How to Make a GIF in Photoshop (From Layers or a Video)

Photoshop makes an animated GIF in three steps: put each frame on its own layer, turn the layers into frames in the Timeline panel, then export with Save for Web (Legacy). You can start from images you drew or from a short video clip. This guide covers both, plus the export settings that decide how big the file ends up.

Make a GIF from layers

1. Put one frame on each layer. Create or open a document and place each step of the animation on its own layer, bottom layer first. Keep the canvas small; 480 or 640 pixels wide is plenty for a GIF.
2. Open the Timeline. Choose Window > Timeline. In the middle of the panel, click the arrow next to the button and pick Create Frame Animation, then click it.
3. Make frames from layers. Open the Timeline panel menu (the four lines at its top right) and choose Make Frames From Layers. Each layer becomes one frame. If the first frame shows every layer at once, select it and hide all but the bottom layer.
4. Set the timing. Click the time under a frame, such as 0 sec., and pick a delay. 0.1 seconds per frame is smooth; 0.2 seconds or more looks like a slideshow. Shift-click to select several frames and set them all at once.
5. Set the loop. Under the frames, change Once to Forever so the GIF repeats.
6. Preview. Press the play button or the space bar. Drag frames to reorder them, or use the duplicate button to hold a pose for longer.

Make a GIF from a video

1. Import the clip. Choose File > Import > Video Frames to Layers and pick the video.
2. Choose a short range. Select From Beginning to End for a clip of a few seconds, or Selected Range Only and drag the trim handles to keep just the moment you want.
3. Skip frames. Turn on Limit To Every and enter 2 or 3. A GIF does not need every video frame, and fewer frames make a much smaller file.
4. Turn on Make Frame Animation, then click OK. Photoshop puts each frame on a layer and builds the Timeline for you.
5. Set the loop to Forever and preview, as above.

If the video is long, trim it first. A GIF of more than about 5 seconds gets large quickly.

Export the GIF

Choose File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy). Export As saves only a still image, so it is not the right command for an animated GIF.

• Format: GIF.
• Colors: 256 gives the best quality. 128 or 64 makes the file smaller, and is often enough for drawings and text.
• Dither: Diffusion at around 80% hides banding in gradients and photos; No Dither keeps flat artwork crisp and smaller.
• Image Size: reduce the width here if the GIF is too big for where you will post it.
• Looping Options: Forever.

Check the file size shown under the preview at the bottom left, then click Save.

Keep the file small

A GIF stores every frame as a full picture with at most 256 colors, so size grows with three things: pixel dimensions, number of frames and number of colors.

• Make it narrower first; halving the width cuts the file to about a quarter.
• Drop frames: every second frame at 0.2 seconds still reads as motion.
• Lower the colors, and crop away still background.

If you already exported, the free GIF compressor and GIF resizer shrink an existing GIF in your browser without reopening Photoshop.

Make a GIF without Photoshop

Photoshop is the right tool when you want control over every frame. For a quick GIF you can skip it:

• Turn a clip from your phone into a GIF with the free video to GIF converter, in the browser.
• Type a message and get an animated typing effect with the typing text GIF maker.
• Split an existing GIF into PNG frames with GIF to frames, edit them in Photoshop, and rebuild the animation with the steps above.
• Make a happy birthday GIF with a name, or download a free happy Thanksgiving GIF, with no editing at all.

Questions

Can Photoshop make an animated GIF? Yes. The Timeline panel turns layers or video frames into an animation, and Save for Web (Legacy) exports it as an animated GIF.

Why does my GIF from Photoshop not move? It was probably saved with Save As or Export As, which keep only one frame. Export with Save for Web (Legacy) and check that Looping Options is set to Forever.

Why is my Photoshop GIF so large? Usually the canvas is too wide or the video has too many frames. Reduce the width, use Limit To Every 2 or 3 frames, and lower the colors.

Where is the Timeline in Photoshop? Choose Window > Timeline. If it shows a video timeline instead of frames, use the panel menu to convert it to a frame animation.

Can I add text to a GIF in Photoshop? Yes. Add a text layer above the frame layers and make sure it is visible in every frame. To caption an existing GIF quickly, the free add text to GIF tool does it in the browser.