How to Create an Animated GIF Using Photoshop. Create gif images from several photos. Photoshop lesson

If you spend a lot of time on the Internet, you have seen animated GIF images (gifs). It's somewhere between a still image and a video. They are well received by people and can also have a strong emotional impact.

In this tutorial for creating animated GIFs, I'm using Photoshop version of Creative Cloud 2015.

How to create and save GIF animation in Photoshop?

Below is an example of an animated GIF that you can create using this tutorial:

Step 1: Load the Images into Photoshop

If you already have images...

Save the images you need in a separate folder. To load them into Photoshop, click File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack.

Then click the "Browse" button and select the files you want to use in the GIF image you create. Click "OK".

Photoshop will then create a separate layer for each image you added. Next, go to step 2.

If you don't have a set of images yet...

Create each frame of your animated GIF as a separate layer. To add a new layer, select Layer > New > Layer.

To name a layer, go to the Layers palette, double-click on the default layer name, and enter the name you want to set. Press Enter to save it.

Once you have created all the necessary layers and given them clear names, you can move on to step 2.

Professional advice: If you want to combine layers so that they appear in a GIF image in one frame, turn on visibility for the layers by clicking on the “eye” to the left of the name of each desired layer. Then click Shift + Command + Option + E (Mac) or Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E (Windows). Photoshop will create a new layer containing the merged content, which will also need to be renamed.

Step 2: Open the Timeline window

To open the Timeline window, go to the top menu and select Window > Timeline. It allows you to use different layers at different periods of time, thereby turning a static image into a GIF animation.

The Timeline window will appear at the bottom of the screen. Here's what it looks like:

Step 3: In the Timeline window, click the Create Frame Animation button

If this option is not automatically selected, select it from the drop-down menu.

The Timeline window should now look something like this:

Step 4: Create a New Layer for Each Frame

First select all layers by going to the main menu and then to Select > All Layers. Then click on the menu icon located to the right of the timeline.

From the drop-down menu, select " Create a new layer for each new frame».

Step 5: Click on the same menu icon and select “Create frames from layers”

As a result, each layer will be used as a frame of a GIF image.

Step 6: Under each frame, set how long you want it to be displayed before moving on to the next one

To do this, click on the time indicator located under the frame and set how long it should be displayed. In our case, we chose 0.5 seconds per frame.

Step 7: At the bottom of the toolbar, select how many times you want the animation to play

The default value will be “One time”. Click on “Other” if you want to specify an arbitrary number of repetitions.

Step 8: View the created GIF image by clicking on the play icon

Step 9: Save and Export the GIF Image

Then select the GIF file type you want to save. The number next to the GIF designation determines how closely the colors of the GIF image will match the original JPEG or PNG images. According to Adobe documentation, a higher percentage of anti-aliasing results in more colors and more detail. But this increases the size of the resulting file.

Upload the GIF to any location from which it can be played. This is what the final result looks like:

How to Use GIFs in Marketing

On social networks

Pinterest was the first to allow the use of animated GIFs, followed by Twitter. And by the summer of 2015, Facebook joined them. Instagram then changed its format with Boomerang, which now allows users to capture and share their GIF images. On any of these social media platforms, animated GIFs can be a great way to stand out from the crowd.

In emails

Animated GIFs appear in emails just like regular images. Not only does this help grab the attention of recipients, but it can also directly impact sales.

Use GIFs when showcasing products and announcing events. Below is a GIF from an advertising campaign for women's clothing store Ann Taylor LOFT. They created a beautiful shake-like effect to intrigue email recipients and get them to "unwrap" their gift.

In blog posts

For example, here's a simple, animated GIF created by marketer Jeannie Mineo that explains what a call to action is when placed on blog posts:

And finally, one of our favorite GIFs: an animated GIF from a post with home cooking recipes.

