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redbelles · 2 years ago

Photo

hello and welcome! this is my spin on a comprehensive giffing tutorial that not only covers the basic mechanics of how to gif, but also goes into the tips, tricks, and general photoshop information i’ve learned since i started giffing and now wish i could beam into my past self’s brain. this tutorial will walk you through everything from start to finish, help explain what not to do and why, and hopefully give even experienced gifmakers some new information!

note: this tutorial is very long and image-heavy, and is best viewed on dash

WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN THIS GUIDE

software needed

sourcing + storing footage

giffing: methods + step by step process

actions

coloring

text: subtitles, fonts, etc.

saving: timing, settings, exporting

posting: captions, tags, scheduling

resources

✨ NOTE: CURRENT AS OF 05/25 ✨

1. SOFTWARE

photoshop

there are tons of programs out there you can use to make gifs, including photoshop dupes like photopea and gimp, but this tutorial is going to focus solely on photoshop

i run photoshop 2025 on a macbook pro, but any ps version recent enough to have the video timeline will work. windows users will be able to follow along as well

you can snag photoshop (and lightroom) for $10 USD/month directly from adobe

adobe also offers discounts/free programs through universities, so be sure to look into that if you’re a student

or you can check here and here for other ways to snag it

vpn

just get one. seriously.

most reliable vpns (nordvpn, proton, mullvad, etc.) regularly have sales to make them more affordable

if you really can’t afford one, there are some free options; just be extra careful about which one you pick

if you don’t have a vpn, your internet service provider will be able to see what you’re t*rrenting/downloading and may take action against you— anything from cease and desist notices to throttling your internet speed or even terminating your contract with them

note: make sure your vpn is active and working correctly before you start t*rrenting or downloading anything

qbittorrent

safe, reliable free t*rrent client with a clean interface that is fairly intuitive

note: make sure you bind your client to your vpn to prevent any accidental data leaks; not all clients let you do this, but qbittorrent does

jdownloader

a download manager that is super useful for direct downloads (ddls)

keka

mac archive/extraction program you can use to open ddls acquired through jdownloader

winrar

windows archive/extraction program you can us to open ddls acquired through jdownloader

4k video downloader

free application for downloading hq youtube videos

mpv

free video player that takes sequential screenshots

capable of playing .mkv files (most large t*rrent and ddl files use this format)

cheat sheet of mpv keyboard shortcuts

works with both mac and windows

installation guides (courtesy of @kylos): mac and windows

note: install builds specified below for best results

mpv on mac

different builds allow it to work with 1080p, 2160p, sdr, and hdr files

1080p sdr build list

note: older mpv builds (ex: 0.29.0) no longer work on apple silicon macs that have updated to the sonoma operating system and beyond. if you have updated, delete your old sdr mpv build, download the latest build, and update your config file to match the example below. mpv will duplicate caps the first cap at the beginning of your screenshot sequence, but the rest of your caps should be fine

if you have an intel mac and have upgraded to sonoma, because of backend gpu issues, you will experience significant issue capping with mpv; using a duplicate finder (tutorial by @laurabenanti here) works as a partial fix, but there will still be some skipped frame/choppiness issues. i recommend looking into vlc or gomplayer as an alternative to mpv

2160p hdr build

note: the hdr build will not work for 1080p files— it will take duplicate screencaps. it also takes duplicate screencaps of your first cap only when used with 2160p files, so be aware of that

i recommend naming your builds so you don’t accidentally open a file with the wrong build

mpv on pc

assuming your computer can handle hdr, the standard build should work with all files

available for 64-bit and 32-bit systems (see windows installation guide linked above)

note: be sure you watch out for duplicate frames at the beginning of your screenshot sequence

a big shoutout to @jacksamiras for helping my mac-only ass make sure i had all the facts straight for pc users!

2. FOOTAGE

how to acquire files

a current and comprehensive guide; updated regularly

where to acquire files

ext.to: well-organized t*rrent site with a wide selection of files

1337x: t*rrent site with a solid variety of files

watchsomuch: t*rrent site (minion-themed, unfortunately) with a huge selection of movies and shows, though many of the links are old and/or underseeded

hdencode: ddl site with a excellent array of hq movies and shows

nima4k: german ddl site with ultra hq file options

yts: t*rrent site that specializes in extremely small file sizes; generally not ideal for giffing, but it can be a good way to find files you really can’t find anywhere else

digital-digest: a great place to find lossless hd trailers

thedigitaltheater: another place to find lossless hd trailer

storing your footage

external hard drives are the most practical option; for ease of use make sure you get a drive that is compatible with your computer (mac vs. pc) and has decent reviews— you want to make sure it’s not going to crap out on you in six months or something

shared drives/cloud storage (guide by @usergif) also work if you can’t afford hard drives or don’t want to bother with them

quality

⚠️ ALWAYS GIF FROM 1080p AND UP ⚠️

anything below 1080p (720, 480, 360) is going to be noticeably fuzzier and lower quality

sometimes things like older music videos only exist in low quality, but for movies and tv shows, it’s always going to be worth it to find a file that 1080p or better

in most cases, the higher the file size, the better. a 2 gb file is going to be significantly less hq than a 10 gb file. for example:

