIFs that only redraw part of the picture are rebuilt correctly, so you get no ghost trails.

The text is drawn with the same fonts in the preview and in the file, so it lands exactly where you put it.

More Ways to Edit Your GIF

A caption is often one step in a longer GIF workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Press + to add up to 12 text layers, each with its own font, size, colour, outline, shadow, background box, position and timing.

The Meme style starts you with two layers - top text and bottom text - ready to type over.

Nine fonts, including Anton (the Impact-style meme font), Arimo (Arial-style), Archivo Black, Comic Neue, Open Sans and Tinos (Times-style). All of them are built in, so your GIF looks the same on every device.

Effects: outline, drop shadow with blur, background box, bold, italic, underline, uppercase, letter spacing, line height, opacity and rotation. Emoji work too.

Drag the text on the preview. The corner handle resizes it, the side handle sets how wide the text box is, and the round handle on top rotates it. Text snaps to the centre lines.

On a phone it works with touch, and the arrow keys nudge the selected text on a keyboard.

Pick the Caption bar style. A white band is added above the GIF and your text sits in it in black, wrapping onto more lines when it is long - the band grows with it.

You can move the bar below the GIF or change its colour under Caption bar.

Yes. Open Timing & animation and set the first and last frame for each text layer, or use the playhead buttons. Each layer can fade in, pop in or type itself out, and fade out at the end.

Perfect for a punchline that lands on the right frame.

Up to 50 MB and 3,000 frames. The preview is built in your browser, so you can style everything before anything is uploaded.

Too big? Resize it, trim it or compress it first.

No. Your GIF only gets the text you added - no logo, no branding, no sign-up and no limit on how many GIFs you caption.

Yes. Every frame keeps its own delay, the loop count stays the same and transparent GIFs stay transparent. Only the text is new.

Want a different speed? Use the GIF Speed Changer afterwards.

Guides & Tutorials

All 14 guides
Optimization GIF Resizing Masterclass: Shrink File Size Without Losing Animation Quality Read the guide Comparison PNG vs JPG: Which Image Format Should You Actually Use? Read the guide Optimization How to Reduce Image File Size Without Losing Quality Read the guide