Create an Animated GIF in Photoshop
In this tutorial, you’ll turn a series of images into an animated GIF using Photoshop’s Timeline panel. You’ll load your images as layers, convert them into frames, set timing and looping, and export for the web. By the end, you’ll have a lightweight GIF ready to share.
Step-by-step instructions
Load your images into a single Photoshop document
Open Photoshop.
Go to File → Scripts → Load Files Into Stack.
Click Browse, select all images in your sequence (in order), and click OK.
Wait for Photoshop to load each image as its own layer.
Create a frame animation from layers
Open Window → Timeline to show the Timeline panel.
Click the dropdown in the Timeline and choose Create Frame Animation (then click the button if needed).
Open the Timeline panel menu (three lines) and enable Create New Layer for Each New Frame.
Open the Timeline panel menu again and choose Make Frames From Layers.
Set frame delays and looping
Shift-click to select all frames in the Timeline.
Click the time below any selected frame and choose a delay (e.g., 0.1 sec) or enter a custom value.
Open the looping dropdown (below the frames) and select Forever to loop continuously.
Press Play in the Timeline to preview the animation.
Export the animated GIF
Go to File → Export → Save for Web (Legacy).
Set the format to GIF in the top-right of the dialog.
Adjust settings as desired (e.g., size, colors) and verify the preview.
Click Save, choose a destination, name your file, and click Save again.
