You Need To Nerd Out!

this tutorial also assumes you already have access to something to gif and photoshop. luckily supernatural has a huge fandom which means it's a bit easier to find full episodes and scenepacks just by searching the web or youtube. I personally use photoshop with video timeline on a macbook to gif. there are other ways to make gifs, but I'm not going to get in to them today, there are plenty of resources on tumblr for photoshop alternatives if you're interested.

I also am going to use a clip from season 2 as an example, so a lot of the coloring is based around that kind of lighting and saturation early supernatural had. I might do a second part with a later seasons clip, they're somehow both easier to color because the lighting is brighter and harder because they're often oversaturated and have orange filters.

general resources

this is my main sharpening action I use (specifically the second option, that is what I am using in this tutorial). it's a great general sharpening that works well on basically all footage. I also have been using this sharpening set (specifically the depth or texture option) more often on some spn scenes that are already brighter/less grainy.

inactive blog, but they have a whole tag of PSD colorings specifically for supernatural, along with a ton of other resources and tutorials for photoshop.

great guide to subtitles and how to add subtitles to gifs. I was going to add my own tutorial on adding subtitles but this was getting long and these are two very comprehensive guides. personally, I use the font arial rounded MT, bold, italic, size 16 (or size 12 if I'm doing a 268p gif not a 540p gif) with a drop shadow (distance: 2 spread: 34 size: 10, normal blend mode, 100% opacity) and stroke (size: 1, position outside) both in black. example here.

usergif is a great blog for both inspiration and tutorials if you already know the basics of gif making, but want to learn more advanced stuff.

post I made with some more general resources, including some info about photoshop alternatives.

supernatural episode transcripts - a life saver when you're making gifs with subtitles and can just copy and paste text rather than typing it all by hand.

making the gif

(lot of this is copied from my old gif tutorial I made on my main blog because this part hasn't really changed lol. click on photos for better quality!)

step 1: uploading frames to layers

once you have your video ready, you’re going to import it on photoshop through the file > import > video frames to layers. 

after you select which video you want to use, this screen will pop up.

you want to make sure "selected range only" and "make frame animation" are clicked on. don't use the "limit to every [x] frames" because it will make the animation look really clunky and don't use "from beginning to end" because it will make your file so huge photoshop probably won't be able to open it since there's a 500 (?) frame limit.

use the little tick marks to shorten the video to the frames you want. to make sure you have the right part selected, click on the play button/sideways triangle. it's okay if you have some extra frames before or after the part you want, they're really easy to delete later.

the shorter the video, the easier it is to find the frames you want, so if the video I’m using is longer than about 5 minutes, I shorten it. my laptop allows me to cut videos using quicktime player, but there are programs like bandicam you can use if you have a different kind of computer.

now click "OK" and photoshop will open your video as layers and frames.

Step 2: Cropping, sizing, sharpening, and making the gif 

first thing I do is crop my gif. click on the overlapping square icon on the panel on the left side of your screen (highlighted below). you can either enter the dimensions you want the gif to be, or click on a premade option. i'm just going to use the "square" option for this one.

move the cropping square to wherever on the video you want to crop the video.

next, I go to image > image size and this box will pop up. make sure the width is always 540p because that’s the dimensions for tumblr. the height will automatically adjust. the other options are the settings I personally use but you can play around with them.

next, you want to select all your frames. do this by clicking on the first one, then clicking on the last one while holding the “shift” button.

click on the little part at the bottom of any of the frames that says the time in between frames (in this case, 0.04 is the default) and select the "other" option. a box will pop up. I usually go for 0.06, but if it's a shorter gif, like 22 frames or less, I'll go up to 0.07 or 0.08.

next, you want to go to the right side of your screen and select the layers. do the same thing you did with the frames; click the first layer, then click the last layer while holding “shift.”

after all your frames and layers are selected, click on the little button that has four lines, on the top right of your frames section. click on “convert to video timeline.” this will change your individual frames into an animation.

next, go to filter > convert for smart filters. this will convert all your layers into one layer that is easier to edit.

your screen show now look like this-

now it is time to sharpen your gif! I use sharpening actions (like the ones listed above) because it’s quicker, but this tutorial will show you how to do it manually.

here is the gif so far (cropped, resized, and sharpened).

coloring the gif

this is where it gets a bit more specific to my process for supernatural, but I still use most of these tools (especially the first curves layers) for all my gifs in general. all of the tools you need for coloring are in the “adjustments” tab, next to the layers. 

step 1: curves

this tool is my fave because it does so much of the work for you. I start by using the white eye drop tool (selected in the photo below) and clicking on the whitest part of the gif. in this case, I used sam's shirt.

