About GIF

GIF is an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format, an image file format created by CompuServe for conveniently storing and displaying image libraries online. Because of its near-photographic quality and relatively small file size, GIF has become one of the most widely used image file formats on the Internet today. GIF has undergone two major revisions since its inception in 1987, the most recent being the GIF89a specification.

GIF uses the Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) compression method to store and reduce single or multiple images within the file by up to 40% of their original size. These images can contain up to 256 colors, and they do lose any of their original quality when undergoing compression, which can reduce an image by as much as 40% of its original size. Even though GIF is a “lossless” format, images that are imported from other file formats and converted to GIF may lose some of their quality in the transition from True Color to 256-color. GIF files also possess transparency attributes so that one color in the image is not displayed. This allows users to create clear backdrops for their images, letting a web-page’s background colors show through. GIF also supports image interlacing, allowing users to watch the image “fade-in” as it downloads.

If multiple images are stored within a GIF file, they can be viewed sequentially much like a slide show or a small animated movie. The way they appear is defined by control extensions built into the file. With the appropriate tools, such as Ulead GIF Animator, you can set these controls yourself.

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Animation Basics

Animation is created by displaying a series of overlapping images (cels) in rapid succession. Each cel’s image differs only slightly from the ones preceding and following it. When enough of these cels are grouped together, the differences between them create the illusion of motion when played. In traditional animation, cels are drawn and painted by hand, although in recent years the animation industry has been moving away from traditional animation and towards computer-assisted animation. While the concepts used to create the animation are essentially the same, the methods used differ greatly.

The key defining element of all animation, and of movies in general, is the number of cels used to create the animation. The more cels a single animation contains, the smoother the motion of animated characters and objects appear to be. The less cels used, the more herky-jerky their movements will appear. In traditional animation, the number of cels becomes the length of the animation in seconds. In computer animation, however, the number of cels contributes to the ultimate size of the animation file.

When creating animation on the computer, a balance must be found between animation quality and file size, both of which are affected by the cel count of the animation. Defining the best trade-off point is never easy, but with careful planning and foresight, you can create captivating animations that don’t require unreasonable amounts of disk space.

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How GIF animation works

GIF animation takes advantage of the GIF format’s built in capabilities to store and display more than one image file. Unlike conventional film where the speed of the animation is defined by the speed of the film, these images each have an associated set of controls that dictate how, when, and for how long the image is displayed on the screen. Also unlike conventional film, the images contained within an animated GIF need not be the same size.  Each image layer, or cel, can be any size you want, and can be positioned where you want regardless of the locations of the other cels in your animation.

The animation produced by the GIF file is produced in exactly the same manner as the method used in film: motion is created by rapidly displaying a sequence of similar images. While the methods used to produce this effect in both film-making and GIF animation differ greatly, the end result is the same - still images are brought to life before your eyes.

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About GIF color palettes

Every GIF image file contains within it an index table that defines the number of colors that an image contains as well as exactly what colors each index represents. Every color in the 256-color ‘spectrum’ has its own unique identification which is stored in the image’s color index (the color palette). In GIF files, every color in the index requires 3 or 4 bytes of data to define it (depending on how it was originally stored). An image with a 256-color palette, then, could have a color index up to 1024 bytes long.

There are two kinds of palettes for animated GIFs: a Global Palette, which defines the colors every image in the animation uses as its default; and a Local Palette, which is unique to each image in the file. When an image is inserted into a GIF animation, you can select whether or not you want to use its Local Palette or the Global Palette. When building up the Global Palette, there are two ways to add colors to it from a newly inserted image: the Safe Palette, which matches an image’s original palette with colors found in a predefined ‘web-safe’ palette of 216 specific colors and then adds them to the Global Palette; and the Optimized Palette, which adds only the most predominant colors from an image’s color palette to the existing Global Palette.

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Using palettes

Once you have your collection of cels ready for insertion into your animation file, you should decide how you want to manage your color palettes. If every image contains virtually identical color palettes, then there is no reason to fatten your animation file with redundant information. When you insert the first image into your empty animation file, GIF Animator prompts you to choose how you want to build up your Global Palette. If you choose Original Palette, then the Global Palette will be based upon that image’s original palette.  After that, Color Remapping prompts you to add the palette each time you insert another image. This dialog box gives you the choice of whether or not to adapt the new image to the Global Palette, or to keep its own color palette. If the image contains the same colors as the original, then choose the Global Palette to save space. However, if it has colors not found in the Global Palette, you can add them to it by choosing Safe or Optimized palette or choose to retain the image’s own color palette instead.

When selecting your Global Palette in the Build Up Global Palette dialog box, you can choose to use the Optimized Palette, retaining only the most commonly used colors from the image’s original palette, or the Safe Palette, which adjusts your Global Palette to use the 216 web-browser specific colors used by Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Both of these variations limit the size of your color index, thus reducing your overall file size.

If the new image (or images) uses a different color scheme, you can do one of two things: retain the original palette by selecting that option in the Color Remapping dialog box, or elect to have GIF Animator adapt the new image’s palette to the Global Palette by ‘absorbing’ a specified number of colors not found in the current Global Palette. This option can be set by selecting Auto Expand Global Palette in General Preferences.

It’s not always recommended that you use the Global Palette - don’t forsake the animation’s quality just to reduce its overall file size. Reducing the animation’s file size is not as important as maintaining the quality of your work, but it should be a serious consideration. The best time to use a Local Palette instead of a Global Palette is when the image being inserted is drastically different from the original image, or at least the cels preceding it. When that happens, and the Global Palette is used to display that image’s colors, it usually doesn’t look so good.

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Creating compact GIF animation
Creating compact GIF animation files

There are three ways you can significantly reduce the size of your animated GIF files: reducing the color palettes; reducing the number of cels (image layers); and optimizing the individual image layers.  There are pros and cons to using the first two  methods and they should be implemented judiciously. Keep in mind that the goal of creating animated GIF files is NOT to make them as compact as possible - creating compelling animations for the web is. However, until the time that data transmission speeds increase and everyone on the net has faster access, file size should still be a significant consideration when composing your animation.

The best way to reduce  color palettes is to use the Global Palette as often as possible for displaying the colors of individual cels. If one or more cels have slightly different colors included in their palettes, have your General Preferences set to accumulate new colors. This way you needn’t create a Local Palette for a cel that varies only by a few colors from the rest. If a cel has radically different colors from the others in the animation, your best bet is to give it a Local Palette and then reduce it by removing the colors it has in common with the Global Palette. Otherwise, the image may not display properly. The best reduced palettes are 16-. 32-, 64-, and 128-color palettes.

The second method to reduce the file size of your animation is to delete any unnecessary cels. In some cases, this may not be desirable due to the adverse affects it may have on the quality of your animation. But if you can get away with cutting out a few cels here and there, such as the ones that don’t alter the animation quality significantly, then you should do it.

Ulead GIF Animator allows you to greatly reduce the file sizes of the individual cels through a third method: Optimization. When you select the File: Optimization Wizard command, GIF Animator analyzes the image layers in your animation, comparing them with one another, and then removes all the redundant pixels that each layer has in common. In some cases, this method can reduce your over all file size by as much as 200%.

