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Best Free Animated GIF Maker [1]

Last updated by site.editor [2] on 25. November 2020 - 11:59

Introduction

A picture is worth a thousand words. If this is true for an ordinary static picture then what about a picture that contains motion or animation? An animation has far greater impact than an ordinary picture. It offers many more possibilities to creators/artists, enabling them to convey greater meaning to users. An animated format can also hold a lot more content which is almost impossible for a normal static image.

Animated Newton's Cradle

There are a lot of image file formats but only three are popular and widely used on the web. These are JPG,PNG and GIF formats. Among these three formats, GIF is the only file type that supports animation.

A GIF file can contain a single image, but to animate an image it will need at least two or more images/frames combined, which can then be displayed for a few milliseconds successively and called as GIF animation.

A GIF animator program makes this process much easier. It usually takes only three easy steps, choosing a couple of images, putting them in desired sequence and setting frame rate, looping and other settings. The result is combined into one GIF animation file.

On the right is an animated GIF image of Newton's Cradle, comprising 36 frames and each showing up for about 2 to 5 milliseconds. It's certainly more impressive than a static image if motions are needed to convey more vivid messages to readers.

From the selection of GIF animators covered in this review, everyone should find something suitable to create their own animated images.

 

GIF Animator for Photos or Images

[4]

Photoscape [4]   [5]

The GIF editor included in the suite impressed me with its clear interface, ease of use, intuition and good features


Our Rating: 
5
License: Free (Limited features)
Platforms/Download: Mac OS [6] | Windows (Desktop) [6] | [7]
Version reviewed: 3.7
Gizmos Freeware [8]
Our Rating: 5/5
5
Summary:
Better interface, ease of use, adjustable canvass size, background colour, photo alignment, auto transition effects, supports for importing various formats.
Bundled with OpenCandy (see information link in review text). Might be an overkill to download a large program if you just need a standalone GIF animator.


Read more... [5]
License: Free (Limited features)
Better interface, ease of use, adjustable canvass size, background colour, photo alignment, auto transition effects, supports for importing various formats.
Bundled with OpenCandy (see information link in review text). Might be an overkill to download a large program if you just need a standalone GIF animator.
Read full review... [5]
[9]

GifApp [9]   [10]

One of the most complete standalone gif makers with clean user interface.


Our Rating: 
4
License: Free (Open source)
Platforms/Download: Linux [11] | Windows (Desktop) [11] | [12]
Version reviewed: 1.3
Gizmos Freeware [8]
Our Rating: 4/5
4
Summary:
Clean interface, user friendly, easy to use, adjustable canvas size, auto transition effects, support various formats and video to gif conversion is possible.
Takes time in extracting frames from video, Development has been stopped.


Read more... [10]
License: Free (Open source)
Clean interface, user friendly, easy to use, adjustable canvas size, auto transition effects, support various formats and video to gif conversion is possible.
Takes time in extracting frames from video, Development has been stopped.
Read full review... [10]
[13]

AnimateGif [13]   [14]

Offers a very simple set of functions for light and simple gif animations.


Our Rating: 
4
License: Free
Platforms/Download: Windows (Desktop) [15] | [12]
Version reviewed: n/a
Gizmos Freeware [8]
Our Rating: 4/5
4
Summary:
Easy to use, clean and simple interface, small installer size.
User interface is small and non-adjustable, Very limited functions, no user control over output.


Read more... [14]
License: Free
Easy to use, clean and simple interface, small installer size.
User interface is small and non-adjustable, Very limited functions, no user control over output.
Read full review... [14]
[16]

Microsoft GIF Animator [16]   [17]

A basic and portable GIF animator from Microsoft in a small user interface.


Our Rating: 
3
License: Free
Platforms/Download: Windows (Desktop) [18] | [12]
Version reviewed: 1.0.0.101
Gizmos Freeware [8]
Our Rating: 3/5
3
Summary:
Drag and drop multiple GIF files, looping and repeat, set delay duration to each frame, re-order frames, undraw method, transparency and more.
Rather small user interface, Microsoft discontinued its development.


Read more... [17]
License: Free
Drag and drop multiple GIF files, looping and repeat, set delay duration to each frame, re-order frames, undraw method, transparency and more.
Rather small user interface, Microsoft discontinued its development.
Read full review... [17]
[19]

GiftedMotion [19]   [20]

A small gif maker with a very flexible and adjustable graphical user interface.


Our Rating: 
3
License: Free (Open source)
Platforms/Download: Linux [21] | Mac OS [21] | Windows (Desktop) [21] | [12]
Version reviewed: 1.23
Gizmos Freeware [8]
Our Rating: 3/5
3
Summary:
No installation required, user interface is adjustable, download size is very small, Can add multiple images at once, user can change images position by dragging, preview function available.
Very less features, output is very basic, take time for loading big size images or large number of images.


