My rule of thumb is typically 128 colors - if that doesn’t look good enough, I would bump it up to 256ĭither: This setting allows you to spread out different colored pixels in your image. The maximum number of colors you can use for your GIF is 256. Preset: You can choose a preset for your export settings such as GIF 128 DitheredĬolors: This setting allows you to place a limit on the number of colors used in your GIF. An ideal GIF size would be no larger than 1MB. If your image file sizes are pretty large, then you may want to play around with your settings to decrease the total size of your export. You’ll want to adjust these based on your own GIF/ the files that were used to create it. Make sure that GIF is selected as the export option.īefore you can finalize the export, however, you’ll need to choose a few settings for your GIF. If you are satisfied with the result of your GIF animation, save it to use on the web by heading to the top navigation bar and selecting File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy). Step 9: Save and Export your Photoshop GIF If the animation starts to play backwards, you can reverse this by clicking the menu icon on the upper right-hand corner of the Timeline window and selecting Reverse Frames. You can now preview your GIF animation by selecting the Play icon from the bottom of your Timeline window. For this animation, I will be alternating the letters “GIF” between dark grey and white to give the GIF it’s motion effect. I am only using 4 variations of the templates in total (but will be duplicating a few of the template layers), and you can see this below.
You would then add in your graphic elements accordingly, export each image, and this will give you the series of images you need to make your GIF.įor this example, I am going to use a simple blog post template to demonstrate how I would strategize my GIF animation. You’d then take your image into Photoshop and create separate layers for each instance you want your GIF to move (i.e every time your stars twinkle).
You would first strategize how you want your GIF animation to play out. twinkling stars in a photo of the night sky). For example, let’s say that you wanted to add some hand-drawn, animated elements to one of your images (i.e. You could also create a unique, animated effect for one of your photos. images taken on burst mode from your iPhone). One way that you could use this method is by creating a time-lapse animation using a series of photos from your DSLR camera, or your mobile device (i.e.
How to use GIFs in your Content Marketing How to upload your GIF animation to Instagram
How to make a GIF from Video - without Photoshop for free How to make a GIF in Photoshop from video How to make a GIF in Photoshop from still images This ultimate GIF guide will show you how to make a GIF - and how to use them for your own content marketing strategy.įeel free to skip to any specific section using the links below!
There are a seemingly endless number of ways to make an animated GIF, including both paid and free software options. Additionally, GIFs are great at explaining what we sometimes can’t seem to put into words. Not only do these fun little snippets offer us nonstop entertainment, but they are actually pretty small in file size- making them ideal for content marketing purposes!Īnimated GIFs are a great way to stand out in a crowded space with unique video content, which in turn gives your brand a much higher chance of being remembered. The Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF, has truly changed the online world as we know it today.