Guides / Twitch

How to Make Animated Twitch Emotes from a Photo

Emotes are how a Twitch chat talks, and animated emotes are some of the most popular rewards a channel can offer its subscribers.

Twitch's animated emote rules are stricter than other platforms: the GIF must be square, no more than 60 frames, and must not flash more than three times per second. With auto-resize, Twitch takes a single GIF up to 1 MB and generates the smaller sizes for you. Gifmoji's Twitch preset exports a 112×112 GIF, and every Gifmoji animation is under 60 frames.

Twitch emoji requirements

Dimensions: 112×112 px (auto-resize accepts larger square images)
File size: 1 MB maximum with auto-resize
Formats: GIF for animated emotes
Animation: Up to 60 frames; no more than 3 flashes per second
Who can upload: Twitch Affiliates and Partners

Step by step: make it and add it to Twitch

In Gifmoji, upload a photo, crop it close, and pick an animation. Avoid strobing effects (see the flashing rule above).
Under Export, choose Twitch and click Download to get a 112×112 GIF.
Open your Creator Dashboard on Twitch and go to Viewer Rewards → Emotes.
Upload the GIF as an animated emote and leave auto-resize on so Twitch generates the 28 and 56 px versions.
Set the emote's code and the tier or slot it belongs to, then submit it. Twitch may review emotes before they go live.

Make your Twitch emoji

Tips for great Twitch emotes

Test readability at 28 px, the size most viewers see in chat. Bold motion like Bounce, Spin or Shake survives tiny sizes better than subtle effects.
Twitch uses the first frame as the static thumbnail, so make sure it looks good on its own.
Keep the subject centered with background removal on, so the emote reads well over both dark and light chat themes.

Troubleshooting

Twitch rejects the emote for flashing

Effects with rapid brightness changes can break the three-flashes-per-second rule. Switch to the Slow speed or choose a motion-based animation instead.

I can't find the Emotes page

Emote uploads are available to Affiliates and Partners. If your channel isn't in either program yet, the Emotes section won't appear.

The emote looks jagged at small sizes

Re-crop so the subject fills the frame and avoid fine detail. Twitch scales the 112 px GIF down to 28 px for chat.