If you're on social media in 2019, you need to know how to brand a GIF. GIFs are helpful for creating middle-catching ads, or connecting with your followers through moments from pop culture.

Think of GIFs as the midpoint between images and videos. The main reward of using GIFs is that you can tell a story or emphasize a point in a flash. Plus, they're small files to load, and that makes them perfect for mobile.

GIFs accept exploded in popularity in recent years. GIPHY, one of the spider web'south more popular GIF databases, claims to have over 300 one thousand thousand daily agile users. In 2018, Google bought Tenor, a keyboard app and GIF archive designed to help users find the GIFs they want. Tenor processes over 400 1000000 GIF searches per 24-hour interval.

This article will show y'all how to brand a GIF using four different methods. Add together them to your social media posts to delight and appoint your followers.

Let'south get started.

Table of contents

How to brand a GIF with Photoshop

How to make a GIF from a YouTube video

How to brand a GIF on mobile

How to create screen-recording GIFs

Bonus: Get the e'er-upward-to-engagement social media image size cheat sheet.  The free resource includes recommended photograph dimensions for every type of image on every major network.

How to brand a GIF with Photoshop

Notation: all screenshots used in this article are from Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 (19.i.2 release).

You tin can utilize Photoshop to string images together into a GIF. To brand the following GIF, Fergus Baird used 20 photos taken in Photo Booth.

You can also use a short video file to make GIFs in Photoshop. The process is well-nigh the same; only the first stride will alter.

Choose your own adventure:

If you're starting with a photo series, begin at Step 1A.

If you're converting a video into a GIF using Photoshop, offset at Step 1B.

1A. Starting with photos: Load your deck of photos into Photoshop

In Photoshop, go to File > Stack > Load Files into Stack. Click Browse, then choose the photos ("layers") you lot want to use by Shift-clicking on the full list. Each of these photos volition be ane frame in your GIF.

Tip: If you want to save yourself some time later, number your files (i.east., 001, 002, 003) to make certain they appear in society.

how to make a gif with photoshop

how to create a gif with photoshop

The "Load Layers" screen should await similar this 1 below. Click OK and head to stride 2!


how to create a gif with photoshop

1B. Starting with video: Load your video file into Photoshop

To plough a brusk video into a GIF using Photoshop, you'll need to make layers out of the existing video frames. First, click File > Import > Video Frames to Layers…

how to create a gif with photoshop

A new window volition pop upward request which portion of the video you'd like to import. You can select the range using the slider below the video.

Next, tell Photoshop how many frames it should import. Information technology isn't necessary to import every single frame to make a GIF. In this example, we imported one out of every three frames, and only half of the video footage. When you're satisfied, click OK.

how to create a gif

Once you've imported your video file into layers, skip to Step four.

ii. Create a Timeline for your GIF

Nether the "Window" bill of fare, scroll downward and click Timeline.

how to make a gif with photoshop

A small-scale box volition appear under the first paradigm in your list: Create Video Timeline. Click this and change it to Create Frame Animation.

how to create a gif with photoshop

3. Catechumen your photo layers into a set of looping blitheness frames

In the top right of the "Timeline" panel yous'll see a piddling hamburger menu (outlined in xanthous).

how to make a gif with photoshop

Click on the hamburger menu, scroll downward, and click on Make Frames From Layers.

how to make your own gif

The "Timeline" panel will now show your blitheness frames in sequence. You can drag these around to reorder them.

Press the triangular Play icon (outlined in red below) to become an idea of how your GIF will await. Also, brand certain Forever is selected in the drop down menu to the left (outlined in yellow), otherwise your GIF volition but loop a prepare number of times.

make your own gif

iv. Export your GIF

Click File > Export > Relieve for Web (Legacy)…

make your own gif

Yous'll come to this menu beneath. It looks a piffling overwhelming, simply don't worry. Under the "Preset" carte, select GIF 128 Dithered.

make your own gif

Side by side, modify your Colors setting to 256 (the max number for a GIF).

how to make your own gif

Now you're prepare to export your GIF.

To encounter how it turned out, click Preview… in the bottom left corner. It'll open your default web browser and play a looping preview of your GIF.

how to create your own gif

Side by side, click Save… to proper name your GIF file, and download the GIF to your computer.