Finally, you should consider cel sizes. If the motion of the animation occurs within a smaller field than the size of the “backdrop”, or matte, then you shouldn’t necessarily use cels that are the same size as your matte. With GIF animations, you can easily overlap much smaller GIFs to create small areas of animation set against a static backdrop. Doing it this way will reduce your file size considerably, but again, only if the quality of your animation doesn’t suffer as a result.

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Build Up Global Palette
Building up the Global Palette

Building up the Global Palette helps you keep your animation file size down. When you insert your first image, a dialog box prompts you to choose a method for creating the Global Palette based upon the palette found in the first image inserted. The left pane shows you the original image and the right pane shows how that image will look once it’s inserted into the animation using the Global Palette settings you select.

By choosing the Optimized Palette, GIF Animator calculates which colors from the image’s Local Palette are most commonly used and builds up the Global Palette with these colors. The advantage to this is that you can remove unnecessary or redundant colors from the palette, thus reducing the file size, but the disadvantage to this is that the image will no longer be true to the original, varying minimally to significantly.

By choosing the Safe Palette, GIF Animator compares the image’s original palette with the set of 216 colors designed specifically for use in the most common web browsers, and then tries to match the two. If the original palette has colors that aren’t in that web browser set, it will try to find the nearest match. The final step then is to add the adjusted color palette from the original image to the Global Palette. What this does is guarantee that the colors imported from the image’s palette to the new Global Palette will always appear as they should when viewed through a web browser, regardless of what display mode the person viewing the animation is using.

Note: This dialog box does not appear if you have chosen ‘Select a predefined palette’ in General Preferences.

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Color Remapping

Color remapping allows you to choose how new image palettes are handled by GIF Animator. A dialog box appears for each image inserted after the first (if you have the ‘Show preview dialog box’ option selected in Image Layer Preferences) and allows you to choose which palette you want to use for the image. If all your images use the same set of colors, then you can select the Global Palette option, check ‘Do not display this preview box again’, and then click ‘Insert’. The left pane shows you the original image and the right pane shows you how it will look when inserted according to the options you have selected.

Choosing the Global Palette allows your image to use only the colors found in the Global Palette. If your image uses the same colors as the first inserted image, then this will remove the new image’s palette and reduce the file size of your animation. However, if the new image’s colors are noticeably different from the first inserted image’s (and if the Global Palette was built up using that image’s palette), then choosing this option is not recommended as it will make the new image display poorly.

Choosing the Local Palette allows your image to use its original palette, and the image will appear the way it was intended. The disadvantage to this is the increase in the animation’s file size.

Choosing the Safe Palette has GIF Animator compare the image’s palette to the 216-color ‘web-safe’ palette and match the image’s original colors to it. Once the colors have been adjusted, they will be saved to the Global Palette as additions, but only if the ‘Automatically expand global palette’ option has been selected in the General Preferences. This guarantees that the added colors (and the new image) will always appear the same when viewed under different display settings. Unfortunately, most color-rich images don’t adapt to the Safe Palette very well and appear distorted.

Choosing the Optimized Palette makes GIF Animator extract only the most predominant colors from the new image and add them to the Global Palette. This will only take effect if the ‘Automatically expand global palette’ option has been selected in the General Preferences. The advantage to doing this is you remove the need for a Local Palette by adjusting the Global Palette to compensate for the new colors. The disadvantage is not all images can make the color shift without drastically changing their appearance.

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General Preferences

These preferences establish the default Global Palette settings of every new animation, and whether or not to remove the title information when saving the file. The options listed here play an important role when you plan your new animation because they affect how your animation is displayed.

When selecting a palette, consider the cels you want to use. If they all share the same color scheme, then choose ‘Use the palette of the first layer’s image’. This will remove the palette from all the following image layers and they will depend upon the Global Palette for their colors. Since they all have the same palette anyway, doing this won’t affect their display quality and it contributes to reducing your overall file size.

Otherwise, you can select a predefined palette of standard display colors. That means if you choose the 16-color palette, then it will be the same 16 colors seen on every monitor. The advantage to this is you don’t have to worry your palette containing colors that may appear really bad on monitors that don’t support them. For example, you might do all your graphics work on a 24 bit color monitor, but college students on the other side of the world might be stuck using a 16 bit color monitor. When they view your animation on the web, the results may not be what you intended unless you created your images with low-end displays in mind.

Another alternative is to choose a palette you have used and saved before. If you have a custom palette from another animation you created and you want to use the same color scheme in your new animation, then this is the way to go.

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Image Layer Preferences

The Image Layer Preferences dialog box lets you set up the options for GIF Animator to handle all incoming images automatically. That way, GIF Animator saves you time in not having you go through and adjust the settings on every individual cel in your animation yourself. If you know in that you want all the images to be interlaced, set it here before you start bringing in images. The delay option should be set only if you know you want every image to be displayed on the screen for exactly the same amount of time. If you have one or two  images you want to set differently, then you can adjust them manually on the Image Layer Attribute toolbar.

For palette conversion, you can set GIF Animator to automatically manage the palettes of new images, or you can opt to do it manually by selecting ‘Show preview dialog box’. For groups of images that all have the same palette, then setting your palette conversion options ahead of time is a good idea. If you know, though, that your images’ palettes are going to differ significantly, then you should do palette conversion manually.

A note about interlaced images: While the GIF89a specification very clearly allows you to put interlaced images within your animation, no web browsers support this feature yet. The only way you can take advantage of the interlacing feature is if your animation is displayed in a dedicated GIF89a viewer. In GIF Animator, you can preview how your interlaced images will be displayed in such a viewer, but keep in mind that this may not match how your animation will appear on the web.

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Personal Comment Preferences

The Personal Comment Preferences dialog box allows you to create a comment layer that is appended automatically to the end of every animation you create. In it, you can write anything you want as long it is no more than 512 characters in length. You can use this feature for creating author/copyright information for your animation file.

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Exporting Images

You can export images in two different ways - as a new animated GIF file or as a sequence of separate GIF files.

To export a group of images as a new animation:

1	Select the images you want using your while holding down the CTRL key (to select individual image files) or the SHIFT key (to select a range of image files).

2	Select ‘As a single file’ under ‘Export multiple images:’.

3	Click OK.

4	Name your new file and click Save.

To export a group of images as a sequence of files:

1	Select the images you want using your mouse while holding down the CTRL key (to select individual image files) or the SHIFT key (to select a range of image files).

2	Select ‘As a sequence  of files’ under ‘Export multiple images:’

3	Click OK.

4	Choose a name to be shared by the files and Click Save.

Images exported as part of sequence will all have the same name but be numbered according their order in the original GIF animation. For example, if you were to choose ‘Sunset’ as the shared name, then the new files would be named ‘sunset.gif’, ‘sunset001.gif’, sunset002.gif, and so on.

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Changing Attributes Globally

The Global Attribute Change dialog box allows you to change attributes across every image layer of the animation simultaneously. The attribute change will be based on the currently selected image layer.

To change an attribute globally:

1	Select the image layer you want to use a template for the others.

2	Click the ‘Global Attribute Change’ button on the Attribute toolbar or select the Edit: Global Attribute Change command to open up the dialog box.

