Everybody wants to know how to create a GIF. Why not?
GIFs are one of today’s internet breakthroughs.
They are taking over the digital community as an effective and compelling type of content.
We can find these GIFs everywhere online, in social media posts, blogs, websites and even in videos.
The Increasing Importance of GIF’s
GIFs today aren’t just sweet and funny bitmap images. They aren’t just for corny memes and annoying reactions.
They are realistic graphics that one can use to entertain, tell stories, spread breaking news and express emotions. They’ve been around for 25 years and in 2015 when GIF trend has never been stronger.
But what is GIF? We hear this word every day, and we use it. However, not many people know what GIFs are. Let’s check out some of the very important facts about GIF’s and its brief history.
What is GIF?
GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. We commonly hear this word pronounced as ‘jif‘ or sometimes GIF with a hard G like ‘gift’. On June 15, 1987, when the first GIF format was created.
Its developer is a team at the bulletin board service provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite.
A GIF is basically an animated image file format. It’s a combination of several other images or frames to create a single file.
GIFs typically use a compression algorithm referred to as LZW encoding. It keeps the image quality high, moreover allowing an easy storing of the file in bytes.
What Does a GIF Do?
You can use GIFs for various purposes. You can stick them around at the end of your article, blog post or content article. Also, you can use it as the image or photo in your social media posts.
Since GIFs are often bite-sized contents, they are used as entertainment in statements, replies or comments in online conversations. They are also used online to convey reactions.
Whether you believe it or not, but GIFs are effective in illustrating or explaining concepts or products. They convey images in a fun, creative and succinct way.
How To Create A GIF
GIF Creator App: Giffing Tool
When you search the internet, there’s an overwhelming number of GIF creator apps that you can find.
But beginners and non-professionals might find it confusing to pick the right app. So we are here to help you.
Let’s use Giffing Tool as an example to learn how to create a GIF.
The basic and easy steps to follow on how to create a GIF:
- Find a video online. It’s easier to turn it into a GIF if it has anywhere from 0.5-15 seconds of movement. Then open it in your browser.
- Click the “New” button.
- You’ll be allowed to select a rectangular area of your screen that you want to record. So click and drag the area.
- Press the play button on your video. Then after you’ve captured the whole clip, press Esc.
- In the timeline at the top, drag the green and red handles to the beginning and end of the action you want to capture.
- You can find Text or Effects tools to add captions or convert to grayscale. It’s optional. You can use or not use it.
- Then click the floppy disk icon to save your GIF once you are already satisfied with the result.
There are more GIF creator apps that you can download. Here are the top 10 best GIF creator apps.
- Giphy Cam
- Camera MX
- Footej Camera
- GIF Maker and Editor
- Gif Me Camera
- Group Me
- GIF Studio
- Google Allo
- Motion Stills
- Pixel Animator
Inspiring Ideas on How To Create A GIF
When creating a GIF, you need to consider your goal. Aside from your purpose, your goal will motivate you to create something that is going to be effective in the viewers’ eyes. Remember that not all GIFs are compelling. So no matter what GIF creator app you use, if your ideas are poor, your GIF is going to be boring. We are giving you some tips on how to create a GIF that can easily capture people’s attention.
1. Use high-quality images. – Just like videos, a GIF is intended to amuse people. It imposes emotions so be sure to select good quality images. Because clarity is very important for people’s fast and easy comprehension.
2. Use a series of pictures. – GIF’s don’t limit the use of images. So find a set of images illustrating different stages of movement and just put them together to make it more lively.
3. Get creative with text. – Play with letters. You will find a lot of posters with interesting fonts and colors. You can use that as inspirations when creating your own GIF. Every movement in your GIF is adding life to your art.
4. Show realistic facial expression. – A successful artwork is an artwork that has life in it. Same as with GIFs. If you want to connect with your audience, be sure to create a GIF that shows real human emotions. You can do that by showing realistic facial expressions.
5. Be picky with your colors. – The fewer colors, the better. GIFs don’t need to be filled with colors. Be really selective about your use of color. Also, the color adds the file size of your graphics. So limit it to get better quality.
Top 5 Wonderful Examples of Animated GIFs
1. Beautiful Images
GIF animations aren’t all about humorous reactions. They can be cinemagraphs showcasing beauty in various aspects. The example shows how beautiful city lights are at night.
The image gives a relaxing and calming feeling which is what people need in today’s lifestyle. It is simple but is worth remembering. This kind of GIF is shareable and can surely captivate your followers or viewers attention.
2. Adorable Pets or Animals
Pets and animals are one of the most common animated GIFs. It is human’s nature to love animals. Using them in GIFs are proven effective. These are very cuddly and lovable subjects that a person cannot ignore.
You can attract all types of viewers, from kids to adult of all ages. Also, you can use pet GIFs for different purposes. So if you want to get likes, shares, and comments on your post, consider this cute idea.
3. Nature’s Beauty
Who can resist nature’s beauty? No one! It’s the reason why nature images are one of the most popular subjects in GIFs.
The serenity of nature’s beauty positively impacts a person’s emotion. It’s soothing deep within, and for sure, it’s going to gain people’s attention easily.
4. Funny Faces
Most GIFs are known to be humorous. But one of the most effective subjects in funny GIFs is funny faces of people. These can be celebrities, politicians or even ordinary individuals that unintentionally or intentionally make broken faces.
Using these images does not require edits and captions most of the time. Because funny human reactions already have it all.
Babies are irresistible. Their innocence and cuteness can make anybody feel happy. Whatever reaction we see from a baby’s face, it affects us too.
Therefore, using babies in GIFs is very common and effective. It can brighten one’s day so if you want compelling GIFs, use baby GIFs.
Who does not know pranks these days? Pranks are very popular because they entertain people.
Prank videos can be used in GIFs as well. They’re cool, and they get fast shares, likes, and comments. So if you want a viral GIF, why not use a prank GIF.
Memes can be in GIFs too. They are captioned photos that are intended to be funny. The concept of meme is to impact a person positively. Most of the time, it’s fun and humorous emotions.
Like pranks, many people find them cool and entertaining. Also, memes are not difficult to create. So it’s a great choice for beginners and nonexperts out there.
Since GIFs are very effective and popular, businesses make use of them. To be able to make a brand advertisement more compelling, they create brand GIFs. Compared to other ad materials, GIFs are affordable and straightforward.
A person does not need to spend a lot of money for this type of brand endorsement. Moreover, GIFs can be anywhere. So spreading the word about your brand is going to be a lot easier.
Selling your product in a GIF ad form is one smart idea. These are short moving images that are very captivating. You can add art and even audio to make it more effective.
Product promotion is made easier. You don’t need to spend a lot of money for ads, and you can be on any digital platform.
Quotes can be GIFs. They become more attractive and inspiring when they are designed as GIFs. People are becoming more and more creative these days. Even simple quotations and inspiring messages are innovating.
If you want to inspire or brighten someone’s day in your social media post, blog or article, why not use quotes GIF’s. They are sure to be effective. The best thing about this is you can design your own quote GIF easily. No hassle and no expertise needed.
‘GIFs Can Paint A Thousand Words…’
What we have provided you above is everything that you need to know and learn about GIFs.
So if you are using GIFs to display your products and services in action, it’s an ideal plan that you must pursue right away.
Bring life to conversion now that you finally know how to create a GIF.