How Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg Create Their Animated GIFs

An animated GIF is made from a series of still images.

Do the following.

Photograph

1) Make about twelve exposures of a scene with movement.

Make Two Folders

2) Make two folders in My Pictures, Pictures, or on your Desktop.

• Animation 1 Originals

• Animation 1 Resized

Download

3) Download the sequence photographs from your camera to the folder called Animation 1 Originals.

Or, download them to the normal location for your downloads.

Then, copy and paste the sequence photographs into the Animation 1 Originals folder.

Resize

The photographs are too big for animations.

You can use batch processing to resize them with a couple of clicks.

4) Go to File > Process Multiple Files.

5) Look for the Process Files From section on the top left corner of the window.

6) In the Source box, browse to the Animation 1 Originals folder.

7) In the Destination box, browse to the Animation 1 Resized folder.

Process File From Section

8) In the next section down, File Renaming, select Rename Files.

9) Look for the box on the right side.

By default, the box is set to 3 Digit Serial Number.

3 Digit Serial Number

10) Click the box and enter _resized.

File Renaming Section

11) In the next section down, Image Size, select Resize Images.

12) Enter 400 px in the Width box.

There's no need to enter a value in the Height box.

Make sure the Constrain Proportions box is selected.

13) Change the resolution to 72 dpi.

dpi is dots per inch.

That's how many dots per inch a printer is making.

ppi, pixels per inch, would be a better term here, as we're not printing.

Image Size Section

14) In the next section down, File Type, select JPEG Low Quality.

Don't convert your photographs to the GIF file format at this time.

If you do, you won't be able to move them into one layer stack.

File Type Section

15) Click OK in the lower-right corner.

Open the Resized Photographs

16) Go to File > Open and navigate to the Animation 1 Resized folder.

17) Press Ctrl + a to select all of the photographs.

18) Click Open.

Move the Photographs

19) In the Project panel at the bottom of your screen, double click the first photograph in the sequence.

You will move all of the the other photographs into the layers stack of this first photograph.

20) Double click on the thumbnail for the second photograph.

21) Select the Move tool.

22) Click and hold on the image of the photograph, and drag it on the thumbnail of the first photograph.

23) Move the other photographs.

If you haven't already done so, go to Move a Layer.

The layer stack will look like this one. 

Layer 8

Layer 7

Layer 6

Layer 5

Layer 4

Layer 3

Layer 2

Layer 1

Background*

* Photograph 1

Save for Web

24) Go to File > Save for Web.

25) In the file format section, select:

• The GIF file format.

• Animate.

Use the default settings for the other choices.

File Format Section

26) In the Animation section:

• Select Loop to repeat the animation continuously in a web browser.

• Use Frame Delay to set the speed of the animation.

The value you enter is the number of seconds each frame (layer) is displayed.

You can enter a fraction of a second by using decimals.

Enter .5 for half of a second, for example.

27) Click OK.

View Your Animated GIF

You can view your animated GIF in a web browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari.

Do the following.

1) Go to the GIF file in the Animation 1 Resized folder.

2) Right click on the file.

3) Click Open With and select a web browser.