3	Select the attributes you want to copy from the selected image layer to the others.

4	Choose whether you want to apply the change to all images in the animation or only to the ones you’ve checked.

5	Click OK.

Note:  When creating a Local Palette for every image layer, the colors for the new Local Palettes will be based upon the current Global Palette. If you want to use the same Local Palette as another layer and not the colors from the Global Palette, then save the palette as a file and then load it into the other image layer from the Local Palette dialog box.

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Global Information Attributes

The Global Information Attributes allow you to set the properties for the entire animation.

Logical Screen - These settings affect the appearance of the workspace. The only time the Logical Screen settings apply to the animation is when the animation is played in a dedicated GIF viewer. For the purposes of the web, these settings only apply to the appearance of the workspace. Try to make the logical screen the same size as the animation’s largest image so that confusion doesn’t arise when you start arranging image layers. This can be done by selecting the ‘Automatic’ checkbox.

Global Palette - This panel gives you access to the Global Palette dialog box as well as showing you how many color cells your current Global Palette is using. In the Global Palette dialog box you can add, remove, or adjust colors.

Background Color - Allows you to set the background color of the workspace. This color won’t be visible on your web pages unless you are playing the animation in a dedicated GIF viewer. This is useful for finding the “holes” in your animation, places where the web-page’s background will show through when played on the web.

Looping - This sets how many times the animation will play once it’s finished downloading. If the ‘Infinite’ option is not selected, then the default setting will be to loop only once (0).

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Image Layer Attributes

The Image Layer Attributes allow you to define the characteristics for each individual image layer. To do so, simply select the image layer and the Attribute toolbar will show that layer’s current settings. These settings can be adjusted from this toolbar.

Image Title - The name of the current image layer. If you don’t want GIF Animator to retain the image’s original file name when it’s imported into the animation, select the ‘Discard image title’ option in General Preferences.

How to remove - Defines how the image layer is removed once it has been displayed during playback. For more details about the different settings, click [image].

Global Attribute Change - Allows you to adjust the settings for all image layers using the currently active image layer as a template.

X & Y-Offset - How far from the upper-left hand corner of the workspace the image is. This is set in number of pixels and you can input the numbers manually to give you finer control over how the image is positioned.

Local Palette - If your image doesn’t already have a Local Palette, select this box to create one based upon the Global Palette. You can alter, adjust, add, or delete colors from the Local Palette by clicking the Edit button.

Interlace & Transparent Index - These two settings allow you to set the transparent color of the image (using the color’s palette index number or the color picker) as well as whether or not the image layer is interlaced. Note: The interlacing of image layers during playback is not currently supported by web browsers and will only work in a dedicated GIF89a viewer, such as GIF Animator.

Delay - Sets the length of time, in hundredths of a second, that the image layer is displayed during playback. The default setting can be defined in Image Layer Preferences.

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Comment Layer Attributes

You can define the Comment Layer’s title as well as contents from this Attribute toolbar. The maximum number of characters allowable in the comment block is 512, including empty spaces. Try to include copyright and authorship information with the image layers where it is appropriate.

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Workspace

The workspace allows you to view and reposition images within the composite animation. If an image layer has been checked in the Layer Pane, then it will show through all the layers regardless of which layer you are currently working in, unless another image lies directly over it. Note: this only applies to the workspace and has no effect on how the animation file plays.

To add new images to the animation, you can drag new images in from any Windows folder or the desktop, and drop them into the workspace or the Layer Pane; or you can open the Add images dialog box from the Layer menu or the Standard toolbar, and browse for the image you want.

To reposition an image in the frame, simply grab it with the mouse and drag it to the desired position. You can define the position more precisely by adjusting the X-offset and Y-offset settings on the Attribute toolbar for that image layer.

To adjust the properties of the composite animation, click Global Information in the Layer Pane and adjust the settings on the Attribute toolbar.

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 Layer Pane

The Layer Pane is the area where you view and arrange the different layers of the animated GIF. This pane is resizable and is located to the left of the large workspace in the center of the application window.

To Make a layer always visible in the workspace, check the box next to its name. Note that this option is only for editing purposes and has no bearing on how the animation plays.

To Display the attributes for a given layer, click the desired layer in the Layer Pane and the Attribute Toolbar will change accordingly.

To Adjust a layer’s settings, select it and make the desired changes in the Attribute toolbar.

To Move a layer up or down, use your mouse to drag and drop the selected layer into the desired position. You can also use the arrows located on the Standard toolbar or the shortcut keys to do the same thing.

Using the View: Layer Pane menu command, you can change how image layers are displayed in the Layer Pane. To see descriptions of the different display modes, click [image].

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Using the Global Palette

The Global Palette defines a common group of colors any image layer within the animation can use if it’s not using a Local Palette.

To edit preexisting colors:

1	Select Edit: Global Palette or click the Global Palette Edit button on the Global Information Attribute toolbar to open the Global Palette dialog box.

2	Choose the color you want to edit by selecting it using the mouse. Using the CTRL key allows you to select more than one color a click at a time while using the SHIFT key allows you to select an entire row. If you select multiple color cells you can only delete them or make a color gradient.

3	Change the color in the selected cell by clicking on the color window beneath the Gradient button to open the Color Picker dialog box, or by adjusting the RGB color values manually.

4	Click OK.

To create a gradient between two colors:

1	Select Edit: Global Palette or click the Global Palette Edit button on the Global Information Attribute toolbar to open the Global Palette dialog box.

2	Select three or more colors. Choosing two colors will result in nothing happening because they are only the start and end colors. The more colors you select, the more noticeable the gradient.

3	Click the Gradient button. A small dialog box opens where you can confirm your start and end colors. If you want to change these, click the color cells displayed to open the Color Picker.

4	Click OK. The gradient colors will replace the previously selected colors.

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Using the Local Palette

Every image layer that is inserted into an animation file can contain its own palette of colors, called the Local Palette. This palette defines the colors used in that single image alone and it does not affect in any way the other image layers.

To edit preexisting colors:

1	Select Edit: Local Palette or click the Local Palette Edit button on the Image Layer Attribute toolbar to open the Local Palette dialog box.

2	Choose the color you want to edit by selecting it using the mouse. Using the CTRL key allows you to select more than one color a click at a time while using the SHIFT key allows you to select an entire row. If you select multiple color cells you can only delete them or make a color gradient.

3	Change the color in the selected cell by clicking on the color window beneath the Gradient button to open the Color Picker dialog box, or by adjusting the RGB color values manually.

4	Click OK.

To create a gradient of colors:

1	Select Edit: Local Palette or click the Local Palette Edit button on the Image Layer Attribute toolbar to open the Local Palette dialog box.

2	Select three or more colors. Choosing two color will result in nothing happening because they are only the start and end colors. The more colors you select, the more noticeable the gradient.

3	Click the Gradient button. A small dialog box opens where you can confirm your start and end colors. If you want to change these, click the color cells displayed to open the Color Picker.

