GIMP Gif Tutorial 

GIF Requirements for Tumblr

Tumblr requires that you fit some requirements or they’ll make it a still image defeating the purpose of an animated gif. Here they are:

It’s really not that bad, but it can sometimes be a pain.

Make Caps (VLC)

I use VLC despite it’s inability to auto-cap. I used to use KMPlayer but it was buggy for me and I gave up on it. So, here’s how I do it on VLC:

  1. Open Video:
    • Media > Open File… (or) Open Disc (depending on where you get your file) > Find the file you want to use.
  2. Turn On Advanced Controls (If necessary, you may already have this enabled):
    • Right Click > View > Advanced Controls
  3. Capping:
    • Find the scene you want. Pause at the start of the scene. You’re going to be using the buttons that look like a film strip (Frame by Frame) and camera (Take a Snapshot) in the Advanced Controls bar.
    • Press Take a Snapshot then Frame by Frame until you have about 21 caps. You can have a little bit more than that, at the most 25, but always make the amount odd.

Make GIF (GIMP)

I use GIMP because it is free and it allows me to do almost as much as Photoshop. If you can’t afford Photoshop, GIMP is a definite alternative. My only complaint is that it is harder to make Tumblr-friendly GIFs, which is why most of my GIFs are in black and white, and you’ll understand why later on.

  1. Open Caps:
    • File > Open as Layers… > Find your caps and highlight the ones you want to use > Open
  2. Delete every other cap (starting from the second frame). You should have 11-13 frames, possibly less. This makes the GIF’s speed normal, the ones we deleted slow it down.

  3. Shrink Cap to 500px Width or Less:
    • Image > Scale Image > Adjust the width size >Scale


  4. Auto Level Each Frame:
    • Colors > Levels > Auto > OK
    • This improves the color quality, most caps have a weird color filter that makes the picture look dim, this removes it.

  5. Desaturate Each Frame:
    • Colors > Desaturate… > Luminosity (or Lighten) > OK
    • This makes the GIF a dim black and white, the next step will increase the color quality. Luminosity provides better shading but if the cap is dark, go with Lighten to keep some of the better lighting in the image.
  6. Adjust Color Curves to Each Frame:
    • Colors > Curves… > Set Points (see below for which points) > OK


      This increases the color to a more finer black and white. If the white is TOO bright, bring the point down a square.

    • It would help to save the curves settings, this keeps consistency throughout the GIF:
      • Colors > Curves… > Set above settings > Add Settings to Favorites (the + sign) > Name setting > OK
      • You can choose the saved setting from the presets at the top of the Curved option.

  7. Add a Credit Tag (Optional):
    • Make Text Layer ()
      • Toolbox > Text Tool > Make text
    • Move tag where you want it.
    • Duplicate the text layer for how many image layers there are. Place a text frame on top of each image frame.
    • Merge Down each text frame to image frame.
      • Toolbox > Layers > Right Click each text frame > Merge Down


  8. Index Colors:
    • Image > Mode > Indexed… > Keep at ‘Generate Optimum Palette’ > Change ‘Maximum Number of Colors’ to 15-20.
      • Coloring Dithering > Positioned
      • Convert
    • This has the file only remember the colors being used. The least amount of colors, the smaller the file.
  9. Optimize GIF:
    • Filters > Animation > Optimize (for GIF)
    • It’ll come up as a new file.
  10. Save File:
    • File > Save… (or) Save As… > Save As Animation > Export > Uncheck ‘GIF Comment’ > Save
    • While it may say at the bottom of the window that it’s 3 to 4 MBs. Saving it actually reduces the size considerably to 350-450kb, which is Tumblr-friendly.

Final Product

If you have any questions about this tutorial or how to do something else, just put a question in my ask and I’ll be happy to help!


  »  reblog