iGIFmaker (formerly Youtube2GIF)

Youtube2GIF is an intuitive software utility that can capture footage from any source, whether it's an online clip or any activity on the desktop, and turn it into GIF animations. It comes bundled with a set of useful options that can be easily figured out.

Fast installation and user-friendly interface

The setup operation is fast and uneventful. The main app window is small and resizable, showing the total number of frames and animation duration in the status bar. Capturing the currently selected region is done with the click of a button, and stopping it is just as easy.

Modify GIF options via context menus

Users have the possibility to edit GIF settings by previewing each captured image, applying captions, changing the font size and color, and adjusting the text position in the frames, as well as to preview the entire animation in slow motion to spot any mistakes.
Furthermore, it is possible to change the capture and GIF speed, reduce the file size by sacrificing quality, resize the image, record mouse movements, create a caption of the already recorded GIF, apply text watermarks, and so on. Animations can be saved to files on the disk, directly uploaded to Imgur.com, or copied to the Clipboard.

Evaluation and conclusion

The app leaves a minimal footprint on system resources, using low CPU and RAM. We have not come across any issues in our evaluation, since it did not hang, crash or display error notifications. On the other hand, the options could have been better organized in menus with buttons, instead of context menus. Nevertheless, Youtube2GIF comes packed with some surprising features dedicated to capturing footage and turning it into GIF animations, and it should meet the requirements of most users.