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iPhone guide · free

How to Turn a Video into a Live Photo for Free

Short answer: trim the clip to three seconds, pair it with a still, and save it to Photos as a Live Photo. The Picto.Video app does all three on your phone, free. No website can do the last one, and here is why.

A Live Photo is a still and three seconds of motion, tied together inside your photo library. Add your video, trim to the moment, preview it, save it. Then set it as your Lock Screen.

Going the other way? Live Photo to video

Free. No credits, no watermark, and nothing is uploaded: it all happens on your phone. Add a photo too if you want a particular still.

LIVE

9:41

hold to play

a 3 s clip, alive on the lock screen

Everything happens in the app

Video to Live Photo is a lane of the Picto.Video app, beside photos, pets and tributes. Open it, pick a clip, and the rest happens on the phone. Free, no credits.

The Picto.Video app home screen with the Video to Live Photo row — Home: Video to Live Photo sits with everything else the app makes

The converter with a clip loaded and the three-second window slid along the filmstrip — Slide the three-second window along your clip; the stage follows

The converter with a key photo and the Loop effect chosen, above the Save as Live Photo button — Pick a key photo, preview the effect, then Save as Live Photo

What a Live Photo actually is

Two files pretending to be one. Once you see that, the rest of this page is obvious.

A still image plus a three second video strip, paired by an identifier into one Live Photo

ONE STILL · JPEG3 SECONDS · MOVLIVE PHOTO

still + motion + identifier = one Live Photo, and only the phone can install the pair

A website cannot do it

Any site promising a Live Photo download hands you a plain video. The pair only exists inside the iPhone photo library.

The Picto.Video app can

It trims your video to three seconds, pairs it with the still, and writes the identifier that makes them one Live Photo. Free, on your phone.

Saved to Photos, ready for the Lock Screen

From Photos, choose it as your wallpaper and press the screen to see it move.

Three taps in the app

Add, trim, save. Free, under a minute, and nothing to install besides the app.

add

Add your video

Pick the clip from your library. Add a photo as well if you want a particular still.

trim

Trim to the moment

Live Photos play about three seconds. Drag to the beat you want and preview it right there, motion and still together.

save

Save to Photos

One tap saves it as a real Live Photo. Choose it as your Lock Screen and press to watch it move.

Going the other way is easier

Live Photo to video needs nothing on your phone. Upload the Live Photo's .mov file to the free converter and download an MP4 that WhatsApp and Instagram treat as a real video.

Convert a Live Photo to video, free

Frequently asked questions

Why can't a website convert video to Live Photo?

A Live Photo is two paired files linked by hidden metadata, and only an app on the phone can install that pair into the photo library. Browsers stop at the download. The Picto.Video app does the pairing and the saving for you.

How long can a Live Photo be?

About three seconds. Trim your video to the best moment in the app; longer clips get cut off.

Can I use a converted Live Photo as wallpaper?

Yes. Once it is in Photos, choose it as a Lock Screen wallpaper; press and hold to play the motion.

How do I go the other way, Live Photo to video?

That direction works in the Picto.Video web app: upload the Live Photo's .mov file to the free converter and download a shareable MP4.