4	Click OK. The gradient colors will replace the previously selected colors.

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Adding Color Animation

You can animate an image layer’s colors by selecting a range of colors from 2 to 32. For each color animated, one new frame will be created. This works best on images with fewer colors, and in a 256-color photograph the effects of color animation won’t be quite so noticeable.

To add color animation:

1	Select Layer: Add Color Animation to open the Add Color Animation dialog box.

2	Select the range of colors you want to animate using the CTRL-key (to select more than one color cell a click at a time) or the SHIFT-key (to select a whole row). You can also select the colors directly from the image in the preview pane to the right of the palette using your mouse pointer.

3	Arrange the selected colors in the order you want by dragging and dropping the color tabs in the Animation Order layout control. To remove a color from the sequence, drag it out of the Animation Order layout control.

4	Choose ‘Reverse animation order’ if you want the color shift to go in reverse order.

5	Click OK.

Note: If you want to create a smooth blending transition between the colors, create a gradient of colors in your Local or Global Palette, and then select the gradient range for color animation when you open the Add Color Animation dialog box.

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Adding Transition Effects

Transition effects allow you to create fade-ins from one image to another by inserting new frames into the animation to simulate the effect.

To add a transition effect:

1	Select Layer: Add Transition Effect to open the Add Transition Effect dialog box.

2	Choose your start image. This can be the currently active image layer or an empty background frame. To have an image fade in from “nothing”, select ‘Matte’ from the Start Image drop-down box. To have it fade in from the active layer, choose the image’s layer title from the Start Image drop-down box. If you use the Matte option, you can set its size attributes under ‘Matte dimensions’.

3	Choose your end image. This can be the image layer that follows the currently active image layer or a background frame. If you choose ‘Matte’ from the Destination Image drop-down box, this creates the effect of the active image layer fading to “black”. You can set the Matte size attributes under ‘Matte dimensions’.

4	Select the transition quality under ‘Quality (Frames)’. In GIF Animator, the quality of a transition effect is measured in the number of frames used to create it. The ‘Normal’ setting is best for an even balance between number of frames and quality.

5	Choose the transition effect’s duration under ‘Transition length’. Note: A shorter duration means the less frames used to achieve the transition effect, and this will reduce the quality of the transition. On the other hand, the longer the duration means the more frames used, which will create a smoother transition but increase your overall file size considerably.

6	Choose the type of transition you want from the drop-down box next to the sample transition window.

7	Click OK.

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Adding Banner Text

The Add Banner Text dialog box allows you to create scrolling text banners anywhere within your animation. These banners are additional frames that can be positioned however you like in relation to the rest of the animation. Keep in mind that these frames will increase the overall size of your animation file. To open this dialog box, select the Layer: Add Banner Text command.

To add banner text to your animation:

1	Select the Layer: Add Banner Text command to open the Add Banner Text dialog box.

2	Enter the contents of your banner text in the Text Style tab, in the Banner Text input box.

3	Format your text using the text formatting controls located beneath the preview window and in the Text Style tab page.

4	Switch to the Rolling Control tab page and set how you want the banner text to move across the animation screen.

5	Switch to the Border Style tab page and set the banner text border.

6	Click OK.

The Merge With Background Image option on the Text style tab page lets you create banner text that blends in with your animation. Optimizing the banner text shortens the width of the banner, which goes along way toward conserving file size but limits you later if you want to edit the image layer. Both of these features will work in any web browser.

Note: If you create banner text with a color background and then manually set that color to transparent, the banner text frames won’t display properly unless you also set the removal option for each text layer as ‘To previous state’, a method not supported by all web browsers.

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Merging Images

The Merge dialog box allows you to combine two or more images into a single cel. This feature is useful for creating an effect where one image floats above an ever shifting background or for reducing the number of cels your animation uses. When merging images, the Merge dialog box stays open until you click Exit, allowing you to perform the merge operation on multiple layers.

To merge a group of images:

1	Choose the Layer: Merge Images command to open the Merge dialog box.

2	Select the image layers you want to merge using your mouse while holding down the CTRL key (to select each image a click at a time) or the SHIFT key (to select an entire range).

3	Click Merge.

If you want to replace the original images with the merged one, select the ‘Replace original image layers’ checkbox.

Note:  To have one layer ‘floating’ above another, the floating layer should come after the backdrop layer in the Layer Pane.

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Cropping Images

The Crop dialog box allows you to cut away redundant portions of an image and keep only the region you want. You can use this dialog box to crop individual frames or an entire range of frames. If you want to crop a range, you can choose between cropping every frame in the animation or just the one that are checked.

To crop an image:

1	Select the image layer in the Layer Pane that you want to crop

2	Choose Edit: Crop to open the Crop dialog box.

3	Use your mouse to drag the bounding box to the region of the image you want to keep.

4	Resize the bounding box by dragging the control points with your mouse pointer

5	Click OK.

If you crop an image and don’t want to keep the original within the animation, select the ‘Replace original image layer’ checkbox.

Tip: Try using the Crop command when you have multiple images that are all essentially the same except that the variation between them is contained to a small region. By cropping all the cels except the first one (matte), you can achieve the same animation effect and keep your animation file size down.

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Duplicating Images

The Duplicate dialog box allows you to create duplicates of an image layer, or a group of image layers.

To duplicate an image layer:

1	Select the image layer in the Layer Pane that you want to copy.

2	Choose Edit: Duplicate to open the Duplicate dialog box.

3	Select how many copies of the image you want to create.

4	Enter a value for Horizontal Shifting if you want the new copies to be pasted to the left or to the right of the original image. This image will appear to move along the X-axis during playback. A negative value indicates a leftward movement, while a positive value indicates a rightward movement.

5	Enter a value for Vertical Shifting if you want the new copies to be pasted higher or lower than the original image. This image will appear to move along the Y-axis during playback. A negative value indicates an upward movement while a positive value indicates a downward movement.

6	Click Ok.

To duplicate multiple image layers:

1	Select the image layers in the Layer Pane that you want to copy by checking their boxes.

2	Choose Edit: Duplicate to open the Duplicate dialog box.

3	Select ‘All checked images’ under ‘Range to duplicate’.

4	Select how many copies of the images you want to create.

5	Enter a value for Horizontal Shifting if you want the new copies to be pasted to the left or to the right of the original images. These images will appear to move along the X-axis during playback. A negative value indicates a leftward movement, while a positive value indicates a rightward movement.

6	Enter a value for Vertical Shifting if you want the new copies to be pasted higher or lower than the original images. These images will appear to move along the Y-axis during playback. A negative value indicates an upward movement while a positive value indicates a downward movement.

7	Click Ok.

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Check All Images

Makes all the image layers ‘visible’ in the workspace by checking the boxes next to each image layer’s name.


Uncheck All Images

Makes all the image layers ‘invisible’ in the workspace by clearing the boxes next to each image layer’s name.


Status Bar

The Status Bar shows you information about menu commands, pixel coordinates, and color indices and values of areas under the mouse pointer.


Width

The Logical Screen Width sets the horizontal size of the workspace. Image Layer Width is a measure of the horizontal size of the actual image, measured in pixels.


Height

The Logical Screen Height sets the vertical size of the workspace. Image Layer Height is a measure of the vertical size of the actual image, measured in pixels.