2160p isn’t necessary, but if you know you’re going to be making really big gifs (540x450 and up) or doing a lot of intense blending or coloring, the extra size and quality will really help

sdr vs. hdr

sdr is standard dynamic range, while hdr is high dynamic range

note: not all computers are capable of displaying hdr files correctly

most newer computers (ex: all macs from 2018 onwards) have native support for hdr files, but do some googling to make sure your machine can play them before you download any

below is an sdr screencap (left) next to an hdr screencap (right) that is not being displayed correctly

[source]

the washout that occurs with hdr files isn’t always a machine issue; it can also occur if you cap hdr files with an incompatible screencapping setup

using the correct build in mpv (2160p build for macs, the standard build for pcs, both linked above) will allow you to capture hdr screenshots while preserving the original color profile — no washout!

upscaling

what is upscaling? upscaling is the process of increasing the size and detail of a digital image, making it sharper and clearer with (in theory) little to no loss in visual integrity

many older movies are now upscaled into 4k, and while it can be tempting to grab a large upscaled file, be aware that upscaling can drastically affect a film’s color profile

for example, each of the following gifs have been sharpened using the same settings, and have no coloring on them:

as you can see, the upscaled 2160p and 1080p gifs have areas of extreme contrast, and are very yellow. the non-upscaled 1080p file, despite its lower quality, maintains the original color profile and contrast balance

how you feel about upscaling and the resulting quality vs. color tradeoff ultimately comes down to personal preference, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind as you’re selecting a file

3. GIFFING PROCESS

methods

there are four main methods for giffing: screenrecording, video extraction, files into stack, and DICOM files. both files into stack and DICOM files involve taking consecutive screencaps to load into photoshop rather than importing the video or opening it directly in photoshop, which is how screenrecording and video extraction work

there are pros and cons to each method, and all of them work at the end of the day, but i think there’s a clear winner in terms of both ease and quality. here’s a quick run down of each method

screenrecording

pros: least intimidating method, fairly quick

cons: huge loss in quality, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to record footage from sites like netflix, hulu, etc. as they get better about detecting recording programs like quicktime player and giphy capture (i.e. you end up with a black screen when you try), higher fps rate of screenrecording compared to footage fps creates issue with gif playback

fps issue: to get the smoothest playthrough, you need to load in every frame. however, if you do that, you end up with a gif that lags dramatically due to the frame rate difference. to combat this lag, you have to manually sort through and delete every duplicate frame created from the fps difference. if you don’t load in every frame (ex: every other frame), you won’t have to manually delete anything, but your gif will be noticeably choppy

video extraction

pros: takes less time/computing power than opening an entire movie/episode in photoshop

cons: some quality is still lost, extraction programs like handbrake can be difficult to use, rendering extractions still takes much longer than screencapping

files into stack

pros: no quality loss, much faster than extraction method

cons: caps load into photoshop in reverse order, 2160p caps take a very long time to load compared to 1080p caps

DICOM files

pros: no quality loss, caps load in correct order, load times significantly reduced from files into stack method (1080p caps load instantaneously and 2160p caps load in seconds)

cons: photoshop actions designed for use with files into stack must be tweaked for use with DICOM method

to illustrate the difference in quality, each gif below has been sharpened with the same settings, set to the same frame delay, and has no coloring on it

as you can see, the choppiness/lag in the screenrecorded gifs is very evident when compared with the screencapped gif. the screencapped gif is also smoother and crisper, with truer color and no artifacts or blockiness. the video extraction gif is a closer match in terms of quality, but it still has banding and blockiness in some areas, and a slight blur compared to the screencapped gif

now that you’ve seen the differences, on to screencapping! as you may have guessed from the pros and cons lists above, “load files into stack” and “load multiple DICOM files” are almost identical processes, but crucially, DICOM files* load much more quickly into photoshop, and they don’t load in reverse order. the speed difference is especially nice when you’re working with 2160p caps, which take absolutely forever to load in the with files into stack method

* .dcm files; designed for medical imaging, they store information differently than .png or .jpeg files and are used to transmit large images and associated data quickly and losslessly

i recently switched to working with DICOM files, so that’s what i’ll be showing you how to use below!

