The downside of .GIF formats

✔️WHY .GIFS AREN’T A GOOD BANNER FORMAT

.GIFs can often be huge files because they act as a "flipbook" of entirely separate images stacked into a single file.

Unlike video formats (like .MP4) that only save the pixels that change from frame to frame, a .GIF saves every single full frame - for example, a 5-second animation at 24 frames per second means the file contains 120 separate images, stacked one after the other.  

Having really large file sizes come with risks:

Upload limits:

• Many DSPs and ad servers have maximum file size limits. If a file exceeds these limits, it simply cannot be uploaded or served

Slower loading:

• Larger files take longer to download on a user's device, particularly on slower mobile networks. This can delay the animation from starting or cause it to play less smoothly

Reduced user experience:

• If the creative takes too long to load or the animation stutters, users are less likely to engage with it; in some cases, they may scroll away before the banner has even finished loading 

• This will directly impact campaign performance

•  If creatives load slowly or don't play smoothly, engagement rates of any kind may decrease, reducing the overall effectiveness of the campaign

Brand perception:

• If a client’s banner is slow, blurry, low quality, or doesn't play smoothly, it can reflect poorly on the brand itself

A more efficient option is to rather have an .MP4 and set it to automatically loop in the code - you can see an example of that here.

WHY WE NEED ORIGINAL ANIMATION FILES TO RESIZE GIFS:

To resize a GIF and produce a high quality resized version, we'll need the original animation project file - this type of file usually ends with .AEP.

• A .GIF is the final exported version of the animation

• It's similar to a finished video - it contains all of the frames, but it no longer contains the individual artwork, text, or animation layers that were used to create it

• When creating a new size, we don't simply stretch the existing .GIF - each layout usually needs to be rebuilt so that the text, products, logos, and animations fit the new dimensions correctly while maintaining image quality

• Without this, we can only scale the entire .GIF as one flat animation - this often results in blurry visuals, distorted proportions, or elements being cropped, and we can't reposition or resize individual objects because they no longer exist as separate layers (similar to how static .JPGs behave when we need to resize them)

A .GIF is like a finished movie. You can watch it, but you can't ask the actors to stand in different places. The original animation file is the film set, where every object and character can still be moved independently.