How to Create a GIF Animation

The great thing about the gif file format is that you can create very simple animation with minimal knowledge. Unlike creating Flash animations, which are complex in nature and involve a lot of technical knowledge, a crude animation can be created in a matter of minutes. Read on to learn the ropes.

Instructions

1. Gather your tools. You will need a copy of Adobe Photoshop with ImageReady to create your gif animation. You must be familiar with layers in Photoshop and frames in animation. Each movement in your graphic will need to be on a new layer, which is the same thing as a frame in animation lingo for our purposes here.

2. Create a new file and design the parts of your logo that will not change on the background layer.

3. Create a new layer and design the first frame of your animation.

4. Repeat Step 3 until all frames of your animation have been completed.

5. Save the file in Photoshop format.

6. Go to File>Open in Imageready.

7. In Imageready, make sure your Animation and Layers windows are showing. If they are not, go to the Window menu.

8. In the Animation window, create a new frame for each part of your animation. Select each frame and turn the layers on/off that you want visible for that particular frame.

9. Preview your animation using the control panel in the Animation window. The play button will show you how your completed animation will look.

10. When satisfied, go to File>Save for Web and save in GIF format.