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TL;DR:
To create custom animated GIF icons, use Adobe Photoshop for professional layer-to-frame animation, Wondershare Filmora for user-friendly editing with built-in effects, or Canva for quick template-based designs, whereas pre-made options can be downloaded directly from dedicated asset libraries.
● Adobe Photoshop acts as a professional solution that gives you precise control by loading media into a stack and converting individual layers into a frame animation via the Timeline window.
● Wondershare Filmora provides an easier drag-and-drop workflow featuring built-in stickers, transitions, and an AI Portrait add-on capable of removing video backgrounds without a chroma key.
● If you need ready-to-use assets, Icons8 features over 3,000 categorized animated icons, Cliply supplies 3D and Discord server sets, and Giphy holds an extensive but uncategorized collection.
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Are you looking for some interesting and animated GIF icons? Then simply read this guide to discover funny GIF icons and learn how to create them on your own.
GIF, which stands for Graphics Interchange Format, has now become extremely popular among social media. From sending our reactions to something to wishing others on special occasions, GIFs can be used in so many ways. Though, there are times when we would like to use animated GIF icons in your designs to make them more appealing. Therefore, in this post, I will let you know how to create some funny GIF icons and would also share a few resources to find readily available GIF icons.
Part 1 Smart Ways to Create Your Own Animated GIF Icons
While there are so many ways to come up with animated GIF icons, I would recommend exploring the following options:
Method 1: Use Adobe Photoshop to Create GIF Icons
If you are looking for a professional solution to create a live GIF icon, then I would recommend using Adobe Photoshop. While the application is not that easy to use, it will be an ideal long-term solution. In nutshell, you can create animated GIF icons by loading assets, duplicating layers, and then merging them in the following way:
Step 1 Load Assets on Photoshop
At first, you can simply launch Adobe Photoshop on your system and go to its File > Scripts to load media assets into your stack.
This will let you browse and load the media assets to your projects. In case you don’t have a layer created, then you can just go to its File > Layer and create a new layer.
You can now rename your layers and can go to its File > Window > Timeline to get a timeline view of the added assets.
Step 2 Work on the Video Timeline to Create a GIF
Great! Once you have got the timeline view on the application, you can click on its dropdown menu and choose to create a frame animation.
Afterward, you can select the added media and go to its Properties menu on the sidebar. From here, you can choose to create a new layer for each frame and then make frames from each layer.
This will create multiple frames on the timeline at the bottom. You can edit each frame on the timeline and can also set up its preferred duration.
You can also right-click the frames and select how many times your loading icon GIF would be repeated.
Step 3 Preview and Export your GIF from Photoshop
Lastly, you can get a preview of your animated GIF icons and can go to its File > Export and choose to save it for the web in a compatible (GIF) format.
Method 2: Make Stunning Animated GIF Icons with Wondershare Filmora
Since Adobe Photoshop can be quite complicated to use, you can consider using Wondershare Filmora to create all kinds of animated GIF icons. It is a user-friendly media editing application that has a wide range of readily available assets and would also let you import files from your system.
Besides that, there are tons of stickers, visual elements, captions, animations, transitions, and so on that would let you create and customize funny GIF icons. Therefore, if you want to create animated GIF icons using Filmora, then you can simply follow these steps:
Step 1 Load Media Files (Images and Videos) on Filmora
To get things started, you can just launch Wondershare Filmora on your system and go to its File > Import menu to load media files to it. You can also drag and drop your media files directly to the interface of Filmora.
Step 2 Create or Edit GIFs on Wondershare Filmora
After loading your images or video clips, you can drag and drop them to the timeline at the bottom. In case you can want to get rid of any video clip, you can just hover the mouse around and use its trimming tool to meet your requirements.
Once you have edited your videos or images, you can just go to their properties from the sidebar. From here, you can scale, reposition, rotate, flip, and perform other edits on your media files.
If you want to add texts to your GIFs, then just visit the “Titles” section of Filmora from the top. This will let you explore and include any caption effect that you can later edit on Filmora.
You can also go to the “Effects” section from the sidebar to explore a wide range of transitions, filters, stickers, and more that you can add to your GIFs.
Step 3 Export your Animated GIFs from Filmora
That’s it! Once you have worked on your funny GIF icons, you can get their preview, and click on the “Export” icon from the top. Here, you can select “GIF” as a target format and simply save them to a preferred location on your system.
Method 3: Take the Assistance of Canva to Create Animated GIFs
You might already know that Canva is already a popular online application that can be used to create social media posts, marketing video ads, brochures, GIFs, and more. Since Canva offers a wide range of assets (images, GIFs, and more), you can use it to create animated GIF icons on the go.
Step 1 Select a Template of your Choice on Canvas
Whenever you want to create a loading icon GIF, you can just go to your Canva account and look for any existing template. Apart from its existing template, you can also load a blank canvas.
Step 2 Use the Existing Designing Features of Canva
Great! Once you have opened your canvas, you can explore tons of assets on the side. For instance, you can add texts, borders, objects, and so on from the sidebar to your canvas. You can also select a relevant animation style and add it to your project.
Step 3 Export the Media as a GIF from Canva
After working on the live GIF icon on Canva, you can just go to the Export option from the top and save it as a GIF on your system.
Part 2 Top 3 Resources to Get Free Animated GIF Icons
If you are running short on time and would like to get some premade animated GIF icons, then you can explore the following options.
1. Icons8
Icons8 is one of the most popular resources for free animated GIF icons. You can explore a wide range of more than 3000 animated icons (free and paid) on the website and can download them on your system in a preferred format. For your convenience, these animated icons are listed in different categories on Icons8.
2. Giphy
Giphy is one of the most popular websites that is entirely dedicated to GIFs. Therefore, if you are looking for an animated Discord server icon, a professional icon, or a personal animation – you can find it all on Giphy. While it has an extensive range of icons, they aren’t listed in different categories, and finding the right GIF can be time-consuming.
3. Cliply
Lastly, you can also go to the official website of Cliply to explore tons of animated GIF icons. There are all kinds of GIF Discord server icons, 3D icons, professional sets, and more that you can download from Cliply.
Wondershare Filmora
Get started easily with Filmora's powerful performance, intuitive interface, and countless effects!
AI Portrait – The best feature of Wondershare Filmora for gameplay editing
The AI Portrait is a new add-on in Wondershare Filmora. It can easily remove video backgrounds without using a green screen or chroma key, allowing you to add borders, glitch effects, pixelated, noise, or segmentation video effects.
Conclusion
There you go! I’m sure that after going through this post, you can easily find all kinds of animated GIF icons. Though, if you have specific requirements and would like to come up with some customized loading or funny GIF icons, then you can consider using tools like Canva, Photoshop, or Filmora. Out of them, Wondershare Filmora has to be the best solution to create live GIF icons as it features tons of resources and will let you come up with any video or GIF on the go.
