Things You'll Need:
- GIMP
-
Step 1
Open GIMP, and open a new document by going to File and clicking "New." In the box that pops up, make it any size you like, but for this example, it will be 500-by-500 pixels. Click on "Advanced Options," and make the background color white, and the resolution 72. In the Layer Panel, make a new layer by clicking on the "New Layer" icon. Select all, and fill the new layer with blue.
-
Step 2
Right click on the new layer, and select "Duplicate Layer." Do this two more times, so that you have four layers (not including the background layer). Each layer in GIMP is going to act as a frame of your animation.
-
Step 3
Use the "Eye" icons in the Layer Panel to make the top three layers invisible. Select the visible blue layer, and then use the "Text" tool to type in a message of some sort, such as "Hi there!" Now duplicate this text layer three times, moving them in the Layer Panel so that there is a text layer above each of your blue layers.
-
Step 4
Select the "Move" tool, and make sure it is set to "Move the Active Layer." Then select each of the text layers in turn, and move them so as to form a continuous movement. Try to keep the same distance between the layers so that the animation will be smoother.
-
Step 5
Double click each text layer, and, next to the name of the layer and inside the brackets, type in the time delay for that layer in milliseconds. For example, you might have "Hi there!#1 (1000ms)." To test your animation, go to Filters, and click "Animation" and "Playback."
-
Step 6
Go to File and select "Save As." Change the File type to GIF, name it and click "OK." In the next box, select "Animation." For the rest, go with the default settings. And now you should have a GIF animation you made in GIMP.
