How to Make a GIF (Animated or Video)

GIF is a popular image format, traditionally used for website images that don't contain too much color detail. Although PNG and JPG are arguably better formats for most situations, GIFs are still popular for two reasons: (1) They are very well established and many people use GIFs out of habit, and (2) the GIF format supports animation.

In recent times animated GIFs have become more popular as a means of distributing very short video clips. Especially in the world of Internet memes, animated GIFs are a convenient way to embed and share these files.

There are several ways to create animated GIFs and the method you choose will depend on exactly what image(s) you're working with and what you want to achieve. Most likely, one of the two following options will achieve what you need:

Animated graphics

Moving simple shapes, text, cartoon images, etc.
To learn how to use this method see our Photoshop animation tutorial.

Video clips

For creating a short video clip for easy sharing and distribution.
To learn how to use this method see How to make a video GIF.