There’s a new method of expressing emotions online. It’s saying it with a GIF. Previously, emojis or emoticons were heavily used to express feelings, and today, GIFs have become the go-to format. The craze around GIFs is confirmed with Giphy, the top GIF sharing website, receiving over 300 million users per day.
Even if you don’t know what a GIF is, you must have seen one before. It’s everywhere on popular social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. But what are GIFs?
In the simplest form, GIFs are image files. Like the PNG and JPEG formats, a GIF creates still pictures. However, the format has a unique feature that can be used for animated pictures. GIFs are called animated images because they’re not videos and don’t have sound.
Your next question must be how you can create GIFs, and here’s a list of tools you can use.
Table of Contents
1. Gifox
Source: setapp.com
Why spell things out over a text when you can send a GIF? You can create GIFs using Gifox, which is a tool that lives on the Mac menu bar. It is a screen recording application that allows users to create a GIF from anything on the screen. You can record a window or the full screen. Users can even select the recording window size and exclude or include anything they like.
While Gifox is one of the best tools for making GIFs, it works best on Macs. For more information on using the tool, read the guide on https://setapp.com/.
2. Filmora Meme Maker
For creating videos and GIFs, Wondershare Filmora is a well-known application. The meme maker allows users to make videos, images, and GIFs memes and download them. The final product doesn’t include a watermark.
The videos or pictures needed to make the GIF must be imported. The tool offers options to change the font, color, text size and adjust the caption’s location. You can even keep the text outside or inside the GIF. You can select the format in which you wish to download the GIF.
3. GIF Maker by Giphy
Source: fyxes.com
Giphy is one of the most widely used and popular sources of sharing and creating GIFs on the web. Using their Gif Maker option, users can pull in clips or videos from the Internet and make their GIFs. You can begin by adding videos to the GIF Maker screen and selecting the start and end time, including captions and sharing it with your friends or target audience.
4. GIFMaker.me
GIFMaker.me is a user-friendly, simple site to make GIFs, video animations, and slideshows, along with the music. There’s no need to register. Instead, you need to visit the site and select Upload Images or Video to GIF. The tool even allows users to make animated avatars and icons across forums and platforms. After creating the creatives, you can rotate, resize and reverse them according to your specific needs. The service is free and seamlessly works across all web browsers if you have a flash player installed.
5. Picasion
Picasion allows users to import videos and pictures from Flickr, Picasa, and other platforms. The tool is available in Russian, English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
The size of the images can be adjusted, and you can make funny animations or avatars using Picasion. Finally, post the final product on MySpace, Tumblr, Facebook, and other platforms without the need for Flash.
For creating GIFs using Picasion, you need to go to the website in your web browser and upload the images you want to use. Then, you need to set the speed, size, and order. Finally, hit the Create button, and your GIF is ready.
6. Screen to GIF
Source: facebook.com
A GIF-making tool exclusive to Mac has been mentioned on this list, and therefore, it only makes sense to end the list with software for Windows. Screen to GIF is a tool created for Windows and employs a different approach to making GIFs.
The software is dedicated to letting users record activities from sketch boards, web cameras, and their screens. For example, you can use these recordings to create GIFs. Go to the website and download the tool for free. The tool is available for Windows 7 and later.
The software comes with a powerful editor and several in-built editing tools. You can edit your GIFs or recordings from other resources while working on the software. The software can be used in more than eighteen languages.
7. ImgFlip
ImgFlip is a user-friendly site to create fun, animated GIFs. The site allows users to choose from images and videos to create something aesthetically appealing and attractive. You can paste the desired URL or upload the files and let the tool work its magic.
If you need inspiration, there are a few amazing GIFs on the website that you can check out to get ideas for your unique creation.
8. Gickr
Gicker is an impressive GIF maker that lets you create animated GIFs instantly. Upload images from your device or grab them from Picasa or Flickr.
Begin the process of creating GIFs by uploading a minimum of two pictures and choosing your desired size. Then, select your desired speed and bring the flashy animations to life.
9. Canva
Source: facebook.com
Canva is popular GIF-making software that allows you to create GIFs by designing from scratch. You can animate your designs and even add stickers to your pictures. Thanks to easy-to-use drag and drop features, the tool makes it effortless to create GIFs in an instant.
10. ezgif.com
ezgif.com is an online GIF creator that lets you resize the entire GIF, crop the photos, reverse the images, optimize the frames, alter the speed, add text, split the GIF back into its original pictures, etc. You can even apply a monochrome, sepia or grayscale effect to your GIF.
Summary
The tools mentioned above are popular ones you can use to create GIFs. However, the list of tools to create GIFs is exhaustive because new tools are constantly popping up across the Internet. You can start with these and then discover more along the way.
