Many users are interested in how to make GIF on their own. We will consider in this material the possibility of creating such an animation in the Photoshop program, as well as provide other software solutions that are suitable for this.
Program "Photoshop"
GIF is an
animated image created without encoding or using Flash. Next, we will look at how to make GIFs in Photoshop. We start the program Photoshop. Create a new document by clicking on the “File” tab, and then selecting “New” among the items in the drop-down menu, enter the desired height and width for future GIF-animation.
Set the default resolution to 72 pixels per inch. Next, click OK with the left mouse button. Select the tab called “File”, then “Open”. Specify the files that we will use in the animation. Left-click on the desired image to select it. In order to select several images, press and hold the Ctrl key.
How to make GIF animation: work with the image
We use the “Open” function when all files are selected. After that, Photoshop will open pictures on the workspace. We pass to the toolbar, where we click on "Move" with the left mouse button. The button is located at the top of the left column. Holding the left mouse button on the image, transfer it to a new document.
Photoshop will place each of the images on a new layer. In this case, all layers are in the same tab. In the next step, click on the “File” tab and select “Open with ImageReady”. If the animation panel does not open, click “Window”, and then “Animation”. The palette will appear in the lower part of the workspace and will show a small image of the file you selected.
How to make a GIF picture: first frame
Left-click on the “Duplicate Selected Files” function, going to the animation palette. The required icon is located next to the "Trash" at the bottom of the panel. Now the specified frame is duplicated. Next stage. Left-click on the first frame in order to select it.
Next, in the palette, turn off the visibility of the layers by clicking on the eye image, the exception is the image that is selected for the first frame of the animation. So we created the first frame. Click on the second one to immediately select it in the palette. Similarly, turn off all layers except the second image. The next frame is ready.
Repeat the process
We have already set up the basic algorithm of how to make GIFs, now you just need to repeat the procedure for each frame of the animation. We again turn to the function “Duplication of selected files”. Go to the third frame. And so, until the animation is assembled. After completing the work with frames, click on the PLAY button to see a preliminary version of the GIF file you are creating.
Click Stop. Left-click on the black arrow at the bottom of the 1st frame on the animation palette. Select one of the options “Once” or “Always” from the menu. In the first case, the animation will be played once, in the second - the playback will become non-stop.
Left-click on the black arrow, which is located at the bottom of each frame, and select the time during which this picture will be displayed. As a result, we save the animation by clicking "File", after that we select the option "Save As". Enter the name of the animation and click the black arrow in the "File Type" field. Select Images only.
Click "Save." Done. Now you know how to make GIF using Photoshop, but there are other programs that can cope with the task, we will discuss them further.
Alternatives
If we talk about programs that can help with the creation of animation, you should pay attention to the application Easy GIF. This solution is designed to develop animated images in GIF format and at the same time can complement them with various special effects. The application has a large number of settings with which you can change almost all the characteristics of the animation file.
The user determines the duration of the video and its color scheme. Among other features of the program it should be noted: adding text to the image, performing a preview of the project in the browser, as well as converting GIF animations to an AVI file. You can add sound to the project, and then save it in the SWF format.
The application is suitable for web developers. The fact is that the program automatically generates HTML code, which is ready for placement on the site. To create an animation you can use a variety of graphic formats: GIF, BMP, PNG and JPG. To reduce the size of the resulting files, the developers introduced a system for optimizing the finished material, which includes several approaches to this issue. The program is ideal for developers of promotional products.
The following programs can also help you solve this problem: Adobe Flash, Blender, Pivot Stickfigure, Anime Studio, FotoMorph, 3DMonster, Funny Photo, Active GIF, Falco GIF, Abrosoft FantaMorph, Hippo Animator, Flex Gif, CoffeeCup GIF. Now you know how to make GIF. We hope our tips will help you.