process

1. open file in mpv + stake screencaps

i like to take a lot of caps so that i can be super picky about choosing exactly what i want to have in the gif, but my computer has the horsepower to handle that. if you don’t think yours does, consider being more precise in your initial scene selection and/or stopping at 50-55 total caps

note: how to take screencaps with mpv player is covered in the installation guides linked above

2. trim caps + rename from .png to .dcm

if i’m using the hdr build (like i am here), i remove any duplicate caps from the beginning. then, regardless of which build i’m using, i trim any extra caps from the end to ensure that only caps from the scene i want to gif are left in the folder before i turn them from .png to .dcm files. it’s a simple process on mac: select all > right click > rename

see here for a guide to batch renaming extensions on windows

3. open photoshop + load multiple DICOM files

unlike “load files into stack” you’re loading you entire screencaps folder in for “load multiple DICOM files”; this is why it’s a good idea to trim your caps before you load the files in

4. crop

click on the crop symbol in your toolbar, then select w x h x resolution in the drop down menu and enter the dimensions you want for your gif

basic tumblr dimensions for width (height is up to you)

one gif: 540px

two gifs in a row: 268px each

three gifs in a row: 177px, 178px, 177px

note: it’s worth it to leave a gutter of extra pixels (i leave 5px for both width and height) in your cropping dimensions to prevent edge lines from showing around the perimeter of your gifs

i’m making a 540x350 gif for this tutorial, so the dimensions for my crop are 545x355; i’ll size the canvas itself to 540x350 after i’ve made the gif

additionally, make sure “delete cropped pixels” is unchecked so that you can move the gif around on the canvas if you need to

feel free to adjust the crop box as much as you want before you actually hit the checkmark to finalize it, but make sure you crop once and only once. resizing after you have already cropped will wreck the quality and introduce a lot of fuzziness to your gif. if you don’t like the way the crop turned out, undo it and try again

after you’ve cropped, go ahead and zoom in so you can get a better sense of what you’re doing. i tend to work at 200%, since that’s the best approximation of how the gif will display on tumblr

5. create video timeline

make sure you have the video timeline pulled up in your workspace. if yours isn’t visible, go to window > timeline to add it to the space

click “create” video timeline in the timeline bar

this will convert your caps to static video layers; we have to do some more work to get a playable animation

6. convert video timeline

click the frame animation in the lower left hand corner of the timeline bar. this will convert your video layers to a frame animation

7. make frames from layers

now click the menu button in the upper right hand corner of the timeline bar and select “make frames from layers”; be sure to leave “new layers visible in all frames” checked

now all your frames are visible in the timeline

8. delete frame

with all the frames visible, you can see that the first frame is 5 seconds while all the other frames are 0 seconds. delete that 5 second frame using the trash can icon in the timeline bar. if you don’t delete this frame, your gif will have a ton of lag at the beginning and/or end up with duplicate frames when you export it

9. convert frame animation

click the video layer symbol in the bottom left hand corner of the timeline bar (where the frame animation button was in step six) to convert your frames back to video layers

they move now! but we want to be able to edit the gif as a whole instead of in individual layers

10. select all layers

11. convert to smart object

so we’re going to turn those video layers into a smart object; the smart object will act as a container that keeps everything neat and tidy while we sharpen and color, and will also preserve the original image, allowing us to edit non-destructively

hit filter > convert for smart filters

if this is the first time you’ve made a gif, this is a good place to stop and check that everything is working the way it should. play your gif to make sure there’s no lag or any other issues

if your gif only plays once and then stops, go to the timeline menu and select “loop playback”

if there’s some other issue, go back through steps 5-11 and make sure you’ve followed them exactly

12. smart sharpen

sharpening adds back in that nice, crisp clarity that’s lost when the screencaps are cropped and resized to fit tumblr dimensions. there are a ton of different sharpening settings out there, but people generally sharpen in two distinct steps using “smart sharpen”

here is my process:

for the first step, go to filter > sharpen. select “custom” from the preset dropdown. click the gear icon and make sure “use legacy” and “more accurate” are both checked, and then select “gaussian blur” in the “remove” dropdown. finally, set the following values for amount and radius:

13. smart sharpen

my second smart sharpen follows the exact same process as the first—“use legacy” and “more accurate” are both checked—but with different values entered in for amount and radius:

note: like a lot of giffing, sharpening settings come down to personal preference, but be aware that oversharpening can lead to areas of extreme contrast in your gif, and an overall sort of staticky, almost crunchy effect

14. resize canvas + check playback

finally, resize the canvas to remove the 5px gutter we left back when we cropped

you can adjust how long the gif is using the sliders on the video timeline

now look at that! you’ve got a basic gif that’s ready for coloring and text!

note: you might have noticed that i haven’t talked about timing yet, and that the gif is playing way more quickly than the original footage was— don’t worry, we’ll deal with that later, and for good reason

4. ACTIONS

so fourteen individual steps for a gif sounds like a lot, right? but photoshop has a function that takes those steps and runs them for you. behold: actions!

actions are automated processes in photoshop that can drastically speed up certain tasks. steps 5-13 in the giffing process i just outlined are automated in this action*, which means you can load your files into photoshop and have a basic gif ready to go in just a couple seconds

all you need to do is download the action and open it in photoshop, where it will automatically be added to the actions panel. select the one labeled “DICOM ACTION,” press play, and voilà!

