There are many tools supporting making a Gif, among which PhotoShop is one of the most famous assistants favored by the mass. Would you like to learn how to make a Gif in PhotoShop, making realities out of your creative ideas? Just prepare your source images or videos and follow the steps I am going to provide to produce striking individual Gifs.

Content:

1. Download and Install PhotoShop

2. Define your Gif Source

3. Make Static Images to Gif

4. Make a Video to Gif

5. PhotoShop Alternative to Make a Gif

1. Download and Install PhotoShop

Download and install this tool before making a Gif in Photoshop. It has gone through several upgradation starting from CS5 to CS6 and CC. Suggest using the latest version and begin your journey of Gif creation. Find free access to this software and you will save much money.

2. Define Your Gif Source

Gif images can derive from two types of sources, with static images and dynamic videos included. In other words, you can make a Gif in PhotoShop using static images, or make a Gif in PhotoShop using dynamic videos. Why should you define your Gif source? Different Gif sources, encompassing static images and dynamic videos, lead to distinct ways to make a Gif. Subsequently, I will show you how to make a Gif in PhotoShop from an image source first and how to make a Gif in PhotoShop from a video second.

3. Make Static Images to Gif

Step 1: Load Static Images

This is the step on how to make an animated Gif in PhotoShop. Start PhotoShop CC and pay attention to the toolbar. Click “File” > “Scripts” > “Load Files into Stack” > “Browse” to locate your images, and tap “OK” to load your images to PhotoShop. Then, each image with an “Eye” icon will appear under the option of “Layers” on the right part of your interface. If you want to rename each image, double click name of each image and change it, or select the image and click “Layer” > “Rename Layer”.

Step 2: Change Interface Color and Image Size

For the first image showing up at the center of the interface, you can change the underground color around this input image through right-click the interface and customizing it. If you want to make the picture displayed with a bigger size, click “Window” > “Navigator”. Alternatively, you can select the targeted image, press “Ctrl+T” and lossen to change the size of the image. This is an important step on how to make a Gif in PhotoShop CC.

Step 3: Choose “Create Frame Animation” Mode

Follow me to make an animated Gif in PhotoShop. Click ‘Window” > “Timeline” in the toolbar, click the option “Create Video Time” below the master image, and continue to click “Create Frame Animation”. Then, the great show on how to make a Gif in photoshop will start in seconds.

How to Make A Gif in Photoshop

Step 4: Set Each Image Under Timeline & Layer

Subsequently, click “Layer” > “Create Clipping Mask (Alt + Ctrl + G)” in the toolbar to display the five images you have input at the same time. At this moment, if your image doesn’t appear under the option of “Timeline”, you might as well click one image under “Layers” on the right, “Create Frame Animation” under the master image or “Timeline”, until there is one image appearing under “Timeline” on the left. Making a Gif in PhotoShop is easy and fun.

In the lower-right corner of the image under “Timeline”, there is a “downward arrow”, click it to set the delay time. Then, click the option of “Duplicates selected frame” several times based on your needs. For example, I duplicate fives times and there will another five images below “Timeline”. At this moment, select the second image under “Timeline” among the six pictures, and open the eye of the first image under “Layers” on the right. Click the third image under “Timeline” and open the eye of the second image under “Layers” on the right. Continue this operation until all the images have been set. Then, you can preview the Gif by clicking the button in the lower left corner. It is almost the end on how to make a Gif in PhotoShop.

Make a Gif in Photoshop

Step 5: Export Your Gif

This is the last step on how to make a Gif in PhotoShop. Click “File” > “Export” > “Save for Web (Legacy)...Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S” in the toolbar. Then, you are expected to set the output format as “Gif” and colors as “256”. Here, you can also preview your created Gif. At last, click “Save” at the bottom to output your Gif made from static images.

Making A Gif in Photoshop

4. Make a Video to Gif

Another way to make a Gif in Pthoshop is using videos as the source.

Step 1: Load Your Video to PhotoShop

Click “File” > “Import” > “Video Frames to Layers” to load your source video. You can input either the whole video by clicking “From Beginning To End” or input part of the video by using the slider below the image and setting the value of frame. To set the interface color following the instructions I have mentioned in the second step on how to make a Gif in PhotoShop from static images.

How to Make An Animated Gif in Photoshop

Step 2: Choose “Create Video Timeline” Mode

Similar to how to make a Gif in PhotoShop from static images, click ‘Window” > “Timeline” in the toolbar, click the option of “Create Video Time” below the master image, and continue to click “Create Video Timeline”. Then, the interface will be like this below.

Make An Animated Gif in Photoshop

Step 3: Set Delay Time and Match Each Layer

Each frame of your video is listed in the lower left corner. If you think the images are big in number, you can eliminate some of them. Afterwards, click the “Downward Arrow” below each image and set the delay time. Then, click the first image on the left and match the corresponding image on the right by displaying the icon of “Eye”. Repeat this operation until all the images have been matched. This process in very important as to how to make a Gif in PhotoShop.

Step 4: Export Your Gif

Click “File” > “Export” > “Save for Web (Legacy)... Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S” in the toolbar. Set the output format as “Gif” and colors as “256”. Preview your created Gif, and then click “Save” at the bottom to output your Gif made from static images. This step is the same with how to make a Gif in PhotoShop.

Make Animated Gif in Photoshop

5. PhotoShop Alternative to Make a Gif

Besides “make an animated gif in PhotoShop”, you have another tool to make creative ideas come true. This helpful software is DVDFab Toolkit. Compared with PhotoShop to make a Gif, DVDFab Toolkit is more easy to use. Now, let’s see how to make a Gif in DVDFab Toolkit.

Step 1: Download and Install DVDFab Toolkit

Go to the official website of DVDFab Toolkit and click the button of “Free Download”. Follow the instruction this free software provides and DVDFab Toolkit will be at your disposal in just seconds. During this process, no extra applications will disturb you.

How to Make A Gif in Photoshop CC or DVDFab Toolkit

Step 2: Set Interface Language and Output Directory

After starting DVDFab Toollkit, focus on the the “Little Triangle” in the upper right corner. Then, click “Settings” to set the interface language. DVDFab Toolkit is available in 13 languages, including English, Czech, and among others. On the same panel, there is an option of “Temporary Directory” where you can decide where to save your files. When you make a Gif in PhotoShop, the output directory is set in the last step.

Step 3: Use DVDFab Toolkit to Make a Gif

Click “Video to Gif” under “Image Tools”, and load your video to DVDFab Toolkit. Different from PhotoShop which can absorb a video or pictures, this tool only supports a source in the form of video. After inputting a video to DVDFab Toolkit, a new interface will appear where you need to decide which part of video to be used for a Gif by setting the “Start Time” and “End Time”. Also, you can control how many times this Gif will play using the option of “Looping”, and set the playback speed and size of this video. After finishing converting it to a Gif, you can follow the folder offered to locate where the Gif is, which is easier than making a Gif in PhotoShop.

Conclusion

Have you had a full picture of how to make a Gif in PhotoShop? Just input your images or videos to this software and follow the instructions provided in this article to customize your Gif. Besides the tools I introduced in helping make a Gif, more buttons stay in PhotoShop to be explored. You can give a try. If you feel it complicated to make a Gif using PhotoShop, DVDFab Toolkit is your first choice, which is free and more easy-to-use than PhotoShop. If you are also interested in Outstanding BD Media Player from DVDFab, just read it.