GIF87 to SIXEL Converter
FileFlip converts GIF87 to SIXEL entirely inside your browser, using ImageMagick compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert a GIF87 file to SIXEL?#
- Drop your GIF87 file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to SIXEL and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 14.1 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs ImageMagick on your own machine.
- Save the SIXEL file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting GIF87 to SIXEL lose quality?#
No. Converting GIF87 to SIXEL writes the data out again without discarding any of it, so nothing that was in the GIF87 file is lost on the way. What changes is the size of the file, not what is inside it.
Is it safe to convert GIF87 files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts GIF87 files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What GIF87 to SIXEL actually does to the file#
Converting GIF87 to SIXEL runs on ImageMagick, downloads 14.1 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, writes the data out again without discarding any of it, and drops extra images.
| Engine | ImageMagick |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: GIF87 → SIXEL |
| Downloaded to your browser | 14.1 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Lossless |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Extra images | Dropped | The target format has nowhere to put it. |
Worth knowing before you start:
- ImageMagick is asked for a single image, so only the first frame, page, or icon size is read
- the target holds at most 256 colours, so a full-colour image is quantised to a palette
What is a GIF87 file?#
A GIF87 file follows the original 1987 Graphics Interchange Format specification that CompuServe published two years before GIF89a added transparency and animation, so it stores a single, fully opaque image using the same LZW compression and 256-color palette as any other GIF.
There's essentially no reason to target GIF87 today; write a plain GIF, which is GIF89a, instead unless a specific tool or test needs the older header.
Convert to GIF89a or PNG when the image needs transparency or animation, since GIF87 supports neither.
What is a SIXEL file?#
A SIXEL file holds a bitmap encoded entirely as printable ASCII characters, using DEC's six-pixel-tall encoding scheme, so it can be sent to a printer or terminal over a plain 7-bit serial link and displayed without any separate image protocol.
Use Sixel when an image needs to display inline inside a terminal session, such as showing a chart or a thumbnail over SSH without opening a separate viewer.
Convert a Sixel image to PNG once it needs to be viewed anywhere outside a terminal emulator that understands the encoding.
GIF87 to SIXEL questions people ask#
What is a GIF87 file?
A GIF87 file follows the original 1987 Graphics Interchange Format specification that CompuServe published before adding transparency and animation in 1989's GIF89a. It stores a single, fully opaque static image.
What's the difference between GIF87 and GIF89a?
GIF89a, released in 1989, added the features people now associate with GIF: transparent backgrounds, multi-frame animation, and comment or application metadata blocks. GIF87, the original 1987 version, has none of those and can only hold one static, opaque image.
Do modern browsers still support GIF87 files?
Yes. GIF89a was designed as a backward-compatible extension of GIF87, so every GIF reader that handles modern animated GIFs also reads a plain GIF87 file without any issue.
What is a SIXEL file?
A SIXEL file is a bitmap image encoded as printable ASCII text using DEC's six-pixel-tall scheme, originally built in the early 1980s so DEC printers and terminals could receive graphics over the same serial link used for plain text.