• GIF Animator: free program for creating GIF animation online. How to Create GIFs: The Ultimate Guide

    When a friend sends a funny animation with animals, I want to show him the same short funny excerpt from the life of animals. But video is much longer and “heavier” for Internet traffic. What are these cartoon-like documents called? Silent excerpts of favorite moments from videos and TV series - this is gif animation, or, as it is abbreviated on the Internet, gif. Where does this name come from and with that most interesting moment from the video? It's time to figure it out!

    GIF animation: what is it?

    The .GIF format, which stands for Graphic Interchange Format, is a compact graphic file whose properties include the ability to create animation and transparent backgrounds. This gained popularity during the expansion of Internet coverage, when users needed to exchange “light” images that did not take much time to load and at the same time. Now Gif animation is used in the design of websites, in messages, blogs as a means of conveying the emotional state of the author. Where do they come from and how to create GIFs? First things first.

    GIF Animation Banks

    • Tumblr.
    • Pinterest.
    • GIPHY.
    • Reddit.
    • ReactionGifs.
    • Gifs.net.

    How to create gifs on VKontakte?

    In order to create GIFs and send them to your VKontakte friends, you will not need any special knowledge or skills. It's extremely simple! Using sites filled with GIF content, you can make simple manipulations and add interesting animations to your page and messages. So how does VK create a GIF? The procedure is as follows:

    1. Select or create an animation. The article will tell you how to create GIFs a little later. After selecting, you need to save the image in the computer memory.
    2. Upload an image. On the left side of the main menu there is a "Documents" button. After going to the context menu, you must click the "Add document" button and select a file.
    3. GIF loaded! Now you can attach it to messages, comments and wall posts.

    Obviously, there is nothing complicated in this sequence of actions. You can take it easy and load GIFs directly into your messages using the Attach button. Next, you also need to select a file on your computer, and the gif will automatically load into the message field.

    GIF from a regular photo

    From a photo? All you have to do is use online services to create animated images. To create a GIF, you need to upload several images to the site in acceptable formats, set parameters such as frame height and width, image positioning, the speed at which images change from each other, set the correct order of frames replacing each other, and build proportions. Such programs are much more convenient for the average person, since there is no need for a long installation and learning of a new program. It takes literally a minute of time and a couple of clicks - and the goal is achieved! You can upload the image to a social network. One such online service is Gifmaker.me.

    How to create your own GIF animation

    Despite the vast collection of animated pictures on the global network, sometimes you want to create something unique, for example, turn part of your own video into animation. There are a number of programs that help the average person quickly and without unnecessary hassle to understand how to create GIFs from various videos or photo collages. For example, a program such as Active GIF creator will help you make GIF animation from photos and pictures (the utility must be installed on your local computer). The following applications are available to create GIFs from various videos:

    • The Loogics program will help you create a short animation from videos posted on Youtube.
    • Makeagif can also create short animations from Youtube videos, and it also knows how to create GIFs using a webcam or from a finished video.
    • GIFPal, among other things, can decorate the finished animation with various effects.

    Making GIFs Using Photoshop

    People are often interested in how to create a GIF in Photoshop. It's possible. It is enough to import the video file into the program (Import->Video Frames to layers). Then you need to select the passage to be converted (you can select the entire file). The video will be split into many separate images, which will be arranged in layers. The frame rate will be indicated at the bottom of each image. The higher the number, the slower and calmer the animation will be. In order to loop a file, you just need to leave the Forever checkbox. To cut off excess areas, you need to select the main zone and check the Crop box. When you are finished editing, you must save the file, remembering to mark the .gif format. In the future, the finished file can be imported into social networks and inserted into blogs.

    GIF animation appeared at the dawn of the Internet. GIFs became especially popular among webmasters and forum users, since they were the ones who used GIF images the most in working with websites and in communication. With the advent of Flash animation, GIFs were a little forgotten, but files in GIF format are still found on websites as banners. Do you need to create an animation, but you don’t know how to make GIFs? This article will help you understand the abundance of programs and methods for creating GIF files.

    Essentially, a gif contains several pictures that smoothly replace each other. Thus, GIF animation is a kind of video without sound that does not require a player to play, since all browsers support GIF animation. Thanks to GIFs, you can “revive” a page, make it more interesting and informative.

    The world of software does not stand still, and every day new programs appear on the Internet to solve certain problems. To create GIF animation, many applications have been developed, among which are the following programs: GIF Animator, Jasc Animation Shop, Bannershop GIF Animator, CyD GIF Studio Pro, 2D&3D Animator, ImageReady CS, CoffeeCup GIF Animator. Xara3D. Some of them are independent programs, and some, for example ImageReady CS, are only an addition to the popular Adobe Photoshop CS. Of course, you can make GIFs in Photoshop, but to do this you will have to purchase it along with the ImageReady CS add-on.