And that's information technology! Congratulations! You know how to make a GIF in Photoshop.

How to make a GIF from a YouTube video

If yous don't have access to an Adobe Artistic Suite subscription, don't despair: there'due south more than i way to GIF a true cat.

1. Go to GIPHY.com and click Create

giphy homepage

2. Add together the web address of the video you'd like to make into a GIF

how to make a gif

three. Notice the part of the video y'all'd like to capture, and choose the length

Choosing a longer elapsing in the pinnacle slider volition add more fourth dimension after the "outset time" y'all select in the lesser slider.

how to make a gif

4. Optional step: decorate your GIF

There are a variety of options in here. You lot tin can add text, or jazz up the GIF with stickers, filters, or fifty-fifty hand-drawn annotations. I didn't add annihilation because the baby getting trunk-slammed past a cat really speaks for itself.

how to make a gif

five. Optional footstep: add hashtags to your GIF

Add hashtags if you want people to find your GIF and share it widely. Include your brand name and some common related terms in your list then it'south easily searchable. Retrieve of what y'all would search for if you lot were trying to observe this GIF in a hurry.

how to make a gif

6. Upload your GIF to GIPHY

how to make a gif

And with that, you're washed! To include the GIF in your social media posts, merely insert the Giphy link or download the Giphy file and attach it.

You can follow these same steps to upload a GIF you've made yourself. But add together a link to the GIF URL in place of the YouTube video link at the get-go. You can too use these steps to create a GIF from your own video — just start by uploading information technology to YouTube.

How to make a GIF on mobile

Mobile apps like GIPHY Cam allow you to brand GIFs on your phone. These are extremely easy to use: if you've e'er used Snapchat, you can handle GIPHY Cam. If you have not used Snapchat… you can nonetheless handle GIPHY Cam.

1. Launch the app and record your GIF

Tap the photo push to accept a short flare-up of photos, or agree information technology for a longer GIF.

2. Optional stride: cull a filter, or add stickers/text

how to create a gif

3. Save your GIF and share information technology with the world


How to brand a screen-recording GIF

Apps like GIPHY Capture, ScreenToGif, LICECap and GifCam let you to make GIFs of your on-screen activity. This is a great option if you're writing a short instructional article (like something for an online assistance center) and desire to prove steps visually.

1. Launch the screen-recording GIF software

When you launch the software, you lot'll run into a recording overlay like the red-outlined section in the screenshot below.

how to make a screen-recording gif

ii. Pull the mask over the area you want to record

With GIPHY Capture, you tin tape anything within the recording overlay (again, outlined in cherry-red). To enlarge this area, click and drag the bottom-right corner (outlined in yellow).

how to make a screen-recording gif

Bonus: Go the ever-up-to-date social media image size cheat canvass.  The free resource includes recommended photo dimensions for every type of image on every major network.

Get the free cheat sheet now!

3. Tape your on-screen activity

Printing the circular crimson push in the middle to record, and so press it over again to stop recording. You should see a thumbnail preview of your GIF popular up in the bar below the recording overlay.

how to create a screen-recording gif

4. Customize your GIF settings

Minimize the recording area and take a wait at the GIF options menu. Here, you can customize your GIF, including the loop blazon (normal, reverse, or ping-pong) pixel size, and frame rate. Elevate the tabs in from the left or right to trim your GIF. Y'all tin can as well add together captions from this menu. Just click captions next to options.

how to make a screen-recording gif

When you're ready, you tin click the bluish Calculate size text to get an idea of how big your GIF file will be. Under 3 MB is ideal for fast loading.

v. Salvage your GIF

Y'all can choose to save your GIF to your calculator, or, in the case of GIPHY Capture, upload it straight to GIPHY'south online archive.

However you cull to use GIFs in your marketing strategy—social or otherwise—make sure your approach is carefully considered and stays true to your brand values. And don't forget to take fun with it!

Yous tin can add your newly created, hilarious GIFs to social media posts with Hootsuite. Easily manage your social channels and engage followers beyond networks from a unmarried dashboard. Try information technology free today.

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