#ara.msg

program: adobe photoshop 2021 

i find that the majority of gif makers use some form of adobe product whether that is premiere or photoshop, but i just use the most recent photoshop version adobe had to offer.

this tutorial applies for macOS and windows so don’t worry, any version of program that contains the “timeline” feature will do.

1. download HQ OR HD videos.

i find that the best gifs that come out with HD frames are 1080p quality or 1440p. anything below that might come out to look a little pixelated. at least that’s what i’ve learnt over the time that i started making gifs (a little over a month ago). for me, i can also screen record my videos if it seems like it’ll be impossible to download a high quality video but it’s only in a dire situation.

the website that i use is called savieo, and it allows you to download videos from naver, youtube and vlive. this is great especially if you’re a kpop related tumblr account like i am. this is useful as sometimes, the quality of gifs can be severely degraded if uploaded to youtube vs. naver. this has rung true for music show performances. for this gif, i’m going to take a video off naver where sunmi has done a performance on MBC’s music core for you can’t sit with us.

2. importing video to frames.

secondly, i import my video to frames. since i work with short videos (3-10 mins) instead of 2 hour movies like some gif makers on tumblr, i feel more comfortable importing my downloaded video into photoshop, clipping it to an appropriate size and converting it to frames in one program. 

importing:

➤ after your video has downloaded, in photoshop go to file > import > video frames to layers.

➤ browse for the video. mine is usually in the downloads folder.

➤ once opened, you will have a window much like this. for this section of gif making, you have to select a short clip that you want to turn into a gif. for this example, i’ll do sunmi’s ending fairy section. keeping in mind that the bottom sliders select your clip!

➤ this will take some time to load depending on the length of your clip but as mine is short i estimate it’ll be around 50 frames (which is the average amount you want, or else the gif file size is too big and tumblr won’t accept it).

➤ after it finishes loading it should look something like this. if you don’t have the timeline open, go to window > timeline.

3. rid of excess frames.

➤ i like to get rid of frames i don’t need. as you can see above, we have the ending shot but not a close up of sunmi being an ending fairy. so i simply scroll through the timeline until i find the last frame of that scene, and shift and left click on it. now we can delete it using the trashcan icon. and i do the same for excess frames on the right hand side.

➤ now select the marquee tool. this depends on how you want the gif to look, for me i chose the dimensions 1920px x 800px.

➤ once that’s been selected, you can crop! i have a short cut assigned to this already, but if you go to image > crop you will get the same effect. this will take a while if you have 90 frames like i do. but it will take less time if you have 40-50 frames.

4. resizing

for all gif makers the dimensions differ depending on how they want it to look on tumblr. for me i like to make the width 810px for a nice big high quality gif, or 540px (the width of a tumblr dashboard post). to do so, go to image > image size and put in new dimensions. for this gif i’m making the width 810px. this will take some time to load!

that’s how to make a basic gif with no sharpening! you can now export it if you wish, by going to file > export > save for web (legacy). 

note: if you take a look at the timeline you can play the gif from frame one using the controls. also, if the play back speed bothers you when you’re exporting to save it to web, do what i show below.

reducing gif speed:

end result with no sharpening:

4. sharpening.

for this, we’re going to have to convert to video timeline. our current timeline is a frame animation timeline! on the right hand side of the timeline there will be 3 lines stacked on top of each other, much like an options menu. click on that and select convert to video timeline.

➤ the timeline will now look like this.

➤ go to select > all layers. the layers should then be highlighted on the right hand side.

➤ now right click on any of the highlighted layers and press convert to smart object. smart objects are essentially a new layer that contains image data of EVERY layer you have selected. so any effects you apply to the smart object will now apply to every frame layer from the gif. it will look like this:

➤ keeping the smart object selected, go to filter, then smart sharpen. i go for a singular smart sharpen but some users like to smart sharpen twice, much like chloezhao’s tutorial that i linked in the beginning of this tutorial.

these are the settings used:

➤ and save with export to web!

5. colouring

now for colouring at present i have NOT explored colouring my own gifs that much and i stick to psds from deviantart or tumblr. the one i’m using today is no. 1 psd by bbyhyuck @ deviantart. click here.

when dropping a psd onto a gif file, ENSURE THE TOP MOST LAYER IS SELECTED like so !!

to drop a colouring onto your gif, open the psd and drag it into a separate window of its own like so: 

and then select the folder and drag and drop it on top of your gif preview (mine is sunmi’s face!) the folder should now be above the top most layer.

and that’s it! export it and it should now look like this.

3. what's your all time favourite creation of 2025?

i'm gonna have to pick a couple lmaoo, my archive wont load all my gifs tagged with "my edits" so im gonna... take a while here hang on

this set for marry my husband japan.. i took so LONG with the subtitling and colouring for this set you have no idea. matching scenes to subtitles when you don't have access to a srt file for subtitles SUCKS ass. and there's no good way to pull them from prime video.

this winter set for toreta genuinely deserved more likes, i enjoyed colouring this one quite a lot because it was such bright colours! i normally don't colour bright stuff either;;;

and finally: this set i did for twice's victoria's secret performance. absolutely my favourite for this year.

9. if you could re-work on something from this year, which would it be? and why?

aside from the very first creation of 2025, which i recreated in this tag game i'd actually remake my artms sets from the end of january, this one and this one as i actually don't really like the colouring i ended up making for it. too low contrast for me now at the end of 2025 and i'd change the frames a little.

11. what's your favourite creation that shares your overall aesthetic the best?

this set i did for stellar actually captures the way i colour music videos now! i try and keep my gifs from being too low contrast/faded out now and have worked on my sharpening a lot more as i know ara from jan 2025 would have NOT done it this way </3

18. do you have any habits while making gifs/gfx?