How to Resize .GIF Signatures and Avatars In a Browser

This guide serves to help you resize or reduce the file size of your .gif signatures and avatars without photo editing software.
I will use www.ezgif.com to help you reduce images that exceed the d2jsp limits.
The signature and avatar limits are as follows:

• Signatures: 400x150px and 70kb
  
• Avatars: 64x64px and 50kb

[STEP 1: Uploading Your Image]

The first step is to upload your image to ezgif.
Open www.ezgif.com/resize in any browser and you can upload your image either directly from your computer or by using the direct link.
If you need help finding the direct link of your image, there is a guide for that here: How to Find the Direct Link of Any Image.
Once you input your image, click “Upload!”

**If your image is already within the dimension limit and you just need to reduce the file size, please skip to step 3 now. **



[STEP 2: Resizing Your Image]

Now that your image is uploaded, it’s time to resize it.
Ezgif will automatically scale your image.
That means that you only have to input either the maximum width or the maximum height that you need, and the other will update automatically.
For example, if my signature was 193x168 and i needed it to be within the 400x150 limit, i would input 150 to height (as shown below) and the width would be adjusted automatically so that the image is not stretched or distorted.


Now, click “Resize Image!” and your new resized image will appear below.
**Note that often times just reducing the dimensions will also drastically reduce the file size.
If your image is now within the dimension limits and the file size limits, skip to Step 5**

[STEP 3: Optimizing and Reducing Your Image]

Now that your image is within your desired dimensions, it’s time to optimize it in order to reduce the file size.
Click "Optimize" on your new image as shown below.


There are a few different options when optimizing your image.
You will likely want to use a combination of different optimization tools in order to reduce your image while maintaining as much quality as possible.
To find the tools, click the drop-down bar that says "Lossy Gif".

Color Reduction:
This tool can be used to reduce the total amount of different colours that there are in the image.
It is rare that you will need to use this tool, but some .gif signatures that use very high quality images include a lot of different shades of colours.
For example, a very high quality image of the sky may include hundreds of different shades of blue that make up the image.
You can set a limit on the number of colours in your image so that alike colours will become the same.
This will almost never be an issue with animated signatures and avatars.

Removing Frames:
This tool is a great optimization tool and should be used in tandem with the speed tool as shown below:


The idea is that the more frames you remove, the slower you should make the gif so that it keeps the same tempo as your original image. For example, if you choose to “Remove every 2nd frame”, you would be removing half of the frames. You would want to slow your .gif by 50% with the speed tool or else it will move twice as fast as your original image. Keep in mind that the more frames you remove, the choppier the .gif will be.

Lossy Gif Compression:
Lossy compression uses an algorithm that decides what details in the image are unnecessary. You can choose how heavily you want the image reduced by inputting a number between 1-200. The higher the number, the heavier the reduction. A good number to start at is 3. An example of lossy compression can be seen below:


Optimize Transparency:
Optimizing transparency can be a great reduction tool, but is only beneficial if your signature contains a lot of transparency. This can include smudge signatures, signatures with transparent backgrounds or signatures with any transparency effects or brushes. Similar to the colour reducer, the transparency optimizer will blend like colours and layers of transparency.

**It is important to try different combinations of these tools in order to retain the most quality while staying within the size limits.
Since every image is different, the right combination for every image will be different.
You may even find that there is no way to reduce your image while retaining a reasonable amount of quality.
If you have exhausted all of your options, it may be best to find a new source image to work with.

[STEP 4: Saving Your Image]

Now that your image is within the dimension limits and within the file size limit, it is time to download it and save it to your computer.
To do this, simply click “Save” as shown below.




[STEP 5: Rehosting Your Image]

Finally, you must upload it to a long-term image hosting website like Imgur.
It is important that this step is taken and you do not use the direct link from ezgif.
This is because the link from ezgif will expire in a few days and your image will no longer be available.
However, if you upload it to a long-term free image hosting site like Imgur, your link will not expire and will be available for as long as imgur remains free.
If you don’t know how to upload an image to imgur, there is a seperate guide located here: How to upload your images to d2jsp using Imgur.





All finished. Now you should have a signature and avatar that are within the size limits with links that won’t go dead. The best part is that you did it yourself
Remember that if you are having issues, you can always just post in the Signature and Avatar Resizing Service located in the Graphic Design Forums

Guides Referenced:
How to upload your images to d2jsp using Imgur - Thanks Lynerau
How to Find the Direct Link of Any Image - Thanks Epiphany
Thank you Tosted for the proofread!