*my action is a modified version of this life-changing action by the one and only rizz (@anyataylorjoy) updated for use with DICOM files and shared with her permission! rizz’s genius save action is also in both of the links above; we’ll discuss that more later

actions aren’t just limited to the actual process of animating a gif, though. you can create custom actions for excruciating fun things like frame by frame coloring (tutorial coming... idk, someday. maybe.) or creating glitch effects

if that sounds like something you’re interested in, here’s a handy official guide on how to create your own actions and some others on how to managing/saving actions if you decide you want to share one

5. COLORING

after nearly four five six years of giffing, i can say with 100% total confidence that there are a million different ways to go about coloring. whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been relying on psds, the best advice i can give you if you want to develop your own style is honestly just to play around with the different adjustment options in photoshop and see what you like and what works for you

of course, that’s easier to do if you have a basic understanding of what each adjustment layer does, so to that end:

brightness/contrast

adjusts the tonal range (the levels between an image’s darkest and lightest points) of an image. brightness slider affects highlights and contrast slider affects shadows

levels

adjusts the tonal values of an image by modifying the level of highlights, midtones, and shadows

curves

adjusts as many values for brightness and/or color as you want across the entire tonal range of an image

note: curves can be used to impact the entire rgb spectrum, or can be used to change r/g/b in isolation

see here for a more in-depth explanation of the curves tool

exposure

adjusts exposure levels across exposure, offset, and gamma. exposure controls highlights, offset controls midtones, and gamma controls shadows

vibrance

adjusts the color intensity of an image via two different options: vibrance and saturation. saturation evenly increases the saturation of all colors in the image. vibrance adjusts the level of saturation of all colors but in a more selective manner, focusing on colors with the lowest base saturation

note: vibrance is less like to oversaturate skin tones than saturation

hue/saturation

allows the adjustment of hue, saturation, and lightness of either the entire image or a specific range(s) of color in an image

note: using saturation across the entire image (the “master” slider) will reduce the overall tonal range of an image and can result in dullness

color balance

adjusts the mixture of colors in an image across either highlights, midtones, or shadows

black and white

adjusts color values to produce grayscale images, with both preset and custom value options

note: using a black and white gradient map instead of the black and white adjustment tool itself often results in a smoother gif

photo filter

adds a single color filter to the image

channel mixer

adjustment option that modifies a targeted (output) color channel using a mix of the existing (source) color channels in the image. color channels are grayscale images representing the tonal values of the color components in an image (rgb or cymk)

note: when you use the channel mixer, you are not adding or subtracting colors to/from a specific color component (see: selective color). instead, you are adding or subtracting grayscale data from a source channel to the targeted channel

color lookup

a set of premade filters/styles to apply to an image

invert

inverts the colors of an image to create a photo negative effect

posterize

reduces the number of brightness values in an image to create a flat, poster-like appearance

note: not typically used in gif making

threshold

adjusts grayscale or color images and converts them to a high contrast black and white images via a specified level as a threshold. all pixels lighter than the threshold are converted to white, while all pixels darker than the threshold are converted to black

note: not typically used in gif making

selective color

adjusts the amount of a primary color in an image without modifying the other primary colors in the image

note: the “absolute” option adjusts the color in absolute values, while the “relative” option adjusts the existing amount of a given color by its percentage in total

gradient map

converts the grayscale range of an image to a gradient color fill, with both preset and custom gradient options available

note: gradients can be manually adjusted, and checking the “reverse” option inverts the colors of the gradient

okay! now that that’s out of the way, here are three narrated examples of how i color:

1. prey (2160p sdr)

[video link]

2. the punisher (1080p)

[video link]

3. house of the dragon (2160p hdr)