Read more... [20]
License: Free (Open source)
No installation required, user interface is adjustable, download size is very small, Can add multiple images at once, user can change images position by dragging, preview function available.
Very less features, output is very basic, take time for loading big size images or large number of images.
Read full review... [20]
[22]

SSuite Gif Animator [22]   [23]

A simple gif animator, movie and slide show creator.


Our Rating: 
2
License: Free
Platforms/Download:  [12]
Version reviewed: 2.8
Gizmos Freeware [8]
Our Rating: 2/5
2
Summary:
Simple and clean GUI, Small installer size, individual time intervals for each image.
Supports only jpg, jpeg, png and bmp images. Very limited functions. User have only control over frame speed in output.


Read more... [23]
License: Free
Simple and clean GUI, Small installer size, individual time intervals for each image.
Supports only jpg, jpeg, png and bmp images. Very limited functions. User have only control over frame speed in output.
Read full review... [23]

Stick Figure Animator

And for a great deal of fun, try Pivot Stickfigure Animator [24], a simple stick figure animation program for you to create an animated GIF by moving sections of the standard stick figure. See this article A Free Animation Utility That can be Used by the Non-Artistic [25] by Gizmo for more details.

 

Online GIF Animators

There are various online services available which allow users to make gifs by uploading picture files from computer or by linking from internet. The main problem with almost every online service is various limitations, watermarks and privacy; some support no watermarks and private output but not all. It is almost impossible to list them all, but here are some which I was able to find and test. (Please read their TOS before trying them.)

  • GifPal [26] – It limits the number of images you can upload to 24 for a gif. It is an advance tool with many custom options. You have to select and add every image separately with or without customising it. You can add effects, like charcoal, ripples, thermal, halftone, Warhol and many more; control brightness, contrast, hue and saturation of any or all images; add text, fill to gif and add various shapes in any colour you like; and control over file quality/size and watermark. Gifpal also gives you full control over output file privacy, ability to download it to your computer or save it online for access with a link or publish it in your public gallery. It gives you full control over gif files that are highly customisable. Overall it is as good as 9 on a scale of 10.
  • Picasion [27] - It limits the number of images you can upload to 10. You have to select every image separately but it gives you custom options like control over size and speed of each frame. The good news is it does not impose any watermark on a gif produced and it also gives user control over file privacy. Although it lacks various options for making a good gif but still is one of the best online services for making a gif. Overall it is as good as 8 on a scale of 10.
  • MakeaGif [28] – It limits the number of images you can upload to 20 but you can select them simultaneously which is a good feature. You can easily arrange these pictures after uploading as it supports drag and drop feature. You have control over frame speed and size of a gif, and can also choose to make it private or public. It also supports making gifs from various sources and file types like videos, youtube urls, webcams and other gifs too besides pictures from your computer. It imposes a small watermark on the output gif even though gif quality is very good. Overall it is as good as 7 on a scale of 10.
  • Gickr [29] - It limits the number of images to 10, and you have to select each image separately. It gives you very limited custom options like control over size and speed. It imposes a watermark on every gif. It lacks many important features to make gifs more interesting. Overall it is as good as 5 on a scale of 10.

 

Other GIF Animators

These are some GIF animator programs or online apps or related products which were brought up in the comments here or noted from other sources. As they are not rated in this review, I am listing them here with brief descriptions and relevant links for ease of reference.

  • UnFreez [30] is a small program for creating animated GIF files but is short of more advanced features.
  • Gimp [31] a free software raster graphics editor good for image editing and retouching. Using this as an animator requires you to go through a steep learning curve; think of every layer as an animation frame.
  • GifMaker [32] is a online app which user can use to create a gif animation.
  • Stykz [33] is a multi-platform stick figure gif animator program, like Pivot Stickfigure Animator.

 

Related Products and Links

  • Best Free Paint Program [34]
  • Best Free Photo Slideshow Software [35]
  • Best Free Digital Image Editor [36]
  • Best Free Vector Graphics Editor [37]
  • Best Free Icon Editor and Replacer [38]
  • Best Free Web-Based Image Editor [39]

 

Editor

This software category is in need of an editor. If you would like to give something back to the freeware community by taking it over, check out this page [40] for more details. You can then contact us from that page or by clicking here [41]

 

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[24] http://pivotanimator.net/
[25] https://www.techsupportalert.com/free-animation-utility-for-non-artistic.htm
[26] http://www.gifpal.com/
[27] http://picasion.com/
[28] http://makeagif.com/
[29] http://gickr.com/
[30] http://www.whitsoftdev.com/unfreez/
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