    Undoubtedly, almost all software for creating GIF animation is paid. But you can use the Easy GIF Animator program, which has a certain trial period. Thus, the Easy GIF Animator program is launched for free 20 times, after which it requires entering a key. The utility is easy to use and slightly Russified, which will make it easier to learn.

    Creating GIF animation with Easy GIF Animator

    First you need to download the EGA program from the official website http://www.easygifanimator.net. Open the link in the browser and click on the green “Download now” button. Run the downloaded program installer and install it on your computer.

    After successful installation, launch “GIF Animator”. A small window with three buttons will open:

    • If you are ready to buy the program, click “Buy Now”, go to the website and pay for the purchase.
    • Have you already purchased Easy GIF Animator? Click "Activate" and enter the key.
    • Would you like to use the trial version (20 launches)? Click the “Evaluate” button and go to the main program window.

    So, it's time to start creating a GIF. Click the “Create new animation” button.

    In a new window, add a background image. If you have already decided on the size of the GIF animation, then it is better to upload a ready-made cropped image, since the program does not have tools for cropping the background. After downloading, click “Next” and move on to the next stage of creating a GIF animation.

    In the “Cycle and Delay” tab we set the playback time of animation frames and the number of cycles of its display.

    If the background image you uploaded is large, the “Animation Wizard” in the “Image Position” tab will ask you to decide on the placement location.

    When finished, click the “Finish” button and proceed to the stage of “applying text” to the image.

    Until you add text, only 1 frame will be displayed on the left in the program. Text is added using the “Animated Text” button.

    When creating a text effect, you can specify how you want the text to start showing and how to hide it. In addition, it is possible to select the font, its color and location of the text.

    When the text has been entered and all settings have been applied to it, click the “OK” button.

    Many frames will appear on the left side of the screen. In fact, the animation you create consists of them. Information about the number of frames, animation size and playback time is located in the lower left part of the program.

    As a result, a gif made in the Easy GIF Animator program may look like this:

    At the same time, the quality of animation and its beauty depend on your preferences and ability to work with the program. Easy GIF Animator is described in detail and clearly in this video:

    Other ways to create GIF animation

    However, you can also use various services to create GIF animation. For example, you can convert GIFs from videos online on the service http://www.yt2gif.com, which supports YouTube videos. In addition, you can make GIF animation from a video in the Format Factory program. The popular “Format Factory” allows you to convert any videos into .gif files. You just need to select .gif as the final file, add videos and click the “Start” button. True, Format Factory cannot convert long video files into GIF.

    Remember that any GIF animation is limited only by your imagination. The animation is essentially created by you, not the program. The utility is just a tool for work and nothing more.

    How to make a GIF from a video - create a GIF

    GIF animation has become in great demand among Internet users over the past few years. An appropriate animated GIF conveys emotion well and gives the comment more weight. GIFs created based on scenes from popular TV series or films are very popular. How to make a GIF from a video? Yes, you can independently create an original gif (gif) from a video - the way you want. All you need for this is a special program, for example, “VideoMASTER”.

    With this application, you can not only make a cool gif from a video yourself in just a few minutes, but also perform a number of other useful operations with video files, for example, change the format or improve the quality of the video. You will learn about this and much more from the text below.

    You can also watch a detailed video tutorial:


    Step 1. Install the program


    Click “Add” and specify the path to the video file you need

    Step 3: Edit the video

    Before making a gif from a video, you can improve the quality of the original image or simply diversify the video with special effects, captions, and also, if necessary, expand the video. To do all this, go to the menu "Effects". Adjust the basic image parameters, i.e. Contrast, brightness, hue and saturation can be adjusted manually or using automatic adjustment.


    Apply original effects to your videos

    Thanks to the built-in library of effects, you have a huge field for creativity. You can brighten an image by increasing saturation, or turn a video into a black and white masterpiece. You can also add a clarifying comment or watermark to the video. And, of course, you have the option to rotate the video 90°, 180° and 270°.

    Step 4. How to make a GIF from a video

    Click on the GIF icon located in the upper right corner, or select the “GIF animation” option, which is located in the format catalog. Another option is to select the "Create GIF" function from the "Process" menu. Then mark the edges of the video trim using black markers. They are located at the edges of the scrollbar. Now specify the image size. To ensure that your piece of video fits completely into the frame, use the “Fit Video” option. In addition, you can set the cropping area yourself, manually. Just select the required preset and click the “Next” button.