[video link]

my general coloring process

step one: lighten

i start with one or two curves layers to see if i like what the rgb “auto” option gives me; if i don’t, i switch to lightening via exposure

if i know from the outset that a scene will need aggressive color correction, i’ll use a curve layer set with the white point eyedropper instead of the auto option; this brightens and color corrects the entire gif based on a selected pixel

step two: darken blacks

it sounds counterintuitive, but as you lighten the scene, you need to make sure you’re not washing it out

i start adding contrast back in by adding +1 black in blacks in a selective color layer below my lightening layer(s)

i often follow that up with a levels layer set to “increase contrast +1” above my lightening layer(s)

if you feel that the “increase contrast +1” layers has made the blacks too intense, you can try a black point layer in levels instead

note: the above/below method is a personal preference based on how the adjustment layers interact with each other

step three: lighten

adding contrast back in can make the gif a bit darker than i’d like, so i typically add another lightening layer after i’ve adjusted the contrast

i generally use the curves “auto” option to balance things back out

i will sometimes use the white point method here (seen in the videos when i zoom to 3000%) either alone or in conjunction with auto curves layers

step four: color adjustments

this step varies the most: in the videos, you’ll see me adjust cyan (prey), take out yellow (the punisher), and amplify red while removing yellow and green (hotd)

if very aggressive color correction is needed, i tend to use channel mixer. otherwise, i use selective color first and then hue/saturation if needed. i do not tend to use color balance

update: explanation of why i avoid color balance here

step five: final tweaks

if a gif seems flat: i increase the blacks in neutrals using selective color to add extra depth

if a gif seems dull: i increase vibrance, or in extreme cases, vibrance and saturation

note: be very careful when using saturation— it can wreak havoc on skin tones

psds

if you don’t want to color manually for whatever reason (don’t have time, struggling with the scene, want to experiment, etc.) psds that others have shared are always an option

psds are adjustment layers that other gifmakers have put together and shared so you can apply them to your own gifs

note: psds are almost always scene-specific (and often file-specific), so you’ll likely have to tweak them to make them work for your gifs

check the resources section at the end of this guide for some places to find psds

6. TEXT

the most important thing about any text layer is to make sure that is above all of your adjustment layers. if your text is below any adjustment layers, it will end up looking wonky and distorted

subtitles

first things first: pick a font that is easy to read. i use arial rounded mt bold, but alte haask grotesk, arial, myriad pro, etc. are all good options as well. for subtitles, sans serif fonts are almost always much easier to read than serif fonts

after you’ve chosen a font and loaded it into photoshop, select the text tool and click and drag to create a text box instead of just clicking once to create a text layer. this will help you keep your subtitles perfectly aligned across multiple gifs

type out your text, then click the character option to adjust your type settings. if you can’t see the character option, from the main menu bar go to type > panels > character panel. this will also work to bring up the paragraph panel

these are the character settings i currently use for my subtitles:

note: the text size can vary from set to set. if you end up changing it, be sure you change the line spacing (the little vertically stacked As directly to the right of the text size dropdown) to match

using either the top text bar or the paragraph panel, make sure your text alignment is set to “center” instead of “left” or “right”

now we need to make the text stand out against the gif. we’ll do this by adjusting the blend options. with your text layer selected in the layer panel, go to layer > layer style > blending options

i personally use drop shadow, stroke, and outer glow for my subtitles:

after you’ve got your text settings the way you want them, press v to select the move tool, then click the three dots in the top toolbar to pull up the “align” menu

select “canvas” from the “align to” dropdown in the menu, then use the center and bottom buttons to center your text at the bottom edge of your gif. the extra space in your text box may provide enough of a buffer to separate your text from the edge of the gif, but if not, simply move the box upwards until you’re happy with the placement

note: if you’ve used a text layer here instead of a text box, the position of your text will be based on individual glyphs instead of the uniform edge of the text box. this means that lines with the letters g, j, p, q, or y will be positioned differently than lines without those letters, which can ultimately mess up the placement of your subtitles across your gifs. save yourself some hassle and use a text box

to make sure the text box ends up in the same place on all your gifs, go to layer > duplicate layer to copy them exactly on to your other gifs

note: be sure to double check the drop shadow on any duplicated layers, since photoshop sometimes changes the angle of the drop shadow to 90° on the new duplicated layers

additionally, if you’re working with multiple speakers, make sure whatever colors you pick for them don’t make the text difficult to read

you can download a base version of my subtitle settings here

other text

you have a lot more options for non-subtitle text: crazy fonts, cool coloring, effects, etc. don’t be afraid to experiment! a good place to start is the layer style tab. go to layer > layer style and you’ll see these options:

we used a few blending options for subtitles (drop shadow, stroke, outer glow) but now you can play with color overlays, gradients, and even patterns

check out the resources section at the end of this guide for font websites, fancy text tutorials, and more