next, I use the black eye drop tool to select the darkest part of the image. I used the doorway behind sam.

step 2: photo filter

next adjustment I use is usually "photo filter." this one does a lot of work quickly and is great for scenes that are either too blue/cold (in which case I use a warm filter) or too orange/warm (in which case I use a cold filter). for this gif, I selected the third cooling filter option and set it to a density of 12.

step 3: vibrance

vibrance/saturation is a tricky tool, I go back and forth on using it. for a lot of earlier spn I increase the vibrance and for a lot of later spn I decrease the saturation. for this scene, I increased the vibrance to +54.

step 4: selective color

selective color is another one I go back and forth on and when I do use it, I try to do it sparingly because it can make your gif look grainy fast. going to red and decreasing cyan (here by -34) makes the gif a bit more vibrant. then I go to black and increase it by +6 to add some depth to the background and make sam stand out more.

step 5: brightness/contrast

I find curves takes care of most of the brighting I need but I will occasionally also add a brightness/contrast layer as well. here, I increased brightness by +10 and left contrast alone.

step 6: exposure

finally, I add an exposure layer. this tool is great for lower quality footage because increasing the shadows makes it look less grainy. it also adds some more depth. here I decreased exposure by -0.36 and put gamma correction at 0.92.

bonus: I didn't use it for this gif, but color balance is my other frequently used layer. I will add it when the photo filter doesn't do enough and there's a more dominant color (like the dreaded season 8 orange) that I'm trying to tone down.

saving the gif

final step yayyy. go to file > export > save for web (legacy). 

these are my save settings. then you just click “save” and you’re done! you can also play back your gif here to see how it looks.

make sure your gif is under 10mb (you can see how big it is in the bottom left hand corner under your gif) otherwise tumblr won't let you upload it. if your gif is too big, either go back and delete some frames to shorten it, remove some coloring layers, or increase the lossy setting. I never go over 20 with that because your gif will get grainy, but if you're only like a couple mb over, increase it a bit and that should take care of it with minimal quality difference.

and here is the final gif!

this tutorial will strictly cover the gif making portion of the process, from getting your screencaps to importing in photoshop, resizing/cropping, and sharpening. i was going to briefly go over colouring, but tumblr only allows 30 images and i ran out of space, so i'll have to do a separate colouring tutorial (which also means i can go into more detail, yay).

downloading the videos, whether direct downloads or t*rrents, is also another tutorial. but make sure you’re using at least 1080p, and the bigger the file the better. a single episode of a ~45 minute show should ideally be 2gb at minimum. a full length movie should ideally be at least 5gb. imo 2160p/4k files are not really necessary; the quality increase is negligible, and it takes a lot longer to screencap them. if you do use 2160p/4k files, try and make sure it is not HDR, as those videos are often washed out and require a different screencapping program to fix.

Programs

I am using a cracked version photoshop 2022, but whichever version you use should be pretty much the same

Actions. not a program but a function inside photoshop, where you essentially record a series of steps, and then you can simple play that action when needed and those steps will repeat, which saves considerable time when giffing. I will note which parts of the tutorial are best saved as actions, and explain how to create actions at the end.

For screencapping i use kmplayer it’s free and very simple to use

not at all a necessary program, but i use freecommander instead of the regular windows file explorer as i find the dual panels very helpful when moving the frames around

Screencapping

there are many programs you can use to get the screencaps from a video, a lot are basically the same, some are better suited for particular video file types. kmplayer is a very simple program to use, but afaik the capture function only works on mkv. files (the only other file type i’ve tried is mp4, which plays but does not capture)

once you open your video file in kmplayer, we’re going to open the advanced capture window, found under capture→advanced capture, or alt+v

the window should look like this

A-this is where all your screencaps will save to. i recommend making a specific folder for all your screencaps

B-make sure this is set to png for best quality

C-this is the number of screencaps you want to take, guesstimate how many you will need, keeping in mind that most videos are approx. 25 frames per second, and you should always cap a bit more than you think just in case

D-make sure “every/frame” is selected and set to 1

E-make sure “original” is selected, resizing will be done in photoshop

F-make sure “correct aspect ratio” is unselected

go to the part of the video you want to gif, and pause it just slightly before that part starts, then select ‘start’. the screencaps will start to save to the file, no need to play the video, and will automatically stop once it has capped the number of frames you have chosen

and here is how they look inside freecommander. i have already made a folder for this gifset, which is on the left. now you’re going to make a folder for each individual gif. i’ve decided this one will have four gifs, so create four folders (i just label them gif 01, gif 02, etc) and then move the frames for each gif into their respective folder

while you can always delete frames once the gif is made if it’s too big, i prefer to make sure i have the correct number of frames before i start. the gif limit on tumblr is 10mb, so it’s good to look at the scene/shots you’re giffing and decide approx. what dimensions your gif will be. full size gifs have a width of 540px and your choice of height. if you go for a square gif (540x540) you can usually fit 40-50 frames. if you’re planning for a smaller height (such as 540x400) you can usually fit more around 50-60 frames.

