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How To Combine Images In Photoshop For Stop Animation

A GIF, or "Graphics Interchange Format", is a compressed image file format that allows for animation. There are many ways to create a GIF, simply Photoshop is fast and piece of cake, with congenital-in tools for image manipulation and animating.

Simply like archetype blitheness, an animated GIF is made upwardly of a series of still images played sequentially to create the illusion of movement. Find a GIF off the internet and drag it into Photoshop, and yous volition encounter the separate frames that make up the blitheness. These frames are what we're going to build in this tutorial in order to animate a killer banner advert GIF.

finished gif with sunglasses sliding onto face
Larn how I made this GIF! Photo via graham wizardo.

Without further ado, hither's how to make an animated GIF in Photoshop.

Step 1: Set upwards the dimensions and resolution of your Photoshop document

Prepare your document ahead of fourth dimension. Even if your just ambition is to create a shareable GIF for your friends on social media, letting the size of your photos or video dictate the size of your document might make the file larger than you need it to be, which translates into a poor quality GIF. In general, somewhere in the region of 600px-800px is fine for a foursquare prototype.

A screenshot of the Photoshop interface showing the New Document window
Set the dimensions, resolution, and color way of your Photoshop document

Dimensions

For this project, we are working with a banner advertizement GIF, which has standard sizing guidelines. I chose the 720×300 layout. Make sure your units are in pixels.

Resolution

To go on the file size every bit low as possible, a resolution of 150 is fine. I went with 300 since I know my GIF isn't going to exist that large. Make sure your units are in Pixels/inch.

Color way

Finally, blithe GIFs are made for the screen, then set your color manner to RGB color. Printing Create to open your new certificate.

Step 2: Import your image files into Photoshop

Making a GIF from all the same images

Become to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack and select the Browse push in the Load Layers window that comes up. This brings up the Finder/Explorer window where you can scan for your files and select all of the ones you lot demand. When you're finished, click Open so OK in the next window. The files will be imported into a carve up document, from which you lot can select all layers and drag them into your working document.

Making a GIF from video

If you are converting a video into a GIF, go to File > Import > Video Frames to Layers.

Step iii: Open the timeline window

Go to Window > Timeline. This volition open up a console in the lower third of the sail. In the middle of the panel, click on the arrow to open the dropdown card, and select Create Frame Animation.

Footstep 4: Catechumen your layers into frames

A screenshot of the Photoshop interface highlighting how to make animation frames from layers
If y'all take your nonetheless images already prepared, click on the hamburger menu icon in the timeline and select Brand Frames from Layers

Your first frame will already be ready, made of all of the visible layers (meaning the layer visibility, or eye icon, is switched on) in your document. Now all you have to do is fill up the Timeline with multiple frames to simulate movement. There are ii ways to practise this: import frames you accept already prepared or create your animation from scratch in Photoshop. This section will cover the first scenario.

If yous have already prepare up withal, sequential images ahead of time (or are working from imported video frames, see Step 2), click on the hamburger carte icon in the upper correct corner of the Timeline panel. Select Brand Frames From Layers. You will run across the timeline populate with frames from your layers.

Stride five: Indistinguishable frames to create your animation

A screenshot of the Photoshop interface highlighting the tools panel of the Timeline window
Beneath the timeline is the tools console, which contains (among others) the loop setting, the preview button, and the duplicate frame button

If you have not set up the still images alee of fourth dimension or demand to accommodate parts of the animation you lot created in Stride 4, you can create the blitheness manually frame past frame (which is how I made my animation). To exercise this, duplicate the last frame in the timeline (click on the earmarked page icon in the tools console below the timeline), make the changes you lot need to make on your image, and repeat.

For example, my blitheness is a pair of sunglasses sliding down over the discipline's eyes. To practise this, I duplicated the frame, moved the sunglasses downwards a few pixels (how many pixels was a matter of trial and mistake—more than on that later on), and repeated this process until I had about fifteen frames and the sunglasses were where I wanted them, resulting in smooth downward glide animation.

An animated GIF incorporating the pixel sunglasses meme
Photo via graham wizardo.

