Free tools
How to Animate a Logo: File, Motion and Export Settings for Each Use
Prepare the logo file, pick a motion and direction for a YouTube intro, a Reel, an email signature or a website, and export the right MP4 or transparent GIF.
Video examples here were generated on Cicadas and keep their model, settings and date. Cicadas earns money when you generate with these models. How we test
Short answer: start from a transparent PNG or SVG, decide where the animation will be used, and let that choose the shape, the direction and the file type: a 16:9 MP4 set to Intro for a YouTube opening, a 9:16 MP4 for Reels and Shorts, a small GIF set to Outro for an email signature, a transparent GIF for a website or a sticker. The free logo animation maker does each of these in your browser, without redrawing your logo.
We make Cicadas, and the tool used throughout is ours. The MP4 timings and sizes come from our tests in Chrome on a computer on October 8, 2026; the GIF export was checked in Chrome on October 18, 2026; the limits (sizes, lengths, frame rates) were read from the tool's code on November 5, 2026. If you are choosing between tools rather than learning one, our comparison of six free logo animation makers tested the others on the same logo. We later ran eight kinds of logo file through all six motions; the results are in our logo animation test.
Step 1: prepare the logo file
The file decides more than the animation does.
- Use a transparent PNG or SVG. The logo then sits on any background colour you pick, and it is the only kind of file that can give a see-through GIF. A JPG or WebP works, but its background is animated with the mark.
- If your logo has its own background, the tool reads the corner colour and fills the frame with it, so no box shows. Wipe and Shine will then cross the whole rectangle, not just the mark.
- Give an SVG a size. An SVG without width and height or a viewBox cannot be measured and is refused. Files up to 20 MB and 8,000 pixels a side are accepted.
- Crop the empty margin. The logo is fitted into a box of 30, 45 or 60 percent of the frame (Small, Medium, Large), measured on the file. Transparent padding around the mark makes it look smaller than you chose.
- Wide wordmark or compact symbol? A wide wordmark hits the width limit first, so it often needs Large in a square or vertical frame; a compact symbol usually looks right at Medium.
Step 2: choose settings by where the logo will play
| Use | Shape and size | Use as | Length | Motion | File |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube intro | 16:9, 1920 by 1080 | Intro | 3 to 4 s | Fade in, Rise or Shine | MP4 |
| YouTube end screen | 16:9, 1920 by 1080 | Outro | 3 to 5 s | Fade in or Rise | MP4 |
| Reels, Shorts, TikTok | 9:16, 1080 by 1920 | Intro or Both | 2 to 3 s | Pop or Wipe | MP4 |
| Instagram or LinkedIn post | 1:1, 1080 by 1080 | Both | 3 to 4 s | Shine or Pop | MP4 |
| Slides and presentations | 16:9, 1920 by 1080 | Intro | 2 to 3 s | Fade in | MP4 |
| Email signature | GIF, 320 px | Outro | 2 to 3 s | Shine or Fade in, on a solid colour | GIF |
| Website loader or sticker | GIF, 320 or 480 px, transparent | Both | 2 to 3 s | Pop or Wipe | GIF |
Why Outro for an email signature: a GIF loops, and some Outlook desktop setups show only its first frame (Microsoft's own support page says that happens when animated GIFs are switched off). With Intro the first frame is empty, so those readers would see nothing. With Outro the clip starts on the whole logo. Keep the GIF on a solid colour that matches the email background, because soft edges on a transparent GIF can look jagged on white.
Why Pop or Wipe for a transparent GIF: GIF pixels are either fully clear or fully solid. Fades and the Focus blur depend on half-transparent pixels, so on a transparent GIF they turn into a cut. Pop changes size and Wipe uncovers with a hard edge, and both survive.
Step 3: pick the motion by the logo, not by taste
| Motion | What it does | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Fade in | Fades in while growing slightly | Any logo; the safest intro for a serious brand |
| Rise | Slides up into place as it fades in | Logos that sit above a tagline or a lower third |
| Pop | Springs past full size, then settles | A compact symbol or app icon; less so a long wordmark |
| Wipe | Uncovered from left to right | Wordmarks, which read in the same direction |
| Focus | Starts as a blur and sharpens | Photographic or detailed marks; not on a transparent GIF |
| Shine | A band of light crosses once | Metallic or bold marks; a still logo that needs one moment of life |
The preview plays each motion on your own file before anything is exported, so trying three costs nothing. The reveal always takes 30 percent of the clip, at most 1.2 seconds, and the logo then holds still.
