#red helps

1. So, I really quickly threw together this base graphic. The first thing you’re going to want to do is click the “create frame animation” button on the bottom middle of your screen. If you don’t see this option at all, click “windows” in the top bar and then “timeline” on the scroll down menu.

2. Open up the gif texture. Put all the frames into one group, count the number of frames there are, and look at the frame rate (frame rate is the number on the bottom of every frame in the timeline–in this case, it’s .01).

3. Go back to your base graphic and create as many frames as there were in the texture (14 for this texture). You can duplicate frames by pressing the little page icon to the left of the trashcan. After doing so, select all the frames and press the downward arrow next to the frame rate. Change the frame rate to match that of the gif texture (this also goes for overlaying two gifs–the frame number and frame rate has to be the same). 

4. Back to the gif texture! Select the group the texture is in and all the frames. Afterwards, click the three little lines to the right of the timeline (I’ve circled it). When the menu pops up, click “copy frames.”

5. I promise–this is the last time we switch over! Okay, so click the same icon on your base image. This time, select “paste frames.”

6. You’ll get a pop up menu in the center of your screen. Select “paste over selection” and hit okay!

7. Now it’s time to move around and resize the gif texture. Be sure to have all frames selected in the timeline as you move stuff around so ALL frames have all the same changes. 

8. Once everything is set in place, you’ll need to change the blending mode (circled in red). Depending on the base and how you want it to look, lighten, screen, or lighter color will work. Sometimes more than one will work! I chose lighten for this instance (future tip: if your sparkles were black on a white background, the blending modes darken, multiply, and darker color would work out well).

9. Okay, so the texture was moving a little too fast for my taste. So, I changed the frame rate to .1 seconds.

10. Save gifs as usual (file > save for web) and be sure to make sure you select “forever” in looping options! “Once” may be the default.