Summary
Finding: Steps 1–3: source and save a short clip
Converting: Steps 4–7: Ezgif, trim, settings
Shrinking: Steps 8–10: check size, optimise, save
Sending: Steps 11–13: drop into the builder, test
Before you start
A few things to know:
🔇No sound - GIFs carry no audio, so pick a clip that works muted
🎨256 colours - Gradients and skin tones can band. Flat, graphic footage converts best.
📏 Keep it short - Two to six seconds. Every extra second adds weight fast.
🖼️ First frame matters - Some email clients - such as older versions of Outlook -show only frame one and never animate. Make sure that frame stands on its own.
Step 1: Find your video
Search for the clip you need - in this example we're searching for "short happy birthday videos free download".
Keep it short - A few seconds is ideal; length is the single biggest driver of file size.
Check you are allowed to use it. Free, royalty-free or your own footage only.
Why it matters: A GIF has no sound, so pick a clip that makes sense muted. If the message depends on a voiceover, link to the video instead.
Step 2: Open the result
Skip the sponsored results at the top and pick a site that plays the video in the page.
Sites like Cap-Cut and Vlipsy host short clips you can play and save directly.
Avoid anything that wants a sign-up or a paid download before you can see the clip.
Step 3: Save the video to your computer
Right-click the video that is playing.
Choose Save video as… from the menu.
Save it somewhere easy to find — Downloads is fine — and note the file name.
An MP4 or MOV file is all the converter needs.
Why it matters: Use Save video as…, not Save video frame as… - the second one gives you a single still image, not the clip.
Step 4: Open the converter
Go to ezgif.com in your browser.
It is free, needs no account and runs entirely in the browser - nothing to install.
Step 5: Choose Video to GIF
On the Ezgif home page, click Video to GIF.
The same toolbar also holds Resizer and Optimizer, which you may need later.
Step 6: Upload your video
Drag the saved video from your folder into the dashed upload area.
Or click Choose file and pick it from your computer.
MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI and most other common formats are accepted.
Step 7: Set your GIF options
Start and end time - trim to just the seconds you need. This is where most of your file size saving comes from.
Size - 600px wide suits a full-width email row. Never export wider than the space it sits in.
Frame rate (FPS) - 10 to 18 is plenty. Lower means fewer frames, and a smaller file.
Loop count - leave it at 0 so the GIF loops forever.
Click Convert to GIF! when you are ready.
Why it matters: Trim length first, then reduce frame rate, then reduce size. In that order you lose weight where nobody notices it.
Step 8: Check the file size
Ezgif shows the size, dimensions, frame count and length under the result.
Under 1MB is the target for any GIF in an email. Under 500KB is better.
In this example the GIF came out at 2.62MiB - too heavy to send, and Ezgif says so.
Click optimize the GIF to fix it.
Why it matters: A heavy GIF loads slowly on mobile data. Readers scroll past a blank space rather than wait for it to appear.
Step 9: Reduce the size
Set Optimization method to Lossy GIF.
Start with a compression level around 15 and increase it if you need to save more.
Click Optimize GIF! and compare the result with the original.
Still too big? Go back and trim a second or two off the length, or drop the frame rate.
Step 10: Save the finished GIF
Check the new size - here it dropped by 37.5%, from 2.62MiB to 1.63MiB.
Click Save (the disk icon on the right of the toolbar) to download it.
The other tools on that row - Resize, Crop, Speed, Add text - are all available before you save.
Why it matters: This example is still above the 1MB target. A shorter clip, or a second pass through the optimiser, would bring it down.
Step 11: Open the Email Builder
In the Airship dashboard, go to Emails.
Click Build new template, or open an existing template to add the GIF to.
Step 12: Add the GIF to your email
Drag the Image tool into the content block where the GIF should sit.
Click Upload Image and select your GIF.
Add alt text describing the clip, for anyone whose email client blocks images.
Add a link if the GIF should click through.
Why it matters: A GIF behaves exactly like any other image in the builder. Keep it at its exported size - scaling it up softens it, and scaling it down does not make the file any lighter.
Step 13: Check the result
The GIF animates in the canvas so you can see it in place.
Use the desktop and mobile preview, then send a test email to yourself.
Open the test on a phone as well as a desktop — animation and load speed both behave differently there.
Common problems, and what causes them 🛠️
It doesn't animate. The email client is showing the first frame only. Expected behaviour - make sure that frame works alone.
It plays once and stops. Loop count wasn't set to 0 at the conversion step.
It loads slowly. The file is too heavy. Trim the length before you sacrifice quality.
It looks blocky or banded. Compression level is too high, or you're scaling a small GIF up in the builder.
The loop jumps. The first and last frames are too different. Re-trim so the clip starts and ends in a similar position.
Why bother with a GIF at all? 🤔
Movement draws the eye in an inbox full of static images.
It plays without a click, so nothing depends on the reader pressing play.
A few seconds can show a space, a dish or a process faster than a paragraph describing it.
Once made, the file sits in Uploads and can be reused across sends and locations.
The whole process takes a few minutes once you've done it once, and the settings above work as a starting recipe for every video you convert after this one.