Automatic

Automatically resizes the virtual workspace to match the largest image contained within the current animation.


Total Colors

Tells you the current number of colors the palette contains. Each color is indexed and occupies one cell out a potential maximum of 256.


Edit

Opens the palette for editing. You can add, delete, or adjust colors from within the selected palette.


Background Color

Sets the background color of the workspace your animation occupies. This in no way affects the actual animation as it is viewed on the web, but is useful during animation composition for finding the “holes” in your composite animation. If you are using a number of smaller GIFs with no common background, then choosing a background color that’s not in the image layer’s palettes will show you the empty spaces between images. These empty spaces are transparent when the animation is played in a web browser.


Looping

Sets the number of times the animation repeats when being played. If a number is not chosen then the animation will loop only once as a default.


Picking the Background Color

The Pick Background Color dialog box allows you to choose the color of your workspace. All image layers will be superimposed over this background color.

To select a background color:

1	Click the Background Color button on the Global Information Attribute toolbar.

2	Select a color cell by clicking on it.

3	The dialog box closes automatically and changes the color of your workspace.


Title

Each layer within an animation has its own title to distinguish it from the others as well as make managing the layers easier. A layer’s title can be changed from the Attribute toolbar, the only exception being the Global Information layer. The overall file size of the animation can be reduced by choosing to drop the image layers’ title information when the animation is saved. This is done in General Preferences by checking the ‘Discard image tite’ option.


X- & Y-Offset

The distance of an image from the upper-left corner of the workspace. This distance is measured in pixels along the X- and Y-axes.


Interlace

Check this option to load the image gradually, giving the appearance of a fade-in.  As of yet, web browsers don’t fully support animated GIF interlacing during playback, and as such this only works for the first image in the sequence when the animation file is downloaded.


Play Interlace

Shows the effects of image interlacing during a Preview. This creates the appearance that the image is fading in. Note: Interlacing during animation playback is not currently supported by web browsers.


Transparent Index

Defines a single color within the image layer (or in the entire animation, if set in the Global Information layer) to be transparent when displayed in a web browser. The index number is the position the transparent color occupies in the palette.


Delay

Sets the length of time, in hundredth of a second increments, that an image layer is displayed during animation.


How To Remove

Defines how an image is removed during the animation sequence. The options are:

Web browser decide - The web browser playing the animation removes the image. How this is done varies from browser to browser and is not recommended.

Do not remove - The image is not removed and any subsequent images are displayed over it.

To background color - Removes the image and replaces it with the web page background color. If image layers overlap evenly, then a smooth transition effect occurs.

To previous state - Removes the image and replaces it with the image preceding it. If all the images in the sequence are set to this, then a smooth transition from one image to the next happens regardless of how they are overlapped.

Note: The ‘To previous state’ option is not currently supported by all web browsers.


New

Creates a new animation file.


Open

Opens or finds an animation file.


Save & Save As

Saves the animation currently open in GIF Animator.


Restore

Restores a modified animation back to the last saved version.


History List

A list of the most recently saved files. You can open any file in the history list by selecting it.


Exit

Closes GIF Animator, prompting you to save any changes to the current animation if you have not done so already.


Cut

Removes the active layer and places it in the clipboard.


Copy

Makes a duplicate of the active layer and places it in the Clipboard.


Paste

Pastes data from the clipboard to the active file.  In GIF Animator, you may only paste either images or comment blocks.


Delete

Permanently removes the selection from the active animation.


Previous Image

Shifts you to the previous image layer. This can be done rapidly using the keyboard quick keys CTRL+A.


Next Image

Shifts you to the next image layer. This can be done rapidly using the keyboard quick keys CTRL+Z.


Actual View

Resizes the image layer to 1x magnification.


Zoom-In/Out

Submenus for zooming in or out on the current image layer. The submenus offer magnifications ranging from 1/8x to 8x.


Start/Stop Preview

Plays or stops a preview of the current composition.


Full Screen Preview

Clears the screen and plays the preview of the animation at regular size. Press ESC to return to the GIF Animator application window.


Split

Allows you to redefine the dimensions of the workspace and the Layer Pane.


Add Images

Opens the Add Image dialog box allowing you to browse for the desired images and add the selected image(s) into the Layer Pane.


Add Comments

Creates a new comment layer in the Layer Pane. The contents of the comment layer can be entered on the Attribute toolbar.


Move Layer Up

Moves the active layer up one.


Move Layer Down

Moves the active layer down one.


Help

Starts the on-line help.

You can also access help topics by:

Clicking the help button on the Standard toolbar and then clicking on the item of interest

Pressing the F1 key when a menu command is under your mouse pointer.


About

Shows copyright and other information about this version of Ulead GIF Animator.


Crop

Opens the Crop dialog box, allowing you to resize an image layer by cutting away unncessary portions.


Duplicate

Opens the duplicate dialog box, allowing you to copy more than one image layer at a time.


Global Attribute Change

Opens the Global Attribute Change dialog box, allowing you to change one or more image layer attributes across a range of image layers.


Standard toolbar

The Standard toolbar contains shortcut buttons to the most common menu commands used in GIF Animator.


Attribute toolbar

The Attribute toolbar contains the controls for every layer in the GIF animation. To change the properties for a given layer, select it. The Attribute toolbar will adjust to display that layer’s properties.


Add Banner Text

Opens the Add Banner Text dialog box, allowing you to create animated text banners to be placed within your animation.


Add Transition Effect

Opens the Add Transition Effect dialog box, allowing you to create transitions between frames.


Color Animation

Opens the Add Color Animation dialog box, allowing you to animate selected colors within an image layer.


Export Images

Opens the Export Images dialog box, allowing you to create new GIF files based on the images contained within the current animation.


Merge Images

Opens the Merge Image dialog box, allowing you to merge two or more image layers into a single layer.


Add Image Layers
Adding Image Layers

You can add images by:

Dragging an image file from any Windows Explorer window, folder, or from PhotoImpact Explorer and dropping it into either the Layer Pane or the workspace.

Choosing the Layer: Add Images command to open the Add Images dialog box and browse for the desired image.

Clicking the Add images button on the Standard toolbar to open the Add Images dialog box and browse for the desired image.

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Add Comment Layers
Adding Comment Layers

You can add a new comment layer anywhere in the animation sequence by:

Choosing the Layer: Add Comment command.

Clicking the Add Comment button on the Standard toolbar.

Enter the text and title of the comment layer in the Attribute toolbar.

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Add colors to a palette
Adding colors to a palette

To add new colors to the Global Palette:

1	Select the Global Information layer in the Layer Pane.

2	Click the Edit button on the Attribute toolbar. This opens the Global Palette dialog box.

3	Click the Add button in the Global Palette dialog box.  Type in the number of new cells you want to create.

or

Select a preexisting color cell.

4	Use the Red, Green, and Blue color controls to create the color you want.

5	Click OK.

To add new colors to a Local Palette:

1	Select the desired image layer in the Layer Pane.

2	Click the Edit button on the Attribute toolbar. This opens the Local Palette dialog box.

3	Click the Add button in the Local Palette dialog box. Type in the number of new cells you want to create.

or

Select a preexisting color cell.