    Customize the parameters of the future GIF image

    Step 5. How to save GIF

    You can proceed to the final stage of creating a gif from a video - setting the parameters. Select the frame rate and number of repetitions. At this point you can also reduce or increase the playback speed. Once all the options have been selected, we recommend viewing the result again. If everything turned out exactly the way you wanted, click the button "Create GIF". Don't forget to specify the folder where your file will be saved.

    So you have learned how to make a GIF from a video using the VideoMASTER program. Now you have a tool in your hands with which you can surprise your friends by creating unique, fun and exclusive animated pictures. To do this, you only need source material - your favorite film, clip or video from your personal video archive. GIFs are used by many companies for advertising banners. The GIF format is the most convenient for storing and transmitting data, because it takes up much less space than large video files.

    GIFs are everywhere. The once humble animated images are now the unofficial language of the internet. GIF animation is the fastest way to express emotions on Twitter, and we can also spend hours watching it while scrolling through the news feed on VK, Facebook or Odnoklassniki.

    There is enough large number sites where you can find ready-made gifs on a variety of topics. But nothing beats GIF animation that you made yourself. Think this is a difficult process? You're wrong, it's quite simple. You can quickly create a GIF animation in the Photoshop graphics editor, converting an existing video, or using a series of static images. Let's take a closer look at how this is done.

    Note: In all of the examples in this article, I'm using Photoshop CC 2017.

    How to create GIF animation from video

    First, you need to launch Photoshop, go to “File” > “Import” > “Video Frames to Layers” and select the desired video recording.

    In the dialog box that opens, you can import the entire video recording, or select only a certain part of it. If you choose the second option, drag the handles below the preview window to set the start and end points. The portion of the video between these handles will be imported.

    Note: Keep in mind that the more video you import, the larger your GIF will be. Also, if you're importing a video that's too long, choosing Keep Every 2 Frames (or more) is an easy way to reduce the size without affecting the quality too much.

    Make sure the Create frame-by-frame animation checkbox is checked, then click OK. The video import process will begin. This may take some time, depending on the size of the clip. Once the import is complete, a work area will open in which each frame of the video will be placed on its own layer.

    At the bottom of the screen there is a time scale palette. It shows all the frames that will make up your GIF animation.

    You can add and remove frames as you wish, or edit any of the existing layers just as you would edit layers in any other image. To preview your GIF animation, simply click the Play button at the bottom of the timeline.

    The end result should be something like this:

    Creating GIF animation from a series of static images

    If you don't have video footage to use as the basis for your GIF animation, you can create one manually from a series of static images. It's a little more complicated, especially if you want to make something cool, but the basic process is simple.

    You create your GIF from a single image file containing multiple layers. Each layer is a separate frame of your future animation. There are two ways to get started:

    1. If you've already created images for your animation, import them by choosing File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack.... Click Browse and select your images, then click OK. Each image will be placed on a separate layer within the same file.
    2. If you haven't created images yet, do so now. Remember that every single image is part of a future animation.

    Now you are ready to start creating animation.

    Animating static images

    Here's how it works. When you manually create an animation frame, every visible layer is included in it. Layers that are disabled will not be included in the generated frame.

    To create the first frame, make the very first layer visible and turn off all the others. Then, when creating the second frame, make the second layer visible, and then the third layer on the third frame, and so on. Once you start, everything will become clearer.

    To start creating an animation, open the timeline if it does not open automatically for you. To do this, click “Window” in the top panel and select “Timeline” in the menu that opens. In the center of the panel that opens, click “Create frame animation.” This action will create the first frame of your animation. In the Layers palette, hide layers that you don't want to be part of the frame.

    Now click the "New Frame" button, which will duplicate the previous frame. Once again, hide the extra layers, and make those that should be included in the frame visible.

    Repeat this process until you have added all the frames needed for the animation.

    Completion

    Finally, set the display time for each frame. Select the first frame, and then Shift-click on the last one to select them all. Now click the down arrow below one of the frames and select a delay. No delay means the animation will run quickly, while the set number of seconds will cause the frames to remain on screen for a set period of time.

    Finally, set the loop options, which you'll find at the bottom of the Timeline panel. This parameter controls how many times your animation will play. In most cases, you will select the "Always" option.

    Now click the Play button at the bottom of the screen to preview the resulting animation. You should see something like this:

    You can edit frames by simply selecting them and changing the visibility of the layers (you can also change the opacity or make other more complex settings). Add additional layers if you need them, or click the trash can icon to delete them.