7. SAVING + EXPORTING

timing

now we’re (finally) ready to talk about timing. the frame delay you want to use is 0.05. this timing most closely matches the natural playback speed of (non-animated) footage. anything else is going to be noticeably too fast (0.04) or too slow (0.07). witness:

there are really only two exceptions to this:

animated footage, which can run at a faster frame rate than non-animated footage and may work with 0.04 timing

gifs that have < 15 frames (ex: trailer footage)— you might be able to get away with something like 0.06 in that case, but it will still look a litle slow

most other tutorials have you set your timing as part of the process of animating your gif, but i didn’t. why not? because photoshop absolutely loses its goddamn mind when it comes to gif timing

it will create duplicate buffer frames if you change the default frame timing at all at literally any point except as the very last step before you export your gif. this means that if you change it as part of your process before the “convert to smart object” step, you’ll get those duplicate frames and end up with lag in your gif. it will also automatically reset your timing to 0.07 if you export from a video timeline state. gee, thanks photoshop!

the way most people deal with this 0.07 bug is by exporting the gif, opening the exported .gif file in photoshop, and manually resetting the frame timing to 0.05 before exporting again. however, that’s a lot of work, so aforementioned giffing queen rizz @anyataylorjoy did us all a solid and created an action that will convert your gif back to frames and set your timing to 0.05 with a single click. her save action is bundled together with my DICOM action in the link back in the “actions” section

note: managing your timing like this does mean that when you’re working with your gif photoshop before you run the save action, it will play much faster than it will once you’ve exported it

to export your gif, go to file > export > save for web (legacy)

before you jump in to exporting your gif just yet though, there are some things to consider

upload limits

the current tumblr upload limit is 10mb, which is great for gifmakers— it leaves plenty of space for experimenting with big gifs, crazy colors, and fancy effects like blending and transition

and yet: it’s ridiculously easy to go over that limit! make sure to check your file size before you export your gif to confirm that you’re below 10mb so you don’t run into any upload issues

if your gif is over the limit, try shortening the length of the gif. that’s hands down the best way to decrease the size, but you can also try adjusting your coloring. the brighter and more vibrant a gif is, the larger the file size generally is, so those are good areas to try tweaking if you really don’t want to cut the gif down. high contrast, especially in black and white gifs, can produce large file sizes as well

save settings

your save settings will affect how your gif appears when it’s exported and posted outside of photoshop. there are basic settings everyone has to use (ex: loop forever), but some will ultimately come down to personal preference, so it’s worth knowing what the differences between the settings actually amount to

selective vs. adaptive

selective: creates a color table favoring broad areas of color and the preservation of web colors. this color table usually produces images with the greatest color integrity. selective is the default option

adaptive: creates a custom color table by sampling colors from the predominant spectrum in the image. for example, an image with only the color green and blue produces a color table made primarily of greens and blues. most images concentrate colors in particular areas of the spectrum

dither: diffusion vs. pattern

diffusion: applies a random pattern that is usually less noticeable than pattern dither. the dither effects are used across adjacent pixels

pattern: applies a halftone-like square pattern to simulate any colors not in the color table

note: using “adaptive” instead of “selective” and/or “pattern” instead of “diffusion” will result in larger file sizes

i personally use selective + diffusion for nearly every gif i make, not only because the file sizes are consistently smaller, but also because i think that combo produces the cleanest results. i find that the grid pattern creates is very noticeable/distracting, and that the color clarity from selection almost always beats out the custom tables from adaptive

bicubic vs. bicubic sharper

bicubic: slower but more precise method based on an examination of the values of surrounding pixels

bicubic sharper: a good method for reducing the file size of an image based on bicubic interpolation with enhanced sharpening. this method maintains the detail in a resampled image. if bicubic sharper oversharpens some ares of an image, trying using bicubic

i really don’t like oversharpened gifs, so i exclusively use bicubic

lossy

lossy reduces file size by permanently removing some of the original data

lossy used to be a viable way to decrease the size of gifs before tumblr changed the upload limit to 10mb; now gifs with lossy are visibly fuzzy, making them look lower quality no matter what kind of footage was actually used

if you are using lossy to add a film grain effect to your gifs, use the filter > noise > add noise option instead

note: the best way to achieve a grain effect is simply to use hq footage; larger hq files often have a grain to them that is lost as the files are compressed to smaller sizes

here are the rest of my save settings:

note: the default option under “metadata” includes contact info, so i highly recommend changing that

you can see how a gif will play directly in the export panel, but you can also view it a new browser tab by clicking “preview”; this will open the gif in a new tab in your default browser

when you’re happy with how the gif looks outside of photoshop and have checked that it’s under the 10mb upload limit, go ahead and export the gif

8. POSTING

basics

before we talk about anything else: make sure you are putting your gifs in a photo post. the new editor we’re all forced to use now does a whole bunch of behind the scenes bullshit to gifs (rip legacy editor 💀) and you definitely don’t want to make things any worse by using the wrong post format

if you find yourself struggling with the new editor @wolfes has your back: they’ve put together a comprehensive guide to using/troubleshooting the new editor for gifmakers. everyone say thank you, v!