4	Use the Red, Green, and Blue color controls to create the color you want.

5	Click OK.

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Remove colors from a palette
Removing colors from a palette

To remove colors from the Global Palette:

1	Select the Global Information layer in the Layer Pane.

2	Go to the Attribute toolbar and click the Edit button. This opens the Global Palette dialog box.

3	Click the color cell in the Global Palette that you want to remove. To remove multiple cells: use CTRL to select groups of colors one cell at a time or SHIFT to select whole rows of colors.

4	Click the Delete button.

5	Click OK.

To remove colors from a Local Palette:

1	Select the desired image layer in the Layer Pane.

2	Go to the Attribute Toolbar and click the Edit button. This opens the Local Palette dialog box.

3	Click the color cell in the Local Palette that you want to remove. To remove multiple cells: use CTRL to select groups of colors one cell at a time or SHIFT to select whole rows of colors.

4	Click the Delete button.

5	Click OK.

  Related Topics


Remove image layers
Removing Image Layers

To remove an image layer:

1	Click an image layer you want to remove in the Layer Pane.

2	Press the Delete key on your keyboard or select the Edit: Delete command.

  Related Topics


Remove comment layers
Removing Comment Layers

To remove a comment layer:

1	Click the comment layer you want to remove in the Layer Pane.

2	Press the Delete key on your keyboard or select the Edit: Delete command.

  Related Topics


Position image layers
Positioning Image Layers

In GIF Animator, there are many ways to position image layers within the animation. The easiest and most direct way is to use your mouse and drag the image into position in the workspace. Other methods are:

Using the X- and Y-Offset attributes of the image layer to position the image more exactly within the workspace.

Using the arrow keys on your keyboard to reposition the image. The Up/Down arrows move the image along the X axis while the Right/Left arrows move it along the Y-Axis.

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Use the Windows Clipboard with GIF Animator
Using the Windows Clipboard with GIF Animator

Using the Windows Clipboard, it is easy to bring in images with file formats not supported by GIF Animator and insert them into your animation as new image layers.

1	Open the file in an imaging application that supports that file format.

2	Copy the selection to the Clipboard using the Edit: Copy command or the Copy button on the toolbar.

3	Open GIF Animator.

4	Choose the Edit: Paste Image command or click the Paste button on the Standard toolbar.

You can also copy images already existing within the animation and paste them back as a new layer separate from the original.

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Preferences

Opens the Preferences dialog box, allowing you to define the general settings for GIF Animator.


Import other image file formats
Importing other image file formats

GIF Animator natively supports the following file formats: GIF, JPEG, TGA, PCX, PSD, PICT, TIF, PNG, TGA, EPS, IFF, IMG, MAC, MSP, PCD, PCT, WMF, and BMP. However, if you have the full version of Ulead PhotoImpact installed on your machine, then GIF Animator will update itself automatically to use the file format support extensions (FIO) included with PhotoImpact, which natively supports more than 30 different file format types. If you don’t have Ulead PhotoImpact, then you can download free FIOs to add to the GIF Animator FIO folder (located in the GIF Animator directory). This File Filter Pack can be found at the Ulead Web Utilities homepage:

 http://www.ulead.com/products/framens.htm

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Tutorial: Getting Started
Getting Started

When you first open Ulead GIF Animator, you’ll notice immediately that there are three major components to the program window: the toolbars, the central “work” area, and the “layer” pane to the left of it. Beneath the standard windows toolbar is the Attributes toolbar - it contains information and settings for each layer in your GIF Animation. Each image layer (or “frame”) in the animation is listed in the Layer pane to the left of the big work area that occupies the majority of the program window. When you click a layer, the image it contains is displayed to the right while its attributes and settings are displayed up above in the Attributes toolbar. Any of these attributes can be redefined or reconfigured, giving you a lot of flexibility in how the image in that layer is displayed. When GIF Animator brings in images from outside the program, if the images don’t already contain settings for some of the attributes listed, then default attributes are assigned to them. You can change the default settings GIF Animator uses in the Preferences dialog box, which can be opened with the File: Preferences command.

Tip: If you right mouse click over any image layer in the Layer Pane a pop-up menu will appear listing all the commands that can be used to manipulate or edit that image. These commands come from the Edit and Layer menus.

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GIF Optimization feature

One of the more powerful features in Ulead GIF Animator is its built in ability to super-compress animation files using custom techniques that result in picture perfect images with the fastest possible download times. When you create images for the web, not only do you need to worry about how the images look, you must also be concerned with the size of your image files. People don’t want to spend the bulk of their time on the Web waiting for your cool pictures to download - patience on the Internet can be measured in milliseconds, so if your graphics aren’t optimized for speed then you’re going to lose out.

Ulead GIF Animator gives you the ultimate solution to fat file sizes: the Optimization Wizard. This wizard takes you through the process of paring the fat away from your animated GIF files and gives you control over how the technique is performed. It also gives you complete control over the color palettes, allowing you to merge similar colors that, to the human eye, contain no discernible differences but actually contribute to bulky file sizes.

There are three steps in GIF Optimization:

1	Removing Color Redundancy - removing colors from that palette that are not used in the image, appear more than once, or are similar to colors that are used more frequently.

2	Remapping the Global Palette - if colors from one or more local palettes can be placed into the Global Palette then you eliminate the need for Local Palettes, thereby reducing your overall file size. In some cases, where the Global Palette has reached its limit, optimized Local Palettes can be used to handle color unique to a particular image: while this Local Palette does increase the animation file size, it doesn’t increase it as much as a full sized palette would.

3	Removing Image Redundancy - multiple image layers may share the same static image elements or pixels. Because these elements or pixels don’t change from frame to frame, they are unnecessary for the animation. GIF Animator removes these static redundancies from each image layer in the animation, and minimizes the file size.

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GIF Optimization
Optimization Wizard

Opens the Optimization Wizard which analyzes the image layers of your animation and removes all the redundant pixels, thereby reducing your file size considerably.


Rotate & Flip

Contains a submenu for rotating the active image layer (Left 90º, Right 90º, or Rotate 180º) and / or flipping it (Horizontally or Vertically).


Adding a Cube Effect

The Add Cube Effect dialog box allows you to take two images and create a “rotating cube” illusion out them. With it you can create new kind of banner where one image rotates out of the picture and is replaced by another image rotating into it. The images appear as if they are faces on a cube or a block.

To create a cube effect:

1	Select the image layer you want to start the sequence with.

2	Choose the Layer: Add Cube Effect command to open the Add Cube Effect dialog box.

3	Select the direction you want the images to rotate in from the Direction drop down menu.

4	Select the number of Frames you want the rotation to occur over, as well as the Duration each image is displayed.

5	Adjust the Perspective and Contrast settings until you get the desired effect. The Preview window will automatically update itself as you adjust the settings.

6	Click OK.

If you want the image to fade from a matte background into the image, select Matte from the Source Image menu. If you want the image to fade into a matte background, select Matte from the Destination image menu.

  Related Topics


New Features (v1.2)
What’s new?	 Version 1.5	 Version 1.2

Optimization Wizard - a revolutionary way of compacting your animated GIF files even more without a loss in quality. This is a great tool to streamline gifs for the fastest possible download times.

