I made this tutorial for my belove friend since she asked me to teach her how to make gif poster. Feel free to read and look around if you interested or wanna know.

This one is the basic. In this one I’ll teach/show how to combine gif image to a different background. The software I’ll use is GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/downloads/).

First of all, I suggest to put the gif you want to use and a background (if you already have one) pic into 1 folder. So, it will be easier to access it later.

Lets start. Open GIMP and then click ‘File -> New’. A ‘Create a New Image’ will appear like in the pic below.

On the ‘Create a New Image’ menu, change the size of image/poster you want. If you click ‘Templet’, it will show few default size. But in this tutorial I’ll use 490x600.

Then, change the image orientation (vertical or horizontal). I dont like horizontal poster, so, I’ll use vertical.

Then, click ‘Advance Option’ and change both X and Y resolution into 272. Then click ‘Ok’.

Now you have a white plain background.

Next is to bring you gif in.

Click  ‘File -> Open as Layer’. In ‘Open Image’ menu, seach and open the gif you want to use.

Notice on your right, on ‘Layers’, there are many ‘Frames’. In this tutorial, there’s 17 Frames.

This is just beginning, so, those frame/layer will not effect anything.

For more complex/advance/awesome/whaterver-you-call-it-poster, I suggest use the gif that have less than 25 or 20 frames/layers.

IGNORE all the gif layer/frames. (NOTE: All gif layers/frames have ‘time’ (ms) next to it. For example in this tutorial the time is (100ms)).

Adjust the ‘Background’ by moving the ‘Background’ layer using the ‘Move Tool’.  Make sure choose ‘Move active layer’ or it will move your gif.

Move it anywhere you want, so you gif image will be above or middle or below. Anywhere you want. In the tutorial, I let it in the middle (I dont need to adjust it since its already in the middle).

After you got the possition you want, click ‘Image -> ‘Fit Canvas to Layers’.

For background, there’s two type. Plain background (just color) or pic background.

In this tutorial, I use pic background. But I’ll show you how to do both.

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1.    Plain Background

If you want plain background, click ‘Bucket Fill Tool’, and double click the black color box. A ‘Change Foreground Color’ menu will appear. Choose the color you want for the background and click ‘Ok’.

Then click anywhere in the white area. That’s all. Hahahaha!

Move to number 3. if you want to use only plain background.

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2.    Pic Background

If you want pic background, Click  ‘File à Open as Layer’. In ‘Open Image’ menu, seach and open the pic you want to use.

On your right, in ‘Layers’ menu, arrange the ‘pic’ layer so it will be above ‘Background’ layer. Just simply click the ‘Pic’ layer and drag it till it’s above ‘Background’ layer. If its already there, leave it.

Then, click the ‘pic’ layer again, and in the middle, move it anywhere you want (if its small).

Here, I move it to the top. So, it will be above the gif.

Since the area below the gif still plain white, I’ll use the same pic to cover the area.

RIGHT click on the ‘Pic’ layer, and choose ‘Duplicate Layer’.

 A new layer called ‘Pic Copy’ appear (means second pic/copy of the first pic).

Then, I’ll move the second pic below the gif and it will look like this:

Before we go further, save the project.

To save, click ‘File-> Save As’. Choose the folder you want to save. I prefer the same folder as gif and background pic earlier.

Change the name if you want and make sure its in .xcf format. Then ‘Save’.

RIGHT click ‘Pic’ layer and choose ‘Merge Down’.

The Pic will merge with the ‘Background’ layer below it.

Then RIGHT click the ‘Pic Copy’ layer, and chooce ‘Merge Down’.

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3.     

Now, in you ‘Layers’ menu you have 2 Background. 1 for pic background and another one is the gif background.

RIGHT click the gif background (the one with 100ms next to it) and ‘Merge Down’.

So, it will merge with your Pic background.

Now you only have 1 Background. Simple.

Actually its already finish but I want to add somemore since its too ‘plain’. I’ll add words.

To write, click ‘Text Tool’, mark/click ‘Use editor’ (to make ‘GIMP Text Editor’ appear and make thing easy to write), and click anypart of the poster.

The ‘GIMP Text Editor’ will appear and you can write anything there.

Change the size, font and color. The move the text anywhere you want using the ‘Move Tool’.

Repeat the same step if you want to add more saying/quotes/words.

NOTE: Make sure your ‘words’ are NOT ON the gif image (if you want the words appear on you gif, there’s will be another things to do. Means another tutorial?)

RIGHT click the text layer above ‘Background’ layer and ‘Merge Down’.

Do the same to all the text layer.

Make sure you start from the FIRST text layer that above the ‘Background layer’.

Now click ‘‘File -> Export’. Rename your poster if you want, choose the folder you want to save (I prefer the same folder as before) and click ‘Select  File Type’.

Choose ‘GIF image’ and save.

If something like “The image you are trying to save as a GIF contains layers which extend beyond the actual borders of the image.” appear and ask you to ‘Crop’, just click ‘Crop’.

Then the gif menu will appear.

Mark ‘As animation’, and ‘Loop forever’.

The time (milisecond) refer to how fast your Gif image moving. The higher number, the slower your gif move. As in this tutorial, I’ll just use 100 milisecond.

Then click ‘Export’.

You can click ‘File à Save’, to save your project.

That’s all.

Open your forder and check the gif poster. Did it work?

This is what it should look like:

Did I made it clear bby? Did you got it? Any question? Ask me.

Until then, take care.