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Category: Graphics

merging animated gifs

I have five small animated gifs (five spinning letters of the alphabet). Is it possible to merge these gifs into one file so that when it is launched it spells a word? First post on this forum. Thanks in anticipation. Regards. db.

There might be some kind of tricky way to do this easily however, most likely you will need to create a new animated gif file using a robust animated gif program like Animation Shop (there are many others). In Animation Shop you would be able to load each separate animation and copy from each one those frames you desire for inclusion into your new file, cropping, resizing and otherwise tailoring each frame to work well together.

Thanks a lot jscheuer1. I have got Animation Shop. What would be useful is a simple tutorial for this kind of work. Any ideas? Cheers. db. :)

I forgot to add that the five animations do not need editing, cropping, resizing or anything like that. They just need to be 'fused' together.

Sorry, I am not aware of any. Try Googling 'merging animated gifs' or 'merging animated gifs Animation Shop'.

Thanks again jscheuer1. I've been researching this little nutmeg for weeks...unfortunately, nobody seems to be able to supply a definitive answer, so I might have to conclude that it simply is just not possible...although from experience, a resolution or work around tends to crop up eventually if one perseveres!

Well, it shouldn't be that hard. Have you ever used Animation Shop? Once you load in a gif animation, you can view, copy or export its individual frames. Creating a new animation is pretty straight forward. You can paste the images into Paint Shop for editing then paste them into your new animation. All animation work is a bit tedious but, definitely doable.

Cheers jscheuer1. I have used Animation Shop briefly and remain a novice. However, I just had a play with it and I got a very good although somewhat unexpected result. I loaded letter 1 and added letters 2,3,4,5 in subsequent frames. What I now have, instead of five animated letters all rotating side by side is a one letter animation which on completion of one cycle of each rotating letter, changes to the next letter and so on to spell my proposed signture. It's not what I really want but it looks very good! I just can't seem to conceptualise what I need to do to get the five letters spinning side by side. So at the moment I've achieved S then I then G then N then S rather than SIGNS. Any further help would be welcome. Thanks in anticipation. db.

I think you need to increase the canvass size and put each frame from each animation together on one frame. For example:

Frame one of your new animation will be as wide as s + i + g + n + s widths put together. then in frame one of the new animation paste frame one of each individual letter side to side. Repeat this process for however many frames you want the new animation to have.

If some of the letters have more total frames than the others you will have to decide wether to skip a few or to duplicate the content from the letters with fewer frames to compensate.

you could just import the gifs into flash, and export hte whole thing as an swf... if you know how to embed and have flash

I think you need to increase the canvass size and put each frame from each animation together on one frame. For example:

Frame one of your new animation will be as wide as s + i + g + n + s widths put together. then in frame one of the new animation paste frame one of each individual letter side to side. Repeat this process for however many frames you want the new animation to have.

If some of the letters have more total frames than the others you will have to decide wether to skip a few or to duplicate the content from the letters with fewer frames to compensate.

That sounds both logical and promising. Thanks again for your help, I'll give it a try. :)

you could just import the gifs into flash, and export hte whole thing as an swf... if you know how to embed and have flash

I have flash but I don't know how to embed. If you can assist further, then great, otherwise I'll get reading!! In any case, thanks for the kind response. :)

Still not found a solution (I'm sure it is possible within Psp and Animation Factory, I just can't work it out). However, I have found a work around. To put this in context, I have been trying to create a signature for use in Incredimail. By clicking on New Mail you are invited to prepare an email. Just click on Insert>Picture and browse to each .gif in turn and import them in to display your signature. Choose the Save option which places your creation in a Draft Folder. Next time you send an email simply Copy and Paste it from the Draft Folder to your new email...and Bob's yer uncle! Not quite the techie solution, but it works nontheless. I would like to solve the problem the 'proper way' so if any of you guys come up with anything please let me know!

Sorry for labouring a bit! But this just gets better. You can cut and paste from the Draft Folder straight into the Signature file which is launched whilst you are writing new mail by clicking on Signature. Once saved, it's a simple matter of drafting subsequent emails followed by clicking on the Signature button, and there it is. Sounds a bit of a fuss over nothing, but it's amused me no end. But, as my mother used to say, 'Small things....!' :D

Perseverence has paid off. Click here (http://bis.midco.net/djlarson1/anialphabet/animatedalphabet.htm) for the definitive answer! Also, again many thanks to all those who responded. Cheers. db.