How To Make An Animated GIF In Photoshop

Make An Animated GIF In Photoshop

Animated GIF is an image file that features animated images that seem like the image is moving. The animated GIFs are neither an image nor a video. It’s useful to create a time-lapse animation using a series of images taken from DSLR or a smartphone.

These animated GIFs can easily capture one’s attention and has a great impact. And the best thing about this is, they aren’t a bit difficult to make. All that you need is knowledge of photoshop. Let go ahead to make an animated GIF with the images with the help of photoshop.

Step 1: Import the series of photos

Open Photoshop and go to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack.
Click on Browse and locate the photos that you wish to use in the GIF.
Then click OK after browsing all the wanted images. This will separate layers for each selected image.

Create layers for each frame in the layers panel on the right side of the workplace. These layers will be the frames of the animated GIF.

Step 2: Open up the timeline window

Go to Windows > Timeline. A timeline window will appear at the bottom of the screen.
Click the button on the right side of “Create video timeline” and click on “Create frame animation”.

Step 3: Convert layers into animation frames

Go to Select > All layers
Click the menu icon on the top right of the timeline screen. Click “Make frames from layer”. This will convert all the layers in the Layers panel into individual frames in the animation.

Click the Play button at the bottom of the Timeline panel to preview the animation.

Make sure that the animation isn’t playing in reverse. If so, click the Timeline menu icon again and select “Reverse Frames”. This will allow the frames to play in correct sequence as the images are kept.

Step 4: Set the animation to loop

Click the repeat menu from the bottom of the Timeline panel and select Forever. This will create a looping animation.
Click the Play button at the bottom of the Timeline panel to preview the animation.

Step 5: Export the animation as a GIF

Go to File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)

Select GIF 128 Dithered from the Preset menu.
Select 256 from the Colors menu.
If you want to limit the animation file size, change Width and Height fields in the Image Size options.
Select Forever from the Looping Options menu.
Click the Preview button in the lower left corner of the Export window to preview your GIF in a web browser. If you are satisfied with everything in the GIF, save your GIF in a destination file.