and here are the caps inside the folders. another reason i like freecommander is it’s ability to “multi-rename” files. the default file explorer can do so as well, but you have to do each folder individually and you can’t customize the new names as much. either way, i prefer to rename the files to each gif just to scratch my organization itch.

Introduction to Photoshop

NOTE: i have changed many of my keyboard shortcuts in photoshop to ones i prefer, so any you see listed in the menus of these screenshots are likely not the original shortcuts. you can see and change them yourself under edit→keyboard shortcuts

quick run-down of the photoshop interface. i have adjusted placement of some things from the default so this isn’t exactly how your photoshop will look when you open it, but everything is labelled, either on top or by hovering over the element. once you’re more familiar and have your process down i would recommend adjusting the workspace to suit your process.

A-your main tools and colour selector. almost all the tools have either several tools in one, or have alternate options which can be accessed by right-clicking the tool. you can also hover over each tool to get a pop-up with a quick explanation of the tool

B-additional “windows” such as history, properties, actions etc. can be opened from the window menu at the top and moved around with click-and-drag. history and properties should already be there by default, but probably on the right hand side instead. each window opens and closes with a click

C-the timeline window where the gif is made. the white square is a single frame of a gif, and on the row below is the play controls. this will not be there by default and will need to be opened from the window menu

D-adjustment layers for colouring

E-layers box. this is where the screencaps will show, along with adjustment layers, text layers, etc.

Opening Screencaps in Photoshop

go to file → open navigate to the folder for your first gif, select the first screencap, and check the image sequencing, and click open

a window will open labelled frame rate. set it to 23.976 and select ok

the screencaps will open in the timeline view, seen as the blue panel line at the bottom, and the screencaps are combined into video layer in the layer panel on the right.

Creating Frames

technically, you could go right into your cropping/resizing and sharpening from here, however if you do that directly then you have to keep the screencaps in the folders you have, otherwise if you save and re-open the gif it won’t move.

this next part should be made into an action.

at the top right of the timeline window, click four vertical lines to open the menu and select convert frames → flatten frames into clips. depending on how long the gif is, this can take a minute.

the layers panel should now look like this, each frame of the gif is now its own layer.

the very bottom layer will be the video group. this can be deleted as we’ve made the frames from it

in same timeline menu as before, right under “flatten frames into clips”, select “convert to frame animation” and the screen should now look like this. this will be the end of this action.

Cropping and Resizing

with widescreen footage, sometimes it’s just shorter than 1080p, but most of the time it will have the black bars on the top and bottom, and frustratingly, they’re not always the same size. it’s good to save the most common sizes as actions.

to find the size of the actual screen you turn on the rulers under view→rulers and check the height. then open your canvas size dialogue box under image→canvas size and change the height, making sure pixels are selected in the dropdown. yellowjackets is what i call “xtra wide” which is 800px. “normal” widescreen is 960px.

next we’re going to resize the caps. i also make actions for this, one for each potential gif size. open the image size dialogue box under image→image size and change the height of the image to your desired height plus 4 pixels. these extra pixels are to prevent a line at the top and/or bottom of your completed gif. now re-open the canvas size box, change the width to 540px, and the height to the desired, removing those 4 extra pixels. i have set this one to 540x540. this is where you would end the resizing action.

and as you can see she is off-screen. select the top layer, hold down shift and select the bottom layer to select them all, and with the move tool (the very top one) activated, click and drag to move it left to right as needed to centre the figure/s. as you move it a box will appear telling you how far you are moving it in any direction. make sure you are only moving it left or right, not up or down. to be certain of that, open the properties tab.

the y axis is your up/down, x is left/right. for this gif the y needs to stay at -98. you can also manually change the x axis number instead of dragging the image. also helpful for making sure multiple gifs of the same shot are all positioned the same.

the layer are currently ordered with the 1st at the top and the last at the bottom. with all layers still selected, go to layers→arrange→reverse. the last layer will be on top now. if there is movement in your gif, check if you need to alter the position again to make sure the movement properly centred. but once you are satisfied with the position, the layers should be in “reverse” position, of last layer on top. this is to ensure that the gif plays forwards.

