Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday! Sarah of Naptime Momtog and I will be bringing you a new challenge every week, to stretch your shooting and editing skills. This week, I’m pulling from my request files. Kimberly, from A Fresh Perspective, asked me a couple of weeks ago if I could share how I make a .gif in Photoshop. Considering that it’s getting warm outside…and that your children (and/or animals) are likely to be outside playing, I thought this might be a fun tutorial to explore.
First thing first…let’s watch the video tutorial.
It actually took me quite a while to find a video tutorial worth sharing. Just in case the embedded tutorial left you a bit confused, here’s the steps.
- Edit at least three images (I suggest using the same processing – Lightroom would be great for batch processing) and save into a folder that will be easy to access. If you want to take it a step further, web-resize your images (mine are resized to 890×593 pixels).
- Select all of the source images and drag them together into Photoshop.
- Let’s say your images are labeled: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, etc. Copy/Paste Image 2, 3, etc on top of your Image 1 file. They will show up as separate layers. If you need to, you can rearrange the layers.
- Open the Animation palette (Window > Animation).
- In the Animation palette menu (found at the top right corner of the palette), click Make Frames From Layers. You can also click Reverse Frames if needed. This will take each layer in your document and set it as an individual frame in the animation.
- Now we will change the duration of each frame. Make sure you are in frame view, not timeline view. If you do not see thumbnail icons of your layers in the Animation palette, click the icon in the lower right corner (the hover text will say “Convert to Frame Animation”). Now, back in the Animation palette menu, click Select All Frames.
- Click the drop down button just underneath each frame image (as you see for image 6 in the image below, right beside 0.2 sec.) . This will bring up a menu where you can set a duration. Since all frames are selected, all frames will be set to the same time. Each frame can be changed individually, if desired.
- The drop down button on the far left of the image below (right now it is on Forever) will change how many times the animation will loop: either a fixed number of times or forever.
- Once the frame order and timing as been set up, it is time to save the image! Click File > Save for Web & Devices, make sure the file format is set to .GIF, change any other options as necessary and save the image!
Did you follow all of that? My niece showed me how to do a cartwheel this past weekend…I thought it would make the perfect .gif. What do you think?
Now, if you don’t have Adobe CS5 (Photoshop), all is not lost. In the past, I’ve used .gif creators such as Picasion or Gickr. Simply upload your images, select the size and speed…and wah lah!
Ready to join in the fun? Here’s how to do it:
1. Watch THIS TUTORIAL on YouTube (or follow the steps above).
2. Choose your favorite creation (or more!) to share with us.
3. Don’t forget to grab the button for your post!
4. Link up between now and next Monday.
PS: If you have any photography or editing suggestions, please don’t hesitate to let Sarah or me know! We would love to feature your tutorial.
