how to make animated gifs with and without photoshop

GIF Maker, GIF Maker, Make Me A GIFRichard Naples

October 30, 2014

Correct English is the slang of

prigs who write history and

essays.

- George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1872

We don’t really have much fiction.

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GIF – Hard G or Soft G? Who cares!

JIF is the Format, GIF is the Culturehttps://medium.com/message/jif-is-the-format-gif-is-the-culture-af8673796c44

GIF – Spare me the debate…

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Animated GIFS can help make your content stand

out, expand to new platforms, and increase

engagement.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a GIF is

worth 10,000—it tells a story.

About GIFs– Why use them at all?

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No larger than 1.75MB

No more than 500 pixels wide.

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IMAGE GUIDELINES – Tumblr & Twitter

No larger than 3MB

TumblrTwitter

GIFs are limited to 256 colors. Using less color (or going

greyscale) lets you show more.

GIFs contain a series of frames to allow for simple animation.

The more frames, the bigger the file size.

ANY VISUAL MATERIAL WILL WORK:

• Photography

• Video

• Illustrations

• Screenshots/Screencasts

SOURCE MATERIAL – Formats

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Where to get content?

• Camera (iPhone/Android)

• Collections Search*

• YouTube*

• Archive.org

• Anywhere that the law allows

Nothing fancy needed, just your iPhone!

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SOURCE MATERIAL – Where to get things

*OK technically this might be bad. Ask first!

But how do you make them?!?!

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I create animated GIFs with Photoshop, but there

are free or low cost alternative tools & methods!

(*Since I use Photoshop, I’m not the most up to date on these, so

seek out your own!)

Making GIFs– To Have (Photoshop) and to Have Not

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Online GIF makers– compiling photographs

GIFMaker.me

Method:

1. Upload pictures

2. Set canvas size and speed

3. Create

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Online GIF makers– compiling photographs

ezGIF.com

Method:

1. Upload pictures

2. More options! resize, optimize,

special effects, speed, split,

ADD TEXT!

3. Create

ezGIF also lets you edit

existing GIFs and turn

Video to GIFs

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Online GIF makers– video to GIF

Imgflip.com

Method:

1. Enter YouTube video URL or upload video

2. Set start & end, width, frames, etc.

3. Create!

Caveat emptor: they add a watermark with the imgflip URL.Lame. But you could crop it with ezgif.com

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Online GIF makers– video to GIF

Gifilike.com

Method:

1. Enter YouTube video URL or upload video

2. Set start & end, width, frames, etc.

3. Create!

Caveat emptor: they also add a watermark.

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Online GIF makers– video to GIF

Makeagif.com (free account)

Method:

1. Enter YouTube video URL or upload video

2. Set start & end, width, frames, etc.

3. Create! (And delete if you don’t want it there)

No watermark with a free account.

If you have Photoshop & some know-how…

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PHOTOSHOP HAS LAYERS:

Layers are the basic building block in Photoshop. To make an animation in Photoshop, you have two basic actions:1. Make layers visible or invisible.2. Move a layer.

That’s it. Between the frames of your animation, you need to either move a layer or turn it on/off.

PHOTOSHOP– Basics first.

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

First, bring an image into

Photoshop. Ramon de la Sagra, Histoire physique, politique

et naturelle de l'ile de Cuba, 1838-1857

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Separate the object into

layers:

Change the background to the

paper color and hide.

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Create Layers to show

movement:

1. Separate the big butterfly to a

new layer.

2. Split the copy into constituent

parts: left wing, right wing, body.

3. Use groups, layer names, and

colors to keep things in order.

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Turn on animation:

1. Under Window, select

Animation.

2. In the Animation options, make

sure it is on Frame Animation if

it isn’t already.

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Change Layers:

Using Transform, reduce the width

of each wing.

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Animate:

1. Turn on the original open

butterfly and turn off the

changed group.

2. Add a frame in the Animation

window, then turn off the

original open butterfly and turn

on the group.

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Animate:

1. Set the frame timing underneath

each frame.

2. Set the animation to loop

forever

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Close-up!:

1. Set the frame timing underneath

each frame.

2. Set the animation to loop forever.

3. Add new frames (copies last one)

4. Delete frames.

5. Preview.

6. “Tween” (Google it!)

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Create a GIF!:

1. Save your work now as PSD

just in case!

2. Go to FileSave For Web &

Devices to get GIF window.

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Create a GIF!:

1. Set it to GIF.

2. Adjust number of colors.

3. Adjust image size.

4. Check file size to keep within

limits.

1 2

34

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STEP BY STEP – Butterflies!

Create a GIF, closeup!:

1. Set it to GIF.

2. Adjust number of colors.

3. Adjust image size.

4. Check file size to keep within

limits.

12

3

4

Ta-da!

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IT’S USEFUL TO KNOW MORE ABOUT:

• Ways to remove backgrounds (Magic Wand, Background Eraser Tool,

• Filling gaps in background (Healing Brush)

• Manipulation (Liquefy, Warp)

• Special Effects (i.e. search “Tilt-Shift Photoshop”)

PHOTOSHOP– Other Competencies

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STEP BY STEP – Videos to GIF in Photoshop!

Import video

File Import Video Frames

into Layers

(This only works in later

versions of Photoshop.)

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STEP BY STEP – Videos to GIF in Photoshop!

Adjust time

If longer than a few seconds,

choose “Selected Range

Only” and limit to every few

frames (between 2-10).

Adjust time with black

markers under sample.

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STEP BY STEP – Videos to GIF in Photoshop!

Save as GIF

Like before, select GIF, and

adjust image size and colors

to get desired file size.

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STEP BY STEP – Videos to GIF in Photoshop!

Finished

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Thanks!Richard Naplesnaplesr@si.edu

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