How To Make an Animated GIF in Photoshop (Fast & Easy!)
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The fastest way to make an animated GIF in Photoshop is to place a video into a document, trim it on the Timeline, and export it with Save for Web. Five steps, no frame-by-frame animation, and even a beginner can follow along.
Got a favorite scene from a series, a clip from your phone, or a screen recording you want to loop forever? This is the technique. You will go from video file to shareable GIF in a few minutes.
Key Takeaways
- Keep the document small and web-friendly: 72 pixels per inch and the sRGB color profile.
- Place Embedded brings the video in, and Create Video Timeline turns it into a trimmable video layer.
- Drag the layer’s edges to the playhead to set where the GIF starts and ends. Snapping does the precision for you.
- Loop Playback in the Timeline options previews the endless loop before you commit.
- Export through File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy) with the format set to GIF and Looping Options set to Forever.
Table of contents
What You’ll Learn
- The document settings that keep a GIF small enough to actually post
- How to turn any video into a trimmable video layer with the Timeline panel
- How to set clean start and end points with playhead snapping
- How to preview the loop before exporting
- The Save for Web settings that make the GIF loop forever
What You Need
Before you start
- Any recent version of Photoshop
- A short video clip on your computer. Shorter is better: every extra second grows the file.
Make an Animated GIF in Photoshop in 5 Steps
Step 1: Create a New Document
Click the Create new button on Photoshop’s start screen.
In the Preset Details panel, set the Width and Height. There is no required size for a GIF, but small dimensions mean a small file, and small files are the whole point. Set the Resolution to 72 Pixels/Inch, the web standard.
Under Advanced Options, set the Color Profile to sRGB IEC61966-2.1, then click Create.
Step 2: Import the Video
Choose File > Place Embedded, locate your video file, and click Place. The video lands in the document, and you can drag the corner handles to fit it to the canvas.
If your canvas and video have different aspect ratios, you decide who wins. Match the canvas to the video to keep the full frame, or crop to the shape you want. This tutorial goes square.
Click the checkmark in the Options bar to commit.
Step 3: Trim the Video in the Timeline Panel
Choose Window > Timeline. In the panel’s drop-down, select Create Video Timeline, then press the Create Video Timeline button.
That converts the video into a video layer you can trim and animate. Press Play once to get a feel for where the GIF should start and end.
Drag the playhead to the frame where the GIF should begin, then drag the left edge of the video layer toward the playhead until it snaps into place.
Drag the trimmed layer back to the 00 mark at the start of the timeline.
Now scrub the playhead to where the GIF should end, then drag the layer’s right edge to meet it. Press Play to check the clip. If the video looks tiny, double-click the Hand Tool to fit it to the screen.
Step 4: Loop the Video Preview
A GIF lives or dies by its loop, so preview it. Click the Options icon in the Timeline panel and choose Loop Playback.
Press Play, and the clip repeats endlessly, providing a much closer preview of the final GIF. If the jump from end to start feels jarring, go back and adjust your trim points now, while it is still cheap to do.
Step 5: Export the Video Layer as an Animated GIF
Choose File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy).
Fair warning: this window can be slow to open. How slow depends on your computer, the file dimensions, and the complexity of the animation. A short, small clip opens quickly.
In the panel on the right, set the file format to GIF. The default settings work for most clips.
Check the Image Size fields to confirm the dimensions, and under Animation, set Looping Options to Forever.
Preview the loop one last time with the Play button, then click Save, name the file, and save your finished GIF.
Frequently Asked Questions
Create a small 72 ppi document, place the video with Place Embedded, convert it with Create Video Timeline, trim the layer to the section you want, and export through Save for Web (Legacy) with the format set to GIF.
There is no required size, but smaller is better. Keep the pixel dimensions modest, the resolution at 72 pixels per inch, and the clip short. Every extra second and every extra pixel increase the file size.
It is a legacy window doing heavy work. How fast it opens depends on your computer’s processing power, the file’s dimensions, and the animation’s complexity. Short, small clips open quickly.
In the Save for Web window, set Looping Options to Forever under Animation. To hear how the loop feels before exporting, turn on Loop Playback in the Timeline panel’s options and press Play.
Yes, that is what the trim step is for. Scrub the playhead to your start point, drag the layer’s edge until it snaps to the playhead, then repeat at the end point. Only the trimmed section exports.
GIFs store every frame, so length and dimensions dominate the file size. Trim tighter, shrink the document, or reduce the number of colors in the Save for Web settings. The format only supports 256 colors anyway.
No. The GIF format has no sound. If the clip needs audio, export a video instead and save the GIF version for the places where autoplay silence wins.
Loop It Forever
That is the whole workflow to make an animated GIF in Photoshop: a small sRGB document, a placed video, a trim on the Timeline, a loop preview, and one export. The trim points are where the craft lives, so spend your time there.
Watch the video above to see every step in real time.
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Keep going
Want motion beyond a simple loop? Learn to animate still photos in Photoshop next.
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