Converting Gif

this should also be made into an action, going through sharpening process

in the timeline menu, select “make frames from layers”

the frames are now populated in animation window. in timeline, click select all frames. go to any of the frames on the bottom and click the little arrow beneath it, select other, and enter 0.07 seconds. this is not a necessary step, as we will have to adjust the frame rate at the end, most likely to 0.05, but if we don’t change the frame rate here, then when we play the gif while working on it to check how it looks, it will play very fast.

in the same menu at the right of the timeline box, select “convert to video timeline”

then, making sure all layers in the panel on the right are selected, go to filter→convert for smart filters. this turns all the layers into a single smart object.

but if you look where i’ve circled, it says the gif is 99 frames long*, when in fact there are only 47. if you are making regular “scene” gifs, basic colouring and maybe a caption, this is fine and does not need to be fixed, it will play at the same speed. if you want to change it to display (approx.**) the correct number of frames, go to the timeline menu on the right, select “set timeline frame rate” and change it from 30 to 15

*if it does not list a frame number by 4 digits but instead says 5f, 10f, 15f, etc. go to the timeline menu on the right, select panel options, and change timeline units to “frame number”

**the reason why this is only approximate is because the actual frame rate is not a a whole number, so when changing the frame rate it isn’t a 1:1, and 47 frames becomes 50 frames. the extra frames are removed at the very end, but if you are not doing any edits that require working frame by frame, there’s no need to change the frame rate here at all

Sharpening

this is, as it sounds, making the gif look sharper. to start go to filter→sharpen→smart sharpen and this window opens. play around with the dials to see what each ones does. the below settings are good for most high quality footage.

Amount-basically, how sharp do you want it

Radius-hard to explain, but this essentially sets how deep the lines of the sharpness are

Reduce Noise-smooths the pixels

once you click okay your single layer should look like this.

you’re going to then right click the layer and select duplicate layer. with the top layer selected, go to filters→blur→gaussian blur and set the radius to 1.0 pixels.

then change the opacity of the top layer to 10%. this is to essentially soften the sharpening a bit, as if it’s too sharp it can make the colouring wonky. this opacity level can also be changed depending on need.

finally, select both layers, right click, and click “group from layers”. your gif is now fully made and sharpened.

Colouring

yeah. ran out of image space. but this is where you would do your colouring and add a caption or any other text.

Converting & Exporting

when all your colouring is done, you’re ready to start saving your gif. you can do it directly from your current file, but that means essentially losing your colouring, as all those layers will be merged together. i am someone who likes to save my psd’s (photoshop files), at least until i’ve posted the gifs, in case i need to fix something in the colouring. if you’d like to keep yours as well, open the history tab and select the first icon at the bottom “create new document from current state”. this will open a copy of the file in a new tab. save the original file and you can close it, continuing all work on the copy file.

select your all your layers, convert them into a smart object from filter->convert for smart filters, then follow the same steps from Creating Frames above. once you're back in frame animation, select Create Frames From Layers, and once again set the frame animation speed.

most people set the speed to 0.05. i personally set it to 0.05 or 0.06 depending on the length of the gif. check how it looks at 0.05, if it seems too fast, try 0.06.

now to save. go to file->export->save for web (legacy). the number is the lower left corner is your gif size, it needs to be under 10mb or else you'll have to delete some frames.

the right panel is your save options. the preset dropdown has some built-in settings, but you won't use them because (at least on my version) the presets only go up to 128 colours, instead of the full 256. the 3 i've highlighted in green are the only one's you'll adjust as needed. the settings below i use for i'd say 90% of my gifs. i'll sometimes change the adaptive dropdown to one of the other options, ocaissionaly the diffusion, and rarely the no transparency dither, but play around with them and see how they change the look of the gif.

when you're satisfied with the look of your gif, click save at the bottom right of the window.

voilà! you now have a gif.

Actions

this is your actions panel. the triangle on the left side is the button to open it. remember, if it's not already there, go to windows->actions to open it.

the buttons on the bottom, left to right, are stop recording, record action, play action, new folder, new action, and delete.

as you can see, i have different folders for my resizing, sharpening, captions, saving, and my 1 step (temporary) actions. to run an action is very simple; click the action, and click play.

to create an action, click the new action button, a box will pop up, give the action a name, and click record. the record button at the bottom of the action window will turn red. now perform all the steps you want it to record, and click stop recording. keep in mind it will record every single thing you do, including in other open files, so if the action you plan to record will have a lot of steps, it might help to write them down first.

to modify an action, select the step in the action above where you'd like the new step to be, hit record, perform the step, stop recording. select the step you'd like to delete, and click the delete button.