Step 6: Set the delay time of each frame

A screenshot of the Photoshop interface highlighting the delay setting in the timeline
The duration setting can be found at the bottom of each frame

You can notice the delay timer at the bottom of each frame (the time in seconds with a dropdown arrow next to it).

Click the pointer to bring upward the carte and choose the amount of fourth dimension y'all desire the frame to display on screen.

You can set the duration of private frames or multiple frames at once by selecting all of the frames you lot need and using the dropdown carte du jour for one of them.

Tip: Many frames with short delays is the key to polish animations whereas few frames with long delays creates a jerky, stop-motion effect.

Step 7: Set the number of times the animation volition loop

Also located in the tools console beneath the timeline is the loop setting. You tin can fix your blitheness to loop Forever, One time, or a specific number of times.

Footstep 8: Preview and iterate on your blitheness

The play button in the timeline window's tool console allows you to preview your animation. Apply this to make certain that your animation is believable and behaving as it should. If it isn't, try tinkering effectually with delay or calculation more frames until you lot get the results that you want. Conversely, this is also a great fourth dimension to experiment with removing as many frames as you can without breaking the illusion of motion in gild to become the lowest file size possible.

Step nine: Export your Photoshop document equally a GIF

A screenshot of the Photoshop interface highlighting how to export an animated GIF
File > Consign > Relieve for Web (Legacy)…

First of all, don't forget to relieve your working PSD!

Once you lot're ready to export your final GIF, go to File > Consign > Save for Web (Legacy). (Note: if yous are working with an older version of Photoshop, it will likely be File > Salve for Web & Devices). This will bring up the export window.

There are a lot of options hither, but we simply need a handful for our purposes. First, brand sure you set the file blazon to GIF in the dropdown box in the upper right. The rest of the options I've highlighted in the image beneath are optional but helpful for producing a lightweight file. Let's walk through them now.

Trim the file size

Your primary goal with the remaining options is to go along your file size depression by decreasing the corporeality of details in your GIF without sacrificing epitome quality. Think that a large file size means a ho-hum load time, which tin be particularly punishing for marketing purposes like banner ads, where the viewer wasn't looking for your content and won't be waiting around for information technology to load. Aim to stay beneath 1MB. Up to 5MB is achievable on most websites but pushing it. You tin come across your GIF'southward file size in the bottom left corner of panel containing the preview image.

A screenshot of the Photoshop interface highlighting the export options in the Save for Web window
These are the setting you lot should pay attention to in the Save For Spider web window

Reduce the color information

Unnecessary colour information is the biggest culprit when it comes to a large file size. To cut it down, accommodate the total number of colors in the dropdown box labeled "Colors:" and reduce the dither (the blending of pixels to create seamless shading) setting below it. As yous make changes, proceed an centre on the preview image of your GIF on the left side to see how the resolution is being afflicted.

Convert to sRGB

sRGB, or "Standard RGB," has a narrower range of colors than the default "Adobe RGB," so brand sure to bank check that box.

Save

Once you're happy with your resolution and file size, hit the salvage button at the lesser of the window. To make sure that everything came out alright, you lot can preview the finished GIF file by dragging information technology into a browser'due south URL box.

A GIF made in Photoshop incorporating the pixel sunglasses meme
My finished banner ad GIF. Photo via graham wizardo.

Step 10: Share your finished Photoshop GIF!

And at that place you have it—your finished GIF, ready to be shared all across the world wide web. Now that yous have the skills to create basic Photoshop animations from videos and still images, you can gifify almost anything!

While this method is useful for quick, fun GIFs, GIFs for professional purposes should be a lot more than robust than my silly sunglasses advertizing. Learning the software is straightforward, but animation itself is a tricky art grade that takes practice and expertise. When you're ready to upwards your GIF game, make sure you're working with a professional person.

Looking for professional aid creating an animation?
Work with 1 of our talented designers!

This article was originally written past Rebecca Creger and published in 2013. Information technology's been updated with new information and examples.

Source: https://99designs.com/blog/design-tutorials/create-a-gif-in-photoshop/

Posted by: campbelltorcer.blogspot.com

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