Tutorial Tuesday: How To Make A Gif
If there is one thing I consider myself reasonably good at, it's making a nice gif. I first taught myself how to make gifs about four years ago so I could post them on Tumblr. I do it less and less these days due to the eye strain it causes. However, I do like playing with gifs as a way of learning how to use Photoshop. While I am no expert in photo editing or video editing (two skills I'd like to learn properly someday), I can make a pretty good-looking gif. And before you ask, I pronounce it "j-if", not "guh-if". My justification is so that I don't get it mixed up with the word "gift", but I'd rather not start an age-old argument.
In this tutorial, I am going to explain how to make, color, and edit gifs. I'm currently using Adobe Photoshop 2021 (on a Macbook), but some basic principles can be applied to other programs as well. I will be using a scene from the last episode of The Queen's Gambit to demonstrate. I do not own The Queen's Gambit; all rights belong to Netflix.
MAKING A GIF: THE BASICS
Open your video file in Photoshop.
In the Timeline section, narrow down your selection to the specific scene you want to gif.
Click along the Timeline to determine the beginning and end of your selection.
Click the scissor icon, "Split at Playhead", to "cut" the video.
Delete excess footage (i.e. before and after your selection).
Open the menu in the top right-hand corner of the Timeline panel; go to Convert Frames > Flatten Frames Into Clips.
In the bottom left-hand corner of the Timeline panel, click "Convert to frame animation".
Open the menu in the top right-hand corner of the Timeline panel and click "Make Frames From Layers".
Set the gif delay, i.e. playback speed.
Open the same menu again; click "Select All Frames".
Click the down-facing arrow of any frame in the Timeline panel to set your frame delay. I use 0.05 seconds because I think it is smooth and almost unnoticeable.
Narrow your gif down further to exactly which frames you'd like to use.
Decide on the first frame of your gif. Delete all frames before it in both the Timeline panel and the Layers panel.
Decide on the last frame of your gif. Delete all frames after it in both the Timeline panel and the Layers panel.
Resize your gif to suit your purposes.
Go to Image > Image Size...
Set your image size by percentage, pixels, etc., making sure that your ratio is locked to avoid distortion.
Open the menu in the top right-hand corner of the Timeline panel and click "Convert to Video Timeline".
Go to Filter > Convert for Smart Filters.
Go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen...
Finally, save your gif.
Go to File > Export > Save For Web (Legacy)...
MAKING A GIF: COLORING
Gif coloring is very subjective; everyone has their personal preferences. When I first started, my gifs were very bland and basic. These days, I like high saturation and high contrast. They pop really well whether you're looking at them on desktop or mobile.
The key to coloring a gif is experimentation. I started by using other people's PSDs (Photoshop files that contain folders of pre-set coloring). Since then, I have developed my own PSDs for different shows, movies, and so on. I recommend checking out PSDs here and Photoshop tutorials here.
The Basics of Coloring
Start by creating a new fill or adjustment layer.
Layer, add, experiment. Rearrange layers until you find something you like.
Keep layers in a folder so they're organized and easy to move around.
Make sure all layers apply to all frames!
Select your PSD folder, then open the Timeline menu.
Click "Match Layers Across Frames...".
Check off Layer Position, Layer Visibility, and Layer Style.
The Basics of Masking
Sometimes, you may want certain parts of a gif to be in a different color for a cool effect. Notice how the background of the right-hand gif is black-and-white?
Start by creating a new fill or adjustment layer (in this case, a Black and White layer).
Use the brush tool to "paint" areas where you want the layer to be shown and where you don't want it to be shown.
Remember: white adds, black subtracts. In my gif, the character is "painted" in black so the black-and-white layer does not show.
MAKING A GIF: TEXT & OTHER ADDITIONS
Like coloring, there are different ways of adding text to a gif. When making gifs for Tumblr, I primarily use text as a way of adding captions/subtitles. You can also add additional effects and textures to enhance your gifs.
The Basics of Adding Text
Start by creating a text layer.
Choose your font and font size, then type in your text.
Right-click your text layer and add a Stroke and Drop Shadow layer. This ensures text will be readable no matter the gif's contents.
Make sure your text is visible in all frames (see above)!
To fade text in and out to match the person's mouth:
First, decide which frames you want the text to fade in and fade out.
Set the opacity of the text layer in the frames outside of this window to 0%.
Decide your opacity intervals. Then, set the opacity of each individual frame to get the effect. I like to do 0% -> 25% -> 50% -> 75% -> 100% and vice versa.
The Basics of Adding Textures
Find a texture you'd like to use (mine is by @astraeawrites) and put it into your working PSD.
Set the texture layer's mode to "Screen".
Make sure your texture is visible in all frames (see above)!
If you're applying a gif texture on top of your gif like mine, you must manually adjust the visibility of each layer to match each frame. It is tedious but can result in some pretty quality-looking gifs.
