How to Make an Animated Window Ghost
Make an animated window ghost by using an image manipulation program with layering tools to create several animation frames, then using the program or a Web service to assemble those frames into an animation. You can easily create a ghostly effect by using your program's layering features to reduce the opacity of a person's image. Opacity is the opposite of transparency, so when you make a person appear less opaque you make it easier to see through him -- a key characteristic of ghost images.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
GIMP
-
1
Click the "File" menu's "Open" command, then navigate to a photo of a window. Double click the photo to load it into GIMP.
-
2
Use the controls of Windows Explorer to navigate to an image of a person. Click the image, then drag it onto GIMP's application window. This loads the image onto a new layer.
-
-
3
Drag the "Opacity" slider of the "Layers" window left until it reads "50 percent."
-
4
Right click the highlighted layer in the "Layers" window, then click "Duplicate" to make a copy of the layer
-
5
Press "M" to run the "Move" tool, then drag the duplicated image to a new screen location.
-
6
Use the previous two steps to create several more images of the person, then click the "File" menu's "Save" command. Type any filename ending with ".GIF," then click "Save."
-
7
Click the "Animation" option of the dialog box that appears, then click "Export" to save the animated GIF.
-
8
Double click the saved file to play its animation.
Paint.NET
-
9
Click the "File" menu, then click the "Open" command. Navigate to and double click a photo of a window on your PC.
-
10
Drag the photo of a person from its folder in Windows Explorer to Paint.NET's application window.
-
11
Drag the "Opacity" slider of the "Layer" window's currently highlighted layer left until this control displays "50 percent" or so.
-
12
Click the "File" menu's "Save" command, then type a name in the "File name" text box. Click "Save."
-
13
Click the tool palette icon shaped like a white arrow to run the "Move" tool, then drag on the photo to move it slightly.
-
14
Repeat step four but save the revised image with a different filename.
-
15
Create several more images of the ghost in different locations, then open your Web browser on a site that creates animated GIFs, such as GIF Ninja, Make a GIF or Picasion.
-
16
Follow the site's prompts to upload and assemble your images into an animated GIF. Follow the site's instructions to download the completed GIF, then double click the downloaded file to play its animation.
Photoshop
-
17
Click the "File" menu's "Open" command, then navigate to and double click an image of a window to load it into Photoshop.
-
18
Open Windows Explorer, then navigate to a folder containing a photo of someone you'd like to make into a ghost for the animation.
-
19
Drag the person's photo onto Photoshop's application window to load the photo as a new layer in Photoshop.
-
20
Drag the "Opacity" slider of the "Layers" panel left until it reads "50 percent."
-
21
Right click the highlighted layer in the "Layers" panel and click "Duplicate," press "V" to run the "Move" tool. Drag on the canvas to move the image of the person to a slightly different canvas location.
-
22
Use the instructions from step five to create and move several more images of the person, then click the small button atop the "Animation" panel. Click the "Make frames from layers" command to make animation frames from the layers.
-
23
Click the "Animation" panel's ">" button to play the animation of the window ghost.
-
1
References
- "GIMP User Manual"; GIMP documentation team; 2009
- Microsoft: Paint.NET Move tool
- "Photoshop CS5 Bible"; Lisa Dayley; 2010
