How to Make Blinkies in GIMP

Blinkies are the graphics and banners on websites that appear to “blink” or “flash.” Blinkies can be added around the border of a graphic or can be made from the text included on the graphic to help draw attention to important information that you would like to stand out on your website, or to just add a little dramatic effect to your website design. Using Gimp, a free graphics program, you can make a blinkie through a simple animation process.

Instructions

1. Open Gimp on your computer. Close the tip windows that automatically comes up by clicking the “X” in the upper right corner.

2. Click the “File” link listed on the top line in the Gimp toolbox. Choose “Open” from the menu options and browse for the graphic or banner you want to add blinkies to on the computer’s hard drive. Double-click the file to open it.

3. Choose the “Text Tool” from the Gimp toolbox, click on the first layer in the “Layers” panel and type the text you want to add to the layer. Click on the “Move Tool” in the toolbox and move the text wherever you want it on the image. Press “Ctrl+H” to lock the text in place.

4. Press the “Duplicate Layer” button two times to create two new layers of the text. The “Duplicate Layer” button is located in the “Layers” pane.

5. Switch to the second layer in the “Layers” panel. Select the “Paint Brush” from the toolbox and choose a color that you would like to make the text blink from the color palette. Paint the letters of the text with the color. You may need to click the “Zoom” tool to get closer to the text to paint it.

6. Duplicate the painted layer by clicking the “Duplicate Layer” button and make sure it is at the top of the layers list. The layers should now alternate between the text in the original color and the text in the painted color.

7. Double-click the “Layer Comment” option in the “Layers” pane. In the box that appears, type "(2)" into the provided “Delay” line, replacing the “2” with whatever you would like the delay between the layers to be in milliseconds. Preview the speed and blinking colors by going to the “Image” menu and choosing “Filters,” “Animation” and “Animation Playback.”

8. Return to the “Image” menu and go to Filters >Animation > Optimize (for GIF). Leave the default settings in place and click “OK.”

9. Save the file as a GIF. Only the GIF file type can keep the animation. To save, go to the “File” menu, select “Save as,” choose “GIF” as the “Save as” type, enter a name for your blinkie and click the “Save” button to save the animation to your computer’s hard drive.

References

• Gimp Tutorials: Simple Animations

Resources

• Download Gimp