Other Tools

There are other options for tools we won't cover in this guide but are worth looking at:

GIMP - This free and Open Source cross-platform image editor can import GIFs and can be used to crop, resize, and save the result as a GIF file. Jason Coon wrote a guide on how to use GIMP to crop and resize an existing GIF.

Instagiffer is a cross-platform (Windows and OSX) freeware GIF converter that can load content from YouTube, a video you've downloaded, or from any content on your screen. It can't import existing GIF files.

GIF Brewery is commercial software (OSX only) worth mentioning as it does an excellent job of converting videos and rescaling GIFs and is easy to use, and is only $4.99. There are beta versions available to use as a trial before purchasing the software.

Sharing GIFs

If you make a cool animation you want to share online, tag it with #32x32GIF so others can find it, and hopefully we can build up a nice collection for everyone to use.

We will be posting some of our favorite GIFs in the SmartMatrix Users Community on Google+, and in the Pixelmatix Twitter feed.

Acknowledgements

Blender Foundation - The animated video used in the demo is (c) copyright 2008, Blender Foundation

"Fight Fight!" Looping GIF is from Stephen Vyas

Guide written by Louis Beaudoin (Pixelmatix.com) CC-BY-SA