Add Video - create GIF Animations from the frames of imported AVI files. Additional free video filters for importing QuickTime and FLI/FLC clips will be made available at our web site in the near future.

Add Cube Effect - a new special effect. Create dynamic rotating banner images with this cool new effect creation command.

Rotate & Flip your images with this enhanced Edit menu command. Using this new command together with Duplicate or Copy/Paste commands allows you to easily create simple motion with just a single image.

Improved Banner Text - now you can create optimized banner text without any browser limitations.

Improved Merge dialog box - merge as many layers as you want from within the same dialog box.

Expanded File Format Support - drag and drop files from 8 different format types directly into GIF Animator.

Quickstart Tutorial - get up and running in less time than it takes to install GIF Animator with this fast and easy introduction to the world of GIF animation.


Add Cube Effect

Opens the Add Cube Effect dialog box, which allows you to select two images and create a rotating “cube” out of them.


Tutorial: Text Cubed!
Text Cubed!

GIF Animator’s Cube Effect feature lets you take two images and create a special kind of transition effect giving the illusion that the images are on the faces of a turning cube. If you don’t want to create simple scrolling text, but are looking for something more dynamic, more exciting, then the Cube Effect is for you.

To create “cubed” text from scratch:

1	Choose the Layer: Add Banner Text command to open the Add Banner Text dialog box.

2	Enter your text in the Banner Text entry line.

3	Deselect the Rolling option on the Rolling Control tab page. Click OK.

4	Repeat steps 1 through 3 to create the second “face” of the rotating cube.

5	Choose the Layer: Add Cube Effect command to open the Add Cube Effect dialog box.

6	Set the direction of spin, the frame rate, and other attributes of your cube effect. Some settings work better with certain background colors, so experiment until you find the settings you like. The Contrast controls set the amount of light and shadow cast across the cube face, while the Perspective controls adjust the “depth” of the cube face.

7	Click OK.

  Related Topics


Tutorial: Fade In
Fade In:

If you’ve got two or more image layers, then you can enhance the transition from one to the other with GIF Animator’s Transition Effects. Introduce your images with a flourish or create a slide show.

To add a transition between two banner text images:

1	Choose the Layer: Add Banner Text command to open the Add Banner Text dialog box.

2	Enter your text in the Banner Text entry line.

3	Clear the Rolling option on the Rolling Control tab page. Click OK.

4	Repeat steps 1 through 3 to create the second text image in your sequence

5	Choose the Layer: Add Transition Effect command to open the Add Transition Effect dialog box.

6	Select the type of transition you want from the drop down menu to the right of the preview window.

7	Set the Quality of the transition you want (where quality is proportional to the number of frames contained within the transition - the higher the quality, the more frames required to pull off the effect).

8	Define how long you want the transition to last in Duration. This sets how long each image in the transition remains on the screen before it’s replaced by the next in the sequence.

9	Click OK.

If you only have a single image in your animation, then you can only create a transition from it to a background matte. To set the matte color, click the matte color box to open the color picker.

  Related Topics


Tutorial: Bright Lights Big City
Bright Lights, Big City

With the Add Color Animation tool, you can create vibrant, interesting text using flashing, animated colors.

To add color animation to static banner text:

1	Choose Layer: Add Banner Text to open the Add Banner Text dialog box.

2	Enter the text you want in the Banner Text entry line on the Text Style tab page. You can define the various attributes of the text such as font, size, text color, and shadow from here.

3	Deselect the Rolling option on the Rolling Control tab page.

4	Click OK.

5	Choose the Layer: Add Color Animation command to open the Add Color Animation dialog box.

6	Select the colors your want to animate either from the color palette on the left or directly from the image in the preview window to the right.

7	Set the order of animation by dragging the color tabs around in the Animation Order control bar.

8	Click OK.

  Related Topics


Add Video

Opens the Add Video dialog box allowing you to browse for the desired AVI file to add into the Layer Pane. Each frame from the video will be treated as a single image layer in the GIF file.


Add Video db
Add Video

From the Add Video dialog box, you can browse for the desired AVI file, select it, and preview it before inserting it into your animated GIF file.

Info - opens the information window displaying a selected file’s vital statistics, such as compression scheme and ratio, frame rate, duration, and audio properties.

Browse - opens the Ulead browse dialog box, giving you more control over how you locate and sort your video files.

 	Subject - the subject line associated with the file, usually the clips title or subject matter.

Description - a brief description of the video file, usually regarding the clip’s subject matter.

Preview - displays a real-time preview of the video file.


Adding Video Images

You can add AVI images by:

Dragging a video file from any Windows Explorer window, folder, or from PhotoImpact Explorer and dropping it into either the Layer Pane or the workspace.

Choosing the Layer: Add Video command to open the Add Images dialog box and browse for the desired file.

Clicking the Add Video button on the Standard toolbar to open the Add Video dialog box and browse for the desired file.


Glossary

The following are terms used throughout Ulead GIF Animator.

Animation	Global Palette
Banner Text	Image Layer
Cel	Interlace
Color Cell	Local Palette
Comment Layer	Looping
Contrast	Matte
Dither	Palette
Frame	Perspective
GIF	Optimized Palette
Global Information	Safe Palette


Animation

A series of images arranged in a predetermined sequence that when viewed rapidly generate the appearance of motion or movement.


Banner Text

Text that scrolls across the animation screen in any of the 4 cardinal directions.


Cel

A single image layer in a sequence. This term comes from traditional animation and is synonymous with the words ‘frame’ and ‘image layer’.


Color Cell

A single color unit within the palette. Each cell is given its own index number which establishes where it falls in the color hierarchy.


Comment Layer

A block of information that is only visible when the GIF file is viewed in an editor. It usually contains copyright and authorship information.


Contrast

The distinction between light and dark portions of an image. An image with low or poor contrast consists of many closely related shades. A high contrast image has clearly distinguishable transitions between light and dark areas.


Dither

A method of creating new shades or colors from a pattern of preexisting shades or colors. When images are inserted using palettes other than their own, this option allows you to choose the method for adapting colors from the image’s original palette to the palette you selected.


Frame

One image layer of a series. When frames are played sequentially, the objects within the image layers appear to be in motion, or animated.


GIF

A platform independent file format popular for its capability to create compact, yet high quality images.


Global Information

The Global Information Layer in a GIF file contains all the settings that don’t pertain directly to any single image layer.


Global Palette

The palette universally available to every image within an animation clip. This palette is superseded by the Local Palette, but becomes the default palette if an image layer doesn’t have a Local Palette. The Global Palette is opened for editing when you select the Edit: Global Palette command.


Image Layer

An Image Layer is a block of data within the GIF file that stores an image, as well as all of its attributes. It is another word for ‘cel’ or ‘frame’.


Interlace2
Interlace

The attribute that, when set, loads the image gradually, giving the appearance of a fade-in.  As of yet, web browsers don’t fully support animated GIF interlacing during playback, and as such this only works for the first image in the sequence when the animation file is downloaded


Local Palette

The palette contained within a single image layer. If used, the colors on this palette take precedence over the Global Palette. The Local Palette opens for editing when you select the Edit: Local Palette command.


