How to create social media image animations
In a time when visuals and imagery rule on the web, animations are a great way of capturing attention. Did you know that Twitter recently started supporting animated GIFs, and that Pinterest also does?
In this tech tip post for online marketers, I’ll share one simple tool for making simple animations for social media.
What is an animated GIF?
GIF is an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format. An animated GIF is basically an image that has movement. In more detail, it’s a series of images put together in a rapidly changing sequence to give the effect of a video. Think of the old cartoons drawn out on pages of a notebook that you flip through and see the “story” unfold.
While true video has more options, the one key value of a GIF is that it is a light file, much smaller than a video file in size.
How do you create an animated GIF?
I recommend Giffysnap.com. This is a great online tool that is completely free to you use.
To get started, simply go to the website, www.Giffysnap.com. Upload your images that you want to use to create the animation and set the size of the final image you want (such as 600 x 315 for a great blog post image size). Your uploaded images should be similar and show a progression. Arrange the images in the order preferred in the Giffysnap interface, and adjust the animation speed to your liking.
Then click “CREATE IT” and the animated image is generated. Click to “download” the image and then it is yours to do with as you please. Giffysnap does put a small logo watermark on the image of its brand but it is small and not intrusive. Now you’re done and can use the image on your website, blog, or social media sites to capture the eye of viewers.
Where can you use animated gifs?
Animated gifs are supported on Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ right now, and perhaps more social networks in the future. With images on networks like Twitter being shown by research to get the most retweets and clicks, it’s a great way to capture attention or explain a quick concept.
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