GIF vs. APNG for stream overlays

Both work in OBS — APNG gives noticeably cleaner compositing on semi-transparent elements

GIF overlays

  • ⚠️ 1-bit transparency — a pixel is fully on or fully off
  • ⚠️ Jagged edges on curved or soft elements
  • ⚠️ 256-colour palette causes banding on gradients
  • ⚠️ Dithering artefacts visible on large overlays

APNG overlays ✦

  • ✓ 8-bit alpha — smooth semi-transparency on every pixel
  • ✓ Clean edges on rounded corners, shadows, and glows
  • ✓ Full colour range — no banding or dithering
  • ✓ Supported in OBS 28+, all major browsers, Discord

RemoveGifBG exports both GIF and APNG. Switch between them in the output format options.

Stream Overlay FAQ

How do I add a transparent GIF as an OBS overlay?

In OBS, click the + button under Sources and choose Media Source. Check Loop and browse to your transparent GIF or APNG file. The transparent areas will composite directly over your scene without any chroma key needed.

My alert animation has a black background instead of transparent — why?

GIF files that weren't exported with transparency show a solid background colour. Re-process the source animation through RemoveGifBG before using it in Streamlabs or StreamElements. The downloaded file will have per-frame transparency.

Can I remove the background from an MP4 alert animation?

Yes. Upload the MP4 and RemoveGifBG processes every frame with AI, outputting a WebM file with full alpha transparency. WebM with alpha is supported in OBS and in Chrome-based stream overlay tools.

My character art has soft edges from a gradient background — will it look clean?

Yes. Processing is fully automatic and applies semantic segmentation to find the subject in each frame, whether the background is a gradient, a complex scene, or a flat studio colour — there's no setting to choose manually.