I have not met many digital graphic artists, but the two I've met, who are really good at what they do, didn't know this neat little trick for making quick Animated GIFs using Photoshop. In both occasions, I felt quite happy that I had influenced their digital art life.
Ok, you can go ahead and open Photoshop. For demo purposes, only create one text layer. The text should Read "I'm about to be wowed" or anything of your choice... lol. This is the text that will blink on our GIF.
Once you're done with that, go to Photoshop's "Window" Menu. Find "Animation" and click on it. You will immediately see a window appear at the bottom of your workspace. [I THINK CLICKING ON THE IMAGES WILL ENLARGE THEM]
Photoshop's Animation, has two modes you can work in:
- Timeline (Sort of Reminds you of Facebook, don't it)
- Frames
I've always had to do very simple animations, and Frames have always been enough for me. The timeline, I believe, gives you much more control as to when different graphics will enter and leave the animation. I've attempted to use it before, it's sweet. This post, however, will only focus on using Frames. You're free to explore the use of the Timeline on your own.
To use the Frames mode click on the Frames button as seen in the image below:
Because we want the text "I'm about to be wowed" to blink, go to the Animations Window, create a new frame.
You should now see two frames (or more depending on how many you created) in the Animations Window. Set the time that you want each frame to show. Then, Go to Photoshop's layers and while the second frame is selected simply hide the text layer. You can test your animation with the play buttons at the bottom of the Animations Window. You can also set your animation to loop forever, or only do the animation once. You can also Tween, create in between animation frames that would make your animations look sleek. A vous (up to you, as the French say).
The final step is the easiest. To save your animation, go to File > Save for Web & Devices > Change the save as type to Gif > check that all is well, and then save. Your GIF is ready to "WoW" others.
Please drop me a question if this isn't very clear.
