How do I make a GIF banner?
| Image Source: Flickr |
GIFs are the new animated images. Whenever you’re sharing an image, GIF is a fun and creative way to share something. You don’t even have to explain what a GIF is, everyone gets it. It’ll make your audience smile, laugh or maybe even think about something else for a moment. But creating your own GIF banner can be a bit challenging at first.
Thankfully, we’ve got some helpful tips so you don’t end up frustrated in the process! Check out our comprehensive guide on how to make a GIF banner and get started right away.
What is a GIF banner?
A GIF banner is simply a big image or video with a bunch of small images or videos inside of it. The whole thing is meant to look like a GIF. Depending on what you’re making, GIF banners can be used for a lot of different situations. For example, you can use GIF banners for:
- Promotions
- Awareness campaigns
- Jokes
- Memes
- Branded content
- Product launches
- Sales
- And more!
How to make a GIF banner?
GIF banners are pretty easy to make, and the process is mostly the same for all types of images or videos. You simply take the image or video you want to use, put it in a sequence, then add the images or videos you want to include. The length of your GIF banner will depend on a few factors: The length of your video clip and the size of your images.
Generally, you’ll want to keep your GIF banner between 10 and 30 seconds. You can also change the speed of your GIF banner to make it synced to the tempo of your song or music. But, if you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got a few helpful tips to get you started right away. These are our top 5 tips for creating a successful GIF banner:
- Pick a strong, engaging video. Your GIF banner is meant to be an extension of your video, so pick a video that’s engaging and captures your audience’s attention.
- Keep it simple. You want to keep your GIF banner as simple as possible so it doesn’t lose its meaning. If you add too many images or videos, your GIF banner will be confusing, which will take away from the meaning of your video.
- Be consistent. Once you’ve picked your video and images, you want to make sure your GIF banner stays consistent with these throughout the whole process. This includes picking the right timing for your images. Make sure the images don’t overlap and that they’re in the correct order.
- Make it the right length. When you’re creating your GIF banner, you want to make sure it’s the exact length you want. If it’s too long, your GIF banner will be too big and break on different pages of your site. If it’s too short, your GIF banner will be too small and not be seen.
- Make it sticky. Once you’ve created your banner, you want to make sure you keep it in your site. If you’re not displaying your GIF banner, there’s a good chance people won’t see it and they’ll miss out on a potential sale or promotion.
Why make a GIF banner?
GIF banners are a fun and creative way to share something. You don’t even have to explain what a GIF is, everyone gets it. It’ll make your audience smile, laugh or maybe even think about something else for a moment. They’re especially great for awareness campaigns or when you want to get people’s attention but don’t have a lot of time. They’re also great for promoting your brand or products.
You can easily make a GIF banner for your website and use it on social media to increase brand awareness. You can also sell branded merchandise or create GIF banner ads for your YouTube channel or podcast. You can also use GIF banners for fun events or holidays like Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas.
What do you need to make a GIF banner?
A video or IMAGES. You’ll need one video or image per banner. You can add music or other audio to your GIF banner, but each frame of the GIF should only have the video or image you want in it. This is where you’ll need to be creative. You want to pick a video that captures the spirit of your brand, but you also want to pick images that will work well with the video.
You can look at other GIF banners to help you decide.
Tips for making a GIF banner
There are a number of things to consider when making a GIF banner.
First, you need to figure out your message. What do you want to say? Do you want your audience to take action? Are you looking to get people excited? Once you have decided on your message, you should start thinking about how you will deliver it. Will you create a simple GIF that can be shared with your friends and family, or will you hire a graphic designer to create a more professional design?
Next, think about the types of images that you want to use. If you are creating a banner for an event, it is important to include images of the event itself along with images of the attendees. If you are making a banner for an online campaign, it is also important to include images of the product or service that you are trying to promote.
Finally, consider how large your banner will be and what type of media it will be displayed on. For example, if you want your GIF banner to be featured on Facebook, it is best practice to upload it as a video instead of a static image.
Making a GIF banner is fairly straightforward. There are a few factors that you'll need to keep in mind, though.
One of the most important things to keep in mind is the size of your GIF file. You want to make sure that it's large enough to be seen clearly on your website or social media page.
Another factor that you'll need to be mindful of is the speed at which your GIF file moves. Because GIFs are made up of small files, they can sometimes move too quickly or too slowly for users to see them clearly. If this happens, they might not be able to understand what your message is and they might become agitated or frustrated.
To avoid this, try using a slower pace with your GIF file and making sure that it's not moving too quickly. This will help ensure that your audience sees the content that you're trying to convey.
How to create a GIF banner in Photoshop
For this tutorial, we’re going to be creating a GIF banner using images from our library, but you can easily create a GIF banner using your own images. You can start by opening the image or images you want to use. Next, open up Photoshop and create a new document. Make sure your document size is 640x480 pixels or larger. Next, open up the image or images you want to use and press Ctrl-D to duplicate the layer. This will create another copy of the image.
Final Words
Now that you know how to make a GIF banner, you’re ready to create your own. These animated images are an easy and creative way to share your message with your audience, and they’ll love seeing them at the top of their newsfeed. So, go ahead and get started!
