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I read:

Image uploads are limited to 50 megapixels; please use a smaller image

enter image description here

What's the rationale behind placing a limit on uploaded gifs in terms of pixels? (instead of bytes or frame dimensions)

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The pixel limit is a calculation of frame dimensions (height and width) and the number of frames. a 1000px by 1000px image with 50 frames will be 50 million pixels or 50 megapixels.

The limitations are mostly imposed by third-party systems we use during the image upload process, and also when resizing animated gifs.

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    Thanks! In which case(s) are the uploaded animated gifs being resized?
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Commented Jul 17 at 19:54
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    They can be resized using the s, b, t, m, l and h single character suffixes at the end of an image name.
    – Troy Gould StaffMod
    Commented Jul 17 at 20:14
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    Can the error message please be made clearer in this case? The example you point out isn't technically a 50-megapixel image, and it's very confusing to get this error message when it isn't. Changing "50 megapixels" to something like "50 million pixels (including all frames of animated images)" would make it much clearer.
    – Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog
    Commented Jul 17 at 20:17
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    @Troy, I'm aware of the s, m, and l character options (small, medium, and large respectively), but do the b, t, and h characters do?
    – David Thomas
    Commented Jul 17 at 21:08
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    @DavidThomas - These work similar to the s, m, l character options: superuser.com/a/1238557 When we moved from imgur to our own image hosting, we brought over all the options. Granted, s, m, l were generally used more than the others. However, we continue to include all of them.
    – Troy Gould StaffMod
    Commented Jul 17 at 22:54

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