Looping2
Looping

The number of times the animation repeats when being played. If a number is not chosen then the animation will loop only once as a default.


Matte

A continuous, non-shifting background over which an animation occurs.


Palette

The lookup table that defines the colors available within an image or group of images.  In Gif Animator there are 2 kinds of palettes: Global and Local.


Optimized Palette

A method for adding colors the Global Palette created by calculating which colors in an image are most commonly used. These colors are then added to the existing Global Palette but only if you have set the ‘Automatically expand global palette’ option in General Preferences. Choose Optimized Palette from the Build Up Global Palette dialog box to add a user-defined number of new colors to the Global Palette.


Safe Palette

A method for adding colors to the Global Palette by matching colors from an image’s original palette with a predefined set of 216 "web-safe" colors. The matched colors are then added to the existing Global Palette but only if you have set the ‘Automatically expand global palette’ option in General Preferences. Choose Safe Palette in the Build Up Global Palette dialog box to remap the colors from the original image based on the ‘web safe’ palette.


Perspective

The view of an image on a two dimensional surface which creates the illusion of three dimensional depth.


Tutorial: Say It With Style
Say It With Style

One of the easiest animated GIFs to create is the Banner Text GIF. You don’t need to have any prepared images or cels ready for animation. All you really need is something to say. Banner text is good way to make what are normally static portions of your web page come alive with eye catching scrolling text without using Java code or fancy proprietary plug-ins.

To create a scrolling heading for your web page:

1	Choose the Layer: Add Banner Text command to open the Add Banner Text dialog box.

2	Set the width and height of your animated gif by dragging on the control handles of the bounding box located in the preview window.

3	Choose your background color by clicking the higher color box. This opens the Pick Background Color window.

4	Choose your text color by clicking the lower color box. This opens the Pick Text Color window.

5	Enter your header message in the Banner Text entry line of the Text Style tab page. To add a shadow to the text, select the Add a Shadow checkbox and then set its attributes.

6	Click the Rolling option on the Rolling Control tab page and then set the attributes that define how the text moves. The Quality menu gives you choices about how good you want the animation to be - the better the quality, though, the higher the file size. Duration defines how long each frame is displayed before it is removed and replaced by the next one.

7	Create a border around your animated text, if you want, on the Border tab page. To make your animated text blend in smoothly with your html document, forego this option. If you want it to stand out and make it more eye-catching, go ahead and set this.

8	Click OK.

9	Choose the File: Save command to open the Save As dialog box. Select a folder, name your file, and click OK.

Tip: To integrate your animated heading into your web page, instead of using the traditional <H1, H2, H3...> Heading Text </H1, /H2, /H3...> heading tags use the following: <IMG SRC=”myanimated.gif”> where “myanimated.gif” is the location and filename of your newly created animation.

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Getting Started

Opens the Getting Started tutorial in the online help.


Animation Wizard menu command
Animation Wizard

Opens the Animation Wizard, which guides you through the process of making a GIF animation, step by step.


Layer Pane display
Layer Pane

Allows you to choose the display method for the frames listed in the Layer Pane.

List displays the frames using only the layer titles.

Thumbnail shows each frame as an image thumbnail.

Relative shows each frame as an image thumbnail proportionally sized and placed in relation to the other frames.

You can set the default thumbnail size with the View: Thumbnail Size menu command.


Animation Wizard

Ulead GIF Animator makes creating animated GIFs as easy as possible with the Animation Wizard. It takes you through the process of putting together a simple animation in 3 steps:

Selecting and arranging your images.

Choosing their display type.

Setting the default duration each frame is displayed.

When you are finished, you have a simple animation which you can immediately optimize and save or build upon. You can run the Animation Wizard by clicking the File: Animation Wizard menu command or by clicking the corresponding button on the standard toolbar.

  Related Topics


Thumbnail size

Allows you to define the size of the Layer Pane thumbnails (80x80 to 128x128). If you are in List mode, then selecting one of these options switches the Layer Pane automatically to Thumbnail mode with the preview thumbnails sized according to your selection.


New Features (v1.5)
What’s new?	 Version 1.5	  Version 1.2

Animation Wizard - now you can let Ulead GIF Animator do all the work for you with this easy to use Animation Wizard. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can be on your way to animating your web in no time at all.

Startup Wizard - offers you 4 different methods for getting started whenever you open Ulead GIF Animator.

Expanded and improved Optimization Wizard - the best GIF file optimization system just got better. Now includes Super Palette conversion and enhanced compression.

Improved  Layer Panel display modes - in addition to the traditional list mode, the Layer Pane is now capable of displaying thumbnails of each frame, giving you more control over your work environment to better meet your needs.


Startup Wizard

The Startup Wizard appears every time you open Ulead GIF Animator and is designed to facilitate the building of your animation projects. It offers you four different methods for getting started:

Open the Animation Wizard and have GIF Animator assist you in making a new animation.

Open a blank animation.

Open a pre-existing animation.

Open one of the many sample files included with the GIF Animator program.

You can disable this Startup Wizard by checking the disabling option when the Wizard appears. If you want to enable it again, click the File: Preferences menu command and check the Enable Startup Wizard dialog box option on the General tab.

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Optimization Wizard

The Optimization Wizard is designed to guide you through the process of streamlining your GIF animations while at the same time maintaining the highest quality image possible. When the process is complete, a summary dialog box appears telling you how large the total GIF animation was before optimization and its new file size after optimization. In most cases, there will be significant differences in file size between the pre- and post- optimization animations. However, in some animations the optimization ratio may be less dramatic due to pixel-level color shifts between the image layers. Because this process is entirely non-destructive, the animation file currently opened in GIF Animator won’t be changed. Instead, GIF Animator prompts you to the save the optimized animation as a new file. You can choose to open it immediately in a new GIF Animator program window.

Some things to consider when optimizing your animation:

Super Palette - creates a master palette containing all the most commonly used colors sampled from each image layer. This removes redundancies and merges similar colors in order to produce a highly compact animation file. If you create a Super Palette then GIF Animator won’t create optimized local palettes to compensate for unique colors in a particular image layer.

Dithering - you can choose to dither the colors of each layer as they are mapped to the Smart Palette. This compensates for missing colors by blending together existing ones from the Smart Palette. If your images are photorealistic and don’t contain text, then this is recommended. If your images are text-oriented then you should not dither.

Quick Optimization - After you have defined your optimization settings, you can use them again later without having to go through the Animation Wizard. To do so, make sure you check the Save as default optimization settings option on the final page of the Animation Wizard after you’ve got the settings you like. Then when the time comes to perform another optimization, click the File: Optimize with Presets menu command to immediately apply these settings to your animation.

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Optimize with Presets

Applies the default settings you last selected in the Animation Wizard to the current animation.


Layer Pane display modes

List - displays frames using only the layer titles. This is the most efficient method for getting a comprehensive picture of your animation layout.

Thumbnail - displays frames as thumbnails. These thumbnails are displayed at a fixed size defined in the Preferences dialog box.

Relative - identical to Thumbnail with the exception that each frame is displayed at its original size and placed relative to the frames before and after