Thanks to the development of several outstanding programs, animating image files is relatively easy. This outline will get you started using one of the programs. Once you do one or two simple animations, you should feel comfortable experimenting with all the neat options included in the shareware.

There is, however, a lot of preparation work you need to do before you start the animation itself.

First, you need to install an animation program onto your computer:

Next, you need artwork to animate. I created some simple (and ugly) pieces of 'art' using Paint and Picture Publisher. You can, in fact, use any drawing program to create the frames of your artwork.

Then, save each frame of your art into a folder. Give each frame a different name: line, line1, line2 and so on. In order to animate a graphic, you have to work with two or more images.

Now you're ready to go into the GIF Construction Set to start an animation.

Click on FILE. Find the Animation Wizard. Click through the first few screens until you reach the select a file screen.

Click on SELECT. Find the folder you saved your artwork to.

Click on the first of your files and click on OPEN. The screen will flash once quickly and bring you right back to the folder.

Select the second file you want to use. It can be the same file or any other file you wish to use. Repeat the process as often as you wish.

When you have selected all of the files, click on CANCEL and NEXT and then DONE. Your screen will have an odd assortment of file names mixed with control blocks.

Click on an image file. Click on BLOCK. You'll see a long list of choices for ways to play with your image files.

Click on FLIP and ROTATE. Highlight one of your image files. Select a 90% rotation.

Click on another image file. Select another rotation. Click on APPLY and OK.

When you're prompted to save, do so. You may experiment with several choices before you find one combination you like. Save to the same folder with different names so you can tell them apart later on.

Other Notes:

You can use clip art, photos, your own art work, scanned work and so on to create your animation.

Use a paint program to change the color of parts of your picture.

Don't OVERdo it. This page has several animations running non-stop because it is a demonstration of how to create them. Your own page should only have one or two animations on any given page. Too many is both distracting to the viewer and overloads the computer. Be nice: keep it simple.

Recommended Text:

The GIF Animator's Guide (Sandra E. Eddy, MIS:Press, 1997) This text has complete guides to several different animation programs. It also includes a CD containing demos or shareware versions of all the software covered.