What Is a GIF? A Guide To Creating and Using GIFs (2024)

The world of Harry Potter brims with magical wonders that set it apart from our reality. In addition to dragons, exploding candy, and flying broomsticks, the wizarding world is blessed with enchanting photographic imagery: In every newspaper the pictures move.

Back in the real world, flying broomsticks may be a little far-fetched, but thanks to the GIF image file format, anyone online can enjoy the magic of animated photos.

What is a GIF?

GIF stands for “graphics interchange format.” GIFs typically are animated and resemble short, repeating video clips without sound. They’re often shared on social media or embedded in other digital content. There’s no need to press a button—GIFs play automatically in a continuous loop.

The GIF file format was invented in the late 1980s by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite. It was originally designed to make sharing animated images easier by decreasing the file size. GIFs use lossless compression to achieve a small file size without sacrificing image quality. Due to the small size of the image format, GIFs load quickly and play seamlessly in most web browsers, even on mobile devices.

How do you pronounce GIF?

The pronunciation of GIF is a subject of mild debate. Wilhite and his team initially noted that GIF should be pronounced with a soft G, like the words gerrymander or giraffe. But as the GIF format grew more popular an alternative hard G pronunciation emerged. Today, GIF is commonly pronounced with a hard G, like goose or giggle.

Why use GIFs?

Incorporating GIFs can help bolster your social media and marketing materials. Here are a few of the specific benefits:

Expression

Adding a GIF to text-based communication is an efficient way to lighten the mood or clarify the intended tone behind your message. Animated GIFs can convey emotions like frustration, sarcasm, and excitement, and these moving images are easy to interpret. Including GIFs in your social media and marketing content can add levity to your messaging and establish a strong brand voice, which may help you foster relationships with your audience.

Shareability

Sharing visual content on social media platforms can help you reach a wider audience and boost your engagement rate. According to a market data report from independent market research platform Gintux, social media users are 40 times more likely to share a post if it contains imagery. Animated GIF files are especially shareable—their small size allows them to load quickly and play smoothly.

Cultural commentary

Posting a GIF is an easy way to participate in internet culture. Operating like animated memes, GIFs often feature clips from popular movies, TV shows, and viral videos. Sharing a culturally relevant image can spark recognition that helps users connect to your content. 

Accessibility

You don’t need a dedicated video team or high-quality equipment to start making and sharing GIFs. Numerous free online tools can generate GIFs in seconds, and platforms like GIPHY and EZGif don’t require any editing or coding skills. Making a GIF from your favorite TV show or YouTube video, for example, is an easy way to add visual interest to your content.

Tools for making GIFs

Photo or video professionals may use tools like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Premiere to create GIFs, but image editing skills are by no means a requirement. Many online and app-based GIF creators have simple, user-friendly controls.

To make a GIF, start by selecting or uploading source footage. These tools may require video files, public web videos, or multiple images for GIF generation. They typically accept MOV, GIF, JPG, MPG, WebM, and PNG files.

Consider these tools to start generating your own GIFs:

GIPHY

GIPHY is a resource for finding and creating GIFs. After creating a free account, upload a file or paste any web link to pull footage from a publicly posted video. Then, move the sliding bars to select a video section to convert into a repeating animation. GIPHY also includes tools that add text, stickers, and premade filters to GIFs. When satisfied with your GIF, copy a shareable link or download the file to your computer.

For mobile devices, there’s also an app version of GIPHY with native recording capabilities, named GIPHY cam.

EZGif

EZGif is a straightforward web platform with various GIF-creation features. It’s free to use and does not require an account. EZGif offers a video-to-GIF tool, a resizer, an optimizer to decrease file sizes, and a GIF creation tool for creating animations from still images.

Canva

Canva is a graphic design tool that can create GIFs and other image formats. Canva offers an app and a web-based platform with native graphic design tools. This product is especially well-suited for users who want to add simple graphics to their GIF images.

Gifstory

GIFstory is a mobile app designed for creating GIFs on the go. You can select video clips from your camera roll or record video footage with your smartphone using the built-in camera and quickly convert it into a GIF file. GIFstory includes editing tools for trimming the video clips and adding basic filters.;

How to use GIFs

You can share GIFs on a wide range of platforms. In addition to posting on social media, you can embed these image files on websites, insert them into emails, and share them on messaging apps.

The best way to use GIFs depends on your product, audience, and brand identity. Here are some popular ways to incorporate GIFs into your online messaging:

Create social media content

GIFs are a popular file format on social media platforms including Instagram, X, Threads, and Facebook. Brands often use GIFs to express emotions and participate in viral social media trends. 

Reply to comments

Replying to comments on social media is an essential part of community management. Responding to social media users helps you form personal connections, boost engagement, and answer customer queries. Using a GIF is a quick way to post a reply and express how you feel about the comment.

Spruce up your emails

GIFs aren’t just for social media. Combining eye-catching visual and written content can make your digital communications more engaging. Adding animation can help break up long blocks of text in marketing emails and encourage customers to keep reading.

Have fun

GIFs are often funny and playful. Using GIFs can add humor to your content and showcase your brand’s personality. When sharing humorous GIFs, consider the tone of the imagery and ensure that it aligns with your brand guidelines.

Showcase your product

You can use video footage or still images as source material to create a GIF that showcases your product’s best features. Consider embedding this file type on your website or product pages to demonstrate your product’s unique appeal. For example, if you sell foldable coffee cups, a GIF can effectively show potential customers how to collapse and pack them up.

Educate your customers

Community management often involves customer service elements. Users can leverage social media to reach out with product questions or comments. Consider creating an informative GIF for a user-friendly way to address frequently asked questions.

For example, if users have trouble locating a feature within your product, create an animation demonstrating how to access it. Moving imagery may be easier to understand than written explanations or a single image. Once you’ve created the GIF, you can use it to respond to questions that arise.