Microsoft GIF Animator

Microsