How to Make an Animated Gif

Posted on September 7th, 2009 by Carmelia

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An animated gif is a very short animated image that lasts only a couple of frames. It may take several minutes to create, but it can be more fun to use than your typical still image. Here’s how you can make your own animated gif.

The easiest program to use when making an animated gif is Adobe ImageReady. This program typically comes bundled with Adobe Photoshop, so if you’re wondering what this other program does, well, now you’ve found the answer.
Gifs are made up of separate frames. Now, frames are just a fancy way of terming still pictures that you put together to create an animation. Conventional cartoons, for example, are made by a set of sequential frames that simulate movement.
In this case, you’re going to make a gif made from different images. In short, any .jpg, .png or similar files can be made into gifs. Just make sure that they’re all in the same dimensions so that the file size of your gif doesn’t have to be bigger than it should be.
Open the set of frames or still pictures that you intend to use for your gif. Make sure that you already know how they will be arranged sequentially.
Choose the Select tool from the toolbar (the one shaped like a square with broken lines) and select the whole picture that will serve as your first frame. If you can’t find the toolbar, click on Window and click on Tools.
Open File and click New. A new window will pop up, reflecting the dimensions of the picture you copied before. Click OK.
Now, you’ll notice that each opened file, there is an accompanying Animation window. If you can’t see the window, click on Window and then click on Animation.
On the new file you opened, keep on copying and pasting the other frames until one has been put on top of the other. The first frame should be beneath all the other frames while the last frame should be on the very top.
Close the other files until you only have the one with multiple layers.
Turn your attention to the Animation window. Locate the little arrow icon located at the upper right corner of the window, right under the X button. Choose the option “Make frames from layers”.
You will then say the layers be separated in the animation window. There will be a blank white layer at the very start. You can get rid of it by clicking on it and then clicking at the small trash can icon at the bottom toolbar of the animation window.
There are time assignations beneath each frame, starting from “0 sec”. This is how long the gif will stay on the frame. You can make the frame last longer or shorter, depending on what you prefer.
On the corner left side, you will see the option “Forever”. This simply means that the gif will loop on and on. You have a choice for “Once” or “Other”.
The “Twee” options is the option to fade in and fade out in each frame.
Once you’re done, click “File” and “Saved Optimized As” and save your file as a gif. You now have your own gif.