Instructions

Create a document in Adobe Photoshop on the basis of which the GIF animation will be generated. Press Ctrl+N or select "Open..." in the File section of the main menu. Enter the document parameters in the dialog that appears and click OK. If the animation frames will be based on an image, draw it or insert it from an external file.

Add new layers to your document. Their number should be equal to the number of animation frames (or key frames, if transitions between them are planned to be generated automatically). Duplicate the current layer by selecting Layer from the menu and "Duplicate Layer..." if the frames should be based on the previously created image. Or add empty layers by pressing Ctrl+Shift+N.

Create an image of each frame of the animation. Consistently switch between layers and make the necessary changes (add the necessary details, move image fragments, enter text, etc.). When working, turn off the visibility of all layers that are above the current one. To analyze differences with the previous frame, you can temporarily make the layer semi-transparent by changing the Opacity value.

Activate the animation control workspace. In the main menu, select Window, Workspace, Video and Film, click Yes in the request window. After this, the menu composition will change and the Animation panel will be displayed.

Add animation frames. In the Animation panel, click on the Duplicates selected frames button. Do this until the number of frames displayed is equal to the number of layers created in the second step.

Match layers to frames. Select element number 1 in the Animation panel by clicking on it with the mouse. In the Layers panel, turn off the visibility of all layers except the one you want to show on the first frame. Consistently perform similar actions for all layers and elements displayed in the Animation panel.

Define animation output options. Select all frames in the Animation panel. To do this, click on them with the mouse while pressing the Ctrl key. Right-click on the bottom of any of the selected elements. In the context menu, select the time delay between frame changes. If necessary, change the number of animation repetitions by clicking on the lower left button of the panel (it has an icon in the form of a downward arrow).

Hello, readers of my blog!

Just as promised, Photoshop lessons continue!

Today we will discuss the following question: “How to create animation in Photoshop?”. I'll try to give you detailed instructions on how to create animation. And at the end I will provide a short video tutorial...

How to create animation in Photoshop?

How to make animation in Photoshop: what does it mean and is it difficult?

Making animation in Photoshop is quite simple if you know how to do it =) But to be honest, after trying it once, you will do everything with your eyes closed... It is in this article, under my clear guidance, that you will learn how to make animation without any problems!

Animation, will we become real animators?

Our animation is the smooth appearance of the inscription, which we will do using the tool Animation in Photoshop, that's exactly what we'll do. Today you can play the role of a novice animator =)

Well, shall we begin?

First, let's decide what we need! But we need Photoshop: it doesn’t matter what version. You can use the version that I use, you can download it!

Open the Photoshop program and display the animation tab on the working environment: Window - Animation. In my version of the program this tab is called Time scale, so I do this ( put a tick):

As a result, you will have a panel like this below:

P.S. I trimmed it a little...

Well, now using tabs File - Create..., or by pressing CTRL+N - create a new file. Set the sizes, click OK and write our text from which we will make animation. This is what I got:

P.S. I played a little with deformation I =)

This frame automatically becomes part of our Time scale, set it to speed 0.1 sec and with the help Making a copy dedicated frames create 10 more ( it depends on how you set the transparency - look further and you will understand everything):

P.S. This is a finished picture.

On the first frame we turn off the picture ( click on the second picture and in layers turn off the visibility of the layer - inscription, and drag this picture to the first place). As a result, I have 10 frames at a speed of 0.1 seconds, and the last one ( Frame 11) — 1 sec.

In the second picture, the text should be turned on, we only change the transparency: in layers, right-click on the layer with the inscription, select the tab - Blend options...

IN Main parameters - Opaque. We set it to 10%. We repeat these actions with each frame, increasing the transparency: the second - 20%, the third - 30%, etc., until we reach 100% - the final frame ( the number of frames depends on how you use transparency).

Also, in Blend options you can try using additional chips ( you just need to check the box and the result is in front of you).

Other buttons Time scales I don’t explain: I think the play button and others are familiar to you... ( to see what kind of button is in front of you, just hover your mouse over it and an inscription with the designation will appear before your eyes)

How to save animation in Photoshop?

