PNG to APNG Converter
This converter rewrites a PNG as an APNG, the animated extension of PNG. A single still image becomes an APNG with one frame. That is useful when an upload pipeline insists on the APNG structure, but it does not create motion from a still or join several PNGs into one animation.
Image Converter
or drop JPG, JPEG, JPE … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
85 keeps photos visually identical to the original. Lower it only when you need a smaller file.
JPG, BMP and EPS have no transparency. Transparent pixels are filled with this color.
Hex color used behind transparent pixels, e.g. #FFFFFF.
This format holds a single image. Choose GIF or WebP output if you want to keep the animation.
A multi-size icon contains several resolutions in one file; browsers and operating systems pick the one they need.
Keep the original dimensions, or enter one side and the aspect ratio is kept.
Pixels for the side you chose above.
Percentage of the original dimensions.
sRGB is right for screens and the web. Keep the original for print workflows; grayscale discards color.
Metadata only, 0 keeps the original value. Printers and some portals read this number; it does not change pixel dimensions.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the PNG files
Add up to 20 files, each up to 95 MB. Each PNG is converted on its own; files are not combined.
- 2
Check the output format
Convert to is already set to APNG. There is no quality slider: APNG is lossless, so colors and transparency carry over unchanged.
- 3
Convert and download
Press Convert to APNG. Each result keeps the .png extension, which is the normal name for an APNG file.
What does converting a PNG to APNG actually do?
It adds APNG's animation chunks around the same image data. One PNG in gives a one-frame APNG out, with identical pixels, full color and alpha. It does not animate a still or merge several PNGs into a sequence.
Convert PNG to APNG: one still in, one frame out
An APNG is a PNG with three extra chunk types. acTL announces the number of frames and loops, fcTL sets the size, position and delay of each frame, and fdAT carries frames after the first. The first frame is stored in ordinary IDAT chunks, so any program that does not understand APNG simply shows it as a normal still PNG. That backward compatibility is the format's best feature, and it is also why the file keeps the .png extension.
Converting one still adds an acTL chunk saying the animation has one frame, plus a single fcTL. Nothing visible changes. People searching for this conversion often expect more, so it is worth being plain: a picture cannot gain motion it never had, and this page treats each uploaded file as a separate image.
PNG
Portable Network Graphics
PNG is a lossless raster format published in 1996 by the PNG Development Group and later standardised by the W3C and ISO. It keeps every pixel exactly, supports full alpha transparency and handles text, sharp edges and flat colours without artefacts. That precision makes it ideal for screenshots, logos, icons and interface graphics. The trade-off is size: photographs saved as PNG are often several times larger than the same photo as JPEG or WebP. All browsers, operating systems and editors open PNG files.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1996 · PNG Development Group
APNG
Animated PNG
APNG is an extension of PNG that stores several frames to create an animation, proposed by Mozilla developers in 2004. Unlike GIF it supports full 24-bit colour and smooth 8-bit alpha transparency, so animated edges look clean on any background. Older PNG viewers simply show the first frame, which makes the format backward compatible. All modern browsers play APNG, but many editors, messaging apps and social networks still treat it as a static PNG. Files can be large because each frame is stored losslessly.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- Yes
- Introduced
- 2004 · Mozilla
A still PNG goes to APNG only when a sticker set, a game engine or an asset pipeline expects every file to carry the animated-PNG structure, so a non-moving item has to match its animated neighbors.
APNG vs GIF: 24-bit color and 8-bit alpha
| APNG | GIF | Animated WebP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colors per frame | 16.7 million (24-bit) | 256 palette | 16.7 million |
| Transparency | 8-bit alpha, soft edges | On or off per pixel | 8-bit alpha |
| Lossless frames | yes | yes | Optional |
| Shown as a still where unsupported | yes | no | no |
| Plays in all current major browsers | yes | yes | yes |
How APNG went from Mozilla to the PNG standard
2004
Proposed by Mozilla
Mozilla developers design APNG as a simpler alternative to MNG.
2008
Firefox 3
The first browser to play APNG ships.
2014
Safari 8
Apple adds support on OS X Yosemite and iOS 8.
2017
Chrome 59
Chrome joins, making APNG playable in every major browser.
2025
PNG Third Edition
The W3C standard folds the APNG chunks into PNG itself.
Making a real animated PNG instead
For decades the PNG Development Group kept APNG outside the official specification; a 2007 vote rejected it in favor of MNG, which almost nobody adopted. Browsers implemented APNG anyway, and the 2025 third edition finally recognizes it. Today its best-known use is messaging stickers: LINE requires APNG for animated stickers, which is why designers convert GIFs into it.
If you have the motion as a video or screen recording, turn it into a GIF first with the video to GIF tools, then convert that GIF to APNG. If your frames came out of an animation program as numbered PNG files, export them from that program as a GIF or video instead; this page will not stitch them together. And if the target only needs a still with transparency, keep the PNG or use PNG to GIF for a slot that requires GIF. The guide to making a GIF from a video covers frame rate and loop settings.
PNG to APNG questions
Will my still PNG start moving after converting to APNG?
No. A still picture has one frame, so the APNG has one frame and looks identical. Movement needs a sequence of frames, which comes from a video, a GIF or an animation tool.
Can I combine several PNG frames into one APNG here?
Not on this page. Each uploaded PNG is converted separately into its own file. To build an animation, start from a video with the video to GIF tools, or convert an existing GIF with GIF to APNG.
Why would anyone want a one-frame APNG?
Some build scripts, sticker validators and asset pipelines check for the APNG animation-control chunk and refuse plain PNG, even for a frame that does not move, such as a static placeholder in a set of animated assets. Converting adds that structure without touching the pixels.
Does a one-frame APNG pass LINE's animated sticker review?
No. LINE asks for animated stickers in APNG with several frames, so a single still frame does not meet the requirement. Make the animation first, then check its frame count and size against LINE's creator guidelines.
Is the APNG larger than the original PNG?
Only by a few dozen bytes for the extra control chunks. The image data is compressed the same lossless way, so the file size stays practically the same.
How can I check that a file really is an APNG?
Open it in a hex viewer and look for the letters acTL before the first IDAT chunk. Tools such as ExifTool also report the animation control data, including the frame count.
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