save in + post from drafts

alright, so you’re ready to post your gifset— while it’s temping to just slap the gifs on a new post and publish immediately, it’s actually a really good idea to save the set as a draft first and make sure the gifs look good once they’re uploaded. sometimes tumblr makes the colors look wonky or wrecks the quality or does other stupid tumblr things, and it’s so much less frustrating to notice that before a set is posted than to see something you want to fix after it’s already out in the wild

if you want some feedback on a draft before you post it, you can click the three dots in the upper right hand corner of the post to open a private preview you can share with others

note: the link will work as long as you have the preview open

once you’re sure tumblr hasn’t messed with anything, it’s time to format the rest of the post

captions

the finishing touch on a set, captions can be anything from basic film/show info to relevant quotes to straight up memes. here’s some general info to help you figure out how you want to format yours

html symbols

edit tumblr posts using html by @hayaosmiyazaki

tumblr html text primer by @gustavlindstrom

gradient text: generate your gradient here, copy the html code here and remove “;” from your text, then paste the semicolon-free text into the html editor on tumblr

note: be aware that the new editor has radically changed how gradient text is processed and displayed. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. sometimes you can see it on dash but not on individual blogs, and sometimes only the first letter is in color and everything else is black

inspiration credit

if your set was inspired by someone else’s, credit your insp. source(s)

it’s a really basic part of tumblr/gifmaker etiquette that gets ignored way more than it should

there’s obviously a lot of creative drift on a site as big as tumblr and it’s not always possible to pinpoint an exact inspiration source (especially for more popular gif trends), but as a creator it can be really disheartening to see someone swipe something directly from you without saying anything

tl;dr shout out what inspires you!

not sure how to go about crediting someone? here’s a handy guide on inspiration credits from @usergif

tagging

it’s super important to remember that only the first twenty tags on your set will be used in tumblr’s search/tag algorithms!

if you’re not sure where to start, go ahead and check out some popular sets in the fandom(s) you’re creating for and see what tags are on those sets— that’s a great way to figure out which tags are active and what kinds of things you’ll see in them

here are some typical tag categories for fandom sets:

— general tags

media/fandom name: #hotd, #stranger things, #disney

character names: #yennefer of vengerberg, #alina starkov, #ginny baker

ship names: #zutara, #kanthony, #buckynat

— edit tags

#filmedit or #tvedit

#[fandom/media]edit - #swedit (star wars), #nmcuedit (marvel netflix), #tlouedit (the last of us)

#[character name]edit - #rhaenyraedit, #karenpageedit, #batmanedit

#[ship name]edit - #literatiedit, #joenickyedit, #kastleedit

#[actor name]edit - #austinbutleredit, #emmadarcyedit, #pedropascaledit

— source blogs

these are blogs that focus on reblogging a specific type of content (old films, pop culture, etc.) and they’re a great way to get your gifset seen by more people

typically track a specific tag in order to find relevant content

general rule: make your set is the kind of thing a source blog is interested in before tagging them

your set may be reblogged immediately, may go into a queue, or may not be reblogged at all (the members didn’t see it, think it doesn’t fit the blog’s theme, etc.) — just be patient and try to find source blogs that align with what you’re making

examples: chewbacca (#chewieblog), junkfoodcinemas (#junkfooddaily), classicfilmblr (#classicfilmblr), dailywoc (#dailywoc), bob-belcher (#userbbelcher), optional (#useroptional)

— user tags

user tags are unique tracked tags for individuals rather than source blogs!

gifmakers will often have their tracked tag (if they have one) in their blog description/about page

ex: i track #userbells

general rules: you don’t have to be mutuals with someone to tag them, but it’s good etiquette to be following them, and to only tag them in things they seem interested in

after you’ve tagged for exposure, there are a couple more things to consider:

— content warnings

it’s generally considered polite to tag for major content/eyestrain warnings

ex: tw flashing, tw blood, etc.

there are a variety of ways to tag for content warnings - #cw blood, #blood tw, # // blood - just pick one style and be consistent with it

warnings don’t have to be in your first twenty tags (since these tags are used to filter out posts instead of find them) but just having them on the post is helpful for anyone who happens to have a content warning blacklisted

— a tag for organizational use

i typically save the last of my twenty tags for my personal “creations” tag so that i (and anyone searching my blog) can easily see everything i’ve giffed

i use * as my tag and have it as one of my sidebar links for easy access

other examples i’ve seen include “mine: gifs”, “my edit”, etc.

