My Favorite GIF App Features: Instagiffer (Mac/Windows)

Instagiffer is an unassuming GIF creation tool for both Mac OS X and Windows that has a wealth of features any GIF creator should appreciate, and any competitor should consider adopting.

My favorite feature of the app is something I feel every GIF creation tool worth its salt should incorporate: the app’s creators considered where you will be sharing your GIFs, and the constraints associated with sharing in those environments. Though I have issue with the fact that you aren’t made aware of this bit of prescience until after you’ve broken a rule, so to speak, I appreciate that app’s author thought about this and put interactions in place to let you know.

Another aspect of Instagiffer that I really like about Instagiffer is that unlike many of its video-to-GIF conversion tool peers, Instagiffer allows editing of an existing GIF.

Another feature that I like about Instagiffer is that the crop tool is very forgiving. While cropping, the original dimensions of the source file are always visible, and you are never asked to destructively make a choice about your crop area.

Instagiffer also accepts a wide array of video formats, more than most tools I’ve worked with (including .MKV files). The fact that you can also stitch GIFs and videos together gives users a very rudimentary editing tool.

Nearly every video format is supported. The list includes MKV (HD), 3GP (cellphone), FLV, AVI and more.

There are plenty of other unique features Instagiffer has that may be worth checking out if you have the time.

The last attribute that I like about Instagiffer, and one that it shares with a growing number of GIF tools, is that it is free.

Yes, it’s free. It will NEVER contain ads or malware! Always download Instagiffer from a trusted source. To verify that your download is legit, I’ve supplied the SHA and MD5 hashes for every version. To learn more about hashes, and how to use them, read this.

Overall, Instagiffer has the feel of a passion project, and so a lot of the clunky interactions and workflows that would normally prompt me to abandon an app, don’t bother me as much. The app has apparently been around since 2013 for both Windows and Mac, and I’m embarrassed that I’m just finding out about it now. Better late than never.