Select the Gif format (it’s already there automatically) and click Save…(select the save path, for example - desktop), All animation is preserved =)

P.S. You can remove the background from the animation by deleting the “Background” layer (but for me it merges with the template)

I think everything is clear here even without a video tutorial... But still, as promised, look here:

That's all for today, bye!

Do you want to create an animated picture, postcard, avatar, photograph, or banner for your website? To do this, you don’t have to be a specialist in flash technologies. Any computer user with Photoshop can make a GIF animation.

Early versions of Photoshop did not have tools for creating GIF files, and you had to additionally install Adobe Image Ready. In the latest versions of PS, making a GIF is easier and faster.

Let's look at working with animation using Photoshop CS5 as an example.

1.Create a new file in which the first layer will be the background, and copy the necessary pictures and inscriptions here (accordingly, each will be on a separate layer).

2. Go to the Window – Animation menu.

3. A window for working with animation appears at the bottom of the page. So far there is only one frame, which displays all visible layers.

4. Using the “Create a copy of selected frames” button, duplicate this frame as many times as necessary.

5. Our animation will consist of 3 frames.

6. On the first frame, leave the background and picture, remove the inscription. To do this, stand on the first frame and make the layer with the inscription invisible.

7. On the last frame you need to turn off the picture in the same way.

8. Set the display duration for each frame (usually it is the same for all).

9. To ensure that the animation never stops, set “continuously” in the drop-down menu, which indicates how many times the loop will be scrolled.

10. To view the result, click the “Start animation playback” button.

11. Save the resulting animation in gif format: in the File menu - Save for Web and devices...

12. Set the gif format.

13. Save our file; the standard settings do not need to be changed.

14. Enjoy the result.

You can use other special programs and online services to create a gif file, for example, GIF Animator, UnFREEz, etc. Knowing how to make a gif file, you can easily decorate your social network account or website with any animated pictures, photographs or banners

How to make GIF animation in Photoshop?

With the help of the Adobe Photoshop editor you can easily make GIF animation using standard tools. In this tutorial we will tell you how to do this.

First, let's create a document measuring ten by ten pixels. To do this, go to the “File” tab and select the “New” command.

In the New dialog box that appears, set the dimensions for the new document by entering ten pixel values ​​in the Width and Height fields.

After entering the image dimensions, click OK.

Zoom the image to the size necessary for convenient work.

Then you need to create three more copies of this layer. To create duplicates, hold down the left mouse button on the layer icon and drag it onto the “Create New Layer” icon located at the bottom of the layers palette.

These four layers will be the four frames of our future animation. Now the most important thing we need to create "GIF animations" is a workspace with the necessary tools. Go to the Window tab and select Motion from the Workspace list.

This work environment is a set of universal tools for creating animation. Keep only the bottom layer visible and active by clicking on the eye icons next to the layers.

Select the Pencil tool and in the Attributes panel, set its size to three pixels.

Now, using a pencil, draw a square in the lower left corner of the image.

Then make only the layer next above visible and active and draw a square in the upper left corner of the image.

Similarly, draw squares on each of the layers, going clockwise around their corners.

This way we will get four frames for our future animation. Now let's move on to creating animation. To do this, on the panel "Animation" click on the button "Convert to Frame Animation".

One frame will appear in the Animation panel, now right-click on the frame and in the context menu that appears, select an interval equal to one second.

Now click three times on the “Create a copy of selected frames” button located at the bottom of the same panel to add three more frames to the animation.

Select the first frame in the Animation panel and make only the first image layer visible and active in the Layers palette. As you can see, the first frame has been assigned the attributes of the first layer.

Likewise, select frames one at a time and assign them one image layer at a time, making only the required layer active and visible.

Now we have an animation consisting of four different frames. To view the result, click on the button "Start animation playback" located at the bottom of the Animation panel.

Thus, using the tools of the Photoshop editor you can easily make a GIF animation.