best times to post

despite the ongoing tiktokification of tumblr, the hellsite still doesn’t have the kind of dashboard/feed algorithms that other social media sites do. that said, it can still be helpful to post at specific times to boost how many people see your gifsets

according to union metrics, most reblog activity on tumblr happens between 7pm and 10pm eastern time

however, if you’re giffing something that’s just been released—a new trailer/episode/season/movie—then the best time to post is as soon as you possibly can. tumblr users these days unfortunately prioritize reblogging whatever sets get out there first. that’s great if you can get those sets made quickly, but it can seriously suck if that’s not the case

if you want to hustle and make “new content just dropped” sets as soon as the footage is out there, go for it. if not, don’t put any pressure on yourself to do that; it’s totally fine to gif at your own pace

verify that your set is visible on your dash

as soon as you post, go to your dash and make sure that you can actually see your set on your dash— sometimes tumblr just straight up eats posts, and if you can’t see your set, no one else can either

if your set isn’t visible on your dash, it’s likely either gotten caught in the (terrible and useless) nsfw filter or tumblr is just being stupid

to fix this:

check the post by loading/posting each gif individually to see if one (or more) of them is causing the set to break

change the gif(s) responsible by adding/removing frames, tweaking coloring, etc.

if the gif(s) are still breaking the set, you might have to wholesale replace the gifs with different scenes or post the set without them

verify that your set is in the tags

the other thing you need to check is whether or not your set is showing up in the tags

sometimes a set will be visible on your dash but won’t actually appear in any of them tags. to make sure your set is showing up, check one of the tags by going to the /tagged/[tag] page

if it doesn’t show up, here are some general tips:

wait 5-10 minutes: sometimes tumblr just takes a minute to register the set

edit/remove any links: tumblr doesn’t place nice with links general, and with external links in particular. removing the “s” from https in your links can often fix things, but if that doesn’t work, remove the link entirely

try deleting and retyping the tags

try this image trick from @yellenabelova

delete the set and repost from scratch

for a much more comprehensive guide on what to do if your set isn’t in the tags, check out this very extensive solutions flowchart by @momentofmemory

9. RESOURCES + GENERAL TIPS

giffing communities

find some buddies to gif with! giffing is super fun, but it can also be finicky and frustrating, and having people to brainstorm/complain/share things with is honestly so helpful. some of the most fun i’ve had giffing has been sitting around commiserating on a call with rizz or lia or m, or whining at kumi or neve over text chat

some places to start if you’re looking for communities to join:

creatorhub*

@villainelle’s giffing discord (send an ask for a new link if expired!)

the gifmakerhub discord, run by @wolfes

*the creatorhub link is best accessed on desktop, as it will take you to a submission box:

reblog yourself

this is a big one! time zones are a thing, and on top of that, it’s almost impossible to get a reblog in this economy. boosting your own sets is a really good way to make sure more people see them, and also to just take a minute and be proud of what you’ve made!

resources

general photoshop resources

@chaoticresources

@completeresources

@rresources + bonus beginner’s guide

@hisources

@evansyhelp

tutorials

anti white-washing by @haldi-archived

anti red/orange-washing by @aubrey-plaza

channel mixer by @aubrey-plaza

multiple gifs on one canvas by @nataliescatorccio

blending by @nataliescatorccio

fade transition by @anyataylorjoy

coloring dark scenes by @sluttyhenley

transition tutorial by @wolfes

glitch effect by @sarah-snook

gif overlays by @ezrabridgerr

general coloring by @the-borgias

general coloring by @magnusedom

rainbow coloring by @rhodeys

text effects by @unadulteratedloathings

shuffle texts by @cal-kestis

animated handwritten text by @mxrisacoulter

comprehensive subtitle guide by @clubgif

fonts

— where to get fonts

dafont

befonts

ifonts

dafont free

google fonts

— identifying fonts

what the font

what font is

font squirrel

identifont

— font recommendations

@yourfonts

font tag from @anya-chalotra

favorite font combinations from @usergif

font packs from @liohnelmessi

font tag from @itsphotoshop

typography and font pairing guides from @momentofmemory

how to pair fonts by @awildling

psds

@dailypsd

@colour-source

@psdland

+ bonus anti white-washing psd by @evansyhelp

sharpening settings

action pack by @throwing-psds

action pack by @maziekeen

action pack by @daenerys-stormborn

settings from @anya-chalotra

and finally:

don’t stress

that is honestly my most important piece of advice. if you find yourself chasing notes, getting frustrated with low engagement or terrible like-to-reblog ratios, frazzled trying to make sets for new content as quickly as possible— just take a breath. take a step back if you need to. gif what you want to when you want to

giffing is a hobby! it should be fun! don’t let the numbers ruin it for you <3