Step 4: export
- Choose your logo file on the logo animation maker and set the motion, Use as, length (2 to 6 seconds), shape, logo size and background colour.
- For video, pick 720p or 1080p and click Make MP4. You get an H.264 MP4 at 30 frames per second with no sound. In our tests, six clips of 2 to 6 seconds were made in under 3 seconds each and weighed 0.04 to 0.44 MB.
- For a GIF, pick 320, 480 or 640 pixels on the longer side and click Make GIF. The GIF runs at 15 frames per second and loops by itself.
- Download before you leave: the file exists only in that browser tab, and the logo is never uploaded.
If the logo needs to stay on screen longer than 6 seconds, hold the last frame in your editor instead of making a longer clip; the held frames are identical, so nothing is lost.
Step 5: place it in your video
Drop an Intro clip on the first seconds of your timeline and cut to your footage once the logo has settled. For the end card, export a second clip from the same logo file, this time set to Outro. The clips are silent, so add a whoosh or a chime in your editor, or make one with the AI sound effect generator.
When you want an AI logo intro instead
Some searches for "logo animation AI" want a scene built around the logo: light rays, smoke, a camera push-in. That is generated footage, and a model redraws every frame, so lettering can bend. On the logo page, after you make the MP4, Make this logo a 5-second intro video hands your held logo to image to video as the first frame of a 5-second Kling 3.0 Pro clip, which costs 140 credits; Cicadas shows that price before anything is generated. Keep the MP4 from Step 4 for the logo itself and use the AI clip as the scene around it.
If your "logo" is just a name set in a font, the text animation maker types or reveals it letter by letter instead. For an animated chart or explainer with your logo in the corner, see how to make motion graphics with AI.
In other languages
The logo animation maker is also available in Spanish and Portuguese ("animar logo online") at /es/logo-animation-maker and /pt/logo-animation-maker, in French at /fr/logo-animation-maker and in Chinese at /zh/logo-animation-maker. The interface does not need the language you search in: the file you choose is the only input.
What we did not check
Our MP4 test ran in Chrome on a computer; Safari, Firefox and phones were not part of it, and the GIF export has not been tried on an iPhone. If your browser cannot write MP4, the page says so before anything is made. We did not test how each email client plays GIFs; the Outlook note above is Microsoft's.
Questions
What file should I use to animate my logo?
A PNG or SVG with a transparent background. It sits cleanly on any background colour and is the only kind that can give a see-through GIF. JPG and WebP work too, but their background becomes part of the animation. An SVG needs a width and height or a viewBox, and files can be up to 20 MB and 8,000 pixels a side.
Which animation suits a YouTube intro?
A 16:9 clip at 1920 by 1080 set to Intro, 3 or 4 seconds long, with Fade in, Rise or Shine. The mark is in place by 1.2 seconds and does not move after that, which makes the cut to your first shot easy.
How do I make an animated logo for an email signature?
Make a GIF, 320 pixels on the longer side, and set it to Outro so the first frame shows the whole logo. Some Outlook desktop setups show only the first frame of a GIF, and a clip set to Intro would start on an empty frame there.
Can an animated logo have a transparent background?
As a GIF, yes, if the logo file is a transparent PNG or SVG and you keep Transparent background in the GIF ticked. GIF transparency is all or nothing, so soft edges are cut and fades become a cut: Pop and Wipe survive that best. An MP4 always has a solid background.
Will animating my logo change its letters or colours?
Not with a tool that moves the file instead of redrawing it. On Cicadas the frames that hold the logo show the file you uploaded, only resized; MP4 compression softens fine edges a little. An AI video model is different: it redraws every frame, and letters can change.
Animate yours
The logo animation maker is free, needs no account, adds no watermark and keeps your logo on your device. For an AI-made scene around the logo, image to video starts at 140 credits, and you see the price before generating.