Create GIFs for GitHub README files, issues, and pull requests. Clear, readable documentation GIFs. Browser-based, no watermark.
Animated GIFs have become a standard part of the GitHub developer workflow. README files use them to show what a library does in action — a spinning 3D model, a CLI tool in use, a UI component rendering. Issues and pull requests use them to reproduce bugs and demonstrate fixes. A well-made screen recording GIF in a PR description communicates in 3 seconds what would otherwise require a paragraph of text and a list of reproduction steps.
GitHub renders GIFs inline in Markdown — in READMEs, issue bodies, PR descriptions, and wiki pages. The file size limit for images uploaded to GitHub issues and PRs is 10MB. For README files committed to the repository, there's no enforced limit, but large GIFs slow down repository cloning and page loads. Under 3MB is a practical guideline for repository-committed GIFs.
GitHub supports dark mode, and many developers browse with it enabled. A GIF recorded against a white background looks jarring in dark mode. If your screen recording captures a UI with a white or light background, consider whether your audience is likely to be in dark mode and whether that affects readability. For code-focused recordings (terminal output, CLI tools), dark-theme terminals look good in both modes.
GitHub displays README GIFs at the full content column width (roughly 800px on desktop). At that display size, text in your GIF needs to be at least 14px to remain legible after the GIF encoding's color reduction. Record at 1x display scaling and avoid tiny UI elements that GIF compression will blur. GifSmith's High Def preset preserves text sharpness better than compression-focused presets.
Drop your screen recording (MOV from QuickTime, WebM from OBS, MP4 from any recorder) onto the forge. Trim to the exact interaction, select High Def, and download a clean, watermark-free GIF. Drag it directly into a GitHub issue or PR comment, or commit it to your repository's assets folder and reference it in your README with standard Markdown image syntax.
1. Record your screen demo or feature walkthrough.
2. Drop the recording onto GifSmith's forge.
3. Trim to the key interaction (keep it focused — 4–10 seconds).
4. Select High Def preset for readable text and crisp UI.
5. Click STRIKE GIF and download.
6. Drag into a GitHub comment or commit to your repo and reference in Markdown.