Step-by-Step Tutorial: Create a GIF
The following step-by-step tutorial will show you everything you need to know to quickly create GIFs in After Effects and Photoshop.
Step 1: Export Video From After Effects
There isn’t a great way to export a GIF from an After Effects composition. So after you have created your animated sequence, follow these steps to export your composition to Photoshop.
The first thing you need to do is simply export your footage from After Effects. Select your composition and go to Composition > Add to Render Queue. Once inside the render queue, adjust your settings as needed and click the ‘Render’ button. Remember that the best way to reduce the file size of your GIF is to optimize the video in After Effects — be sure to change your frame rate to 12-15fps and reduce the amount of movement and colors.
Step 2: Import into Photoshop

Go to Photoshop and import your clip by navigating to File > Open and selecting the video clip. You can now adjust your clip as needed. Many of the functions inside of Photoshop will still be available to you. You can colorize and scale your video just like an image.
Step 3: Save for Web.

Once you’re ready to save your GIF, simply navigate to File > Save for Web… (In older versions of Photoshop, you’ll need to navigate to File > Export > Save for Web(Legacy), but it’s the same window nonetheless.) Once you’re inside of the Save for Web window, you will see a lot of options.
The video tutorial above goes into detail about what each setting does, but the important thing to remember is simply to reduce the amount of colors and only turn on dithering if you are comfortable with noise being in your image. Alternatively, if you would like for your GIF to load a low-res version before it loads the full-res version, go ahead and select the ‘Interlaced’ button. The rest of the defaults are usually great. If you want your GIF to loop, be sure to change Looping Options from ‘Once’ to ‘Forever.’
Once you’re ready to save, simply navigate to the ‘Save’ button at the bottom of the window.