    When you're happy with the result, you can move on to the "Saving Animation" section, or read on to improve the resulting animation.

    Enhancing animation by adding intermediate frames

    Photoshop supports a powerful animation tween feature. This allows you to create smoother animations by automatically generating transition frames between two existing frames. In this example, I'm going to go through all the frames to give the starry sky a twinkling effect.

    To begin, select the first frame and click the Create Tweaks button in the toolbar at the bottom of the timeline.

    In the dialog box that opens, set the “Intermediate frames” item to the “Next frame” value, and for the “Add frames” item, specify the value at your discretion. A higher value means a smoother but slower transition. Click "OK" to create the intermediate frames.

    Now repeat this process for the other source frames you added. When you get to the last one, set the "Inbetween Frames" to "First Frame". This will help create a smooth transition to the start of your animation loop.

    Click the play button to preview the effect.

    Saving Animation

    When you're done, first save the file in ".PSD" format. This will save all the layer and animation information so you can edit your animation later if needed. After this, you can proceed directly to saving.

    To save the created animation, go to "File" > "Export" > "Save for Web (old version)...". In the window that opens, select the GIF format, and enter 256 in the “Colors” field. To reduce the overall file size, reduce the size in the “Image Size” field.

    You can see the size of the animation in the lower left corner of the preview window. If it's too large, drag the Waste slider to the right. This will affect the quality, but will significantly reduce the file size.

    You will need

    • To convert a picture into gif format, you need to have the image itself and any graphics program convenient for you.

    Instructions

    Example. To create a GIF in Adobe Photoshop, make sure it includes ImageReady. Create (or import ready-made) two or three images or frames. They must have the same aspect ratio and each be on a separate layer (Layer). Save them in a separate folder on your disk. Go to the ImageReady program: to do this, go to the “File” tab - “Edit in ImageReady”. In the ImageReady application, click "File" - "Import" - "Folder as Frames". All frames will be displayed in one row. Set the frame change time and the number of animation repetitions. Apply visual effects if desired. Save the final image.

    Video on the topic

    Please note

    GIF is a format for simple graphics, with a small number of frames. For complex animations, use SWF graphics.

    Sources:

    • gif drawings in 2019

    The GIF format (Graphics Interchange Format) was developed by CompuServe almost a quarter of a century ago specifically for use on the Internet. Raster images in GIF format cannot contain more than 256 colors at a time, which, on the one hand, degrades the quality of the image with a large number of smooth color transitions (gradients), and on the other hand, significantly reduces the weight of the file.

    Instructions

    Reduce the number of colors used if necessary to reduce the color stored in the gif file. This must, of course, not be done “manually” - most graphic editors have the necessary function for optimizing images of this format. For example, to use this option in Adobe Photoshop, first load the desired file into it through the dialog box called up by pressing the ctrl + o keyboard shortcut.

    Use the hotkeys ctrl + alt + shift + s or the Save for Web & Devices option in the File section of the Adobe Photoshop menu to open the optimization dialog for the loaded image. Expand the drop-down list in the “Colors” field and select the number of color shades that suits your opinion. In the preview picture you can see how this change will affect the quality of the image, and in the caption below it there will be a weight of the gif file corresponding to the selected quality. If this option turns out to be unsatisfactory, try a different number of colors.

    Click the tab labeled “4 Options” above the preview image if you want to see the optimization options that Adobe Photoshop will create itself. The top left frame will show the original sample for comparison, and the other three will show options with different numbers of colors used and other settings that affect quality. Under each of them will be placed the weight of the gif file corresponding to the picture of this quality. Select the option that suits you, adjust the settings according to it if necessary, and click the “Save” button.

    Specify a name for the modified gif file and a location to save it in the dialog box that opens, and then click the “Save” button again.

    Many file viewing programs can also compress files of this format. As a rule, the image quality can be changed by selecting “Save As” in the program menu. For example, in the FastStone Image Viewer, after selecting this command, a save window opens, where under the “Save” and “Cancel” buttons there is a button labeled Options. After clicking it, a dialog appears in which you can specify the required number of colors and compare the optimization result with the original preview. Then you need to click the “OK” button to return to the file save dialog.

    Sources:

    • how to reduce gif online

    Files in the gif format (Graphics Interchange Format) contain static or animated pictures, intended primarily for use on the Internet. Changing the contents of such files is possible using any program designed for editing graphic images. Depending on what kind of changes need to be made to the gif file, it may be enough to have an image viewer installed on the system, or you may need to install a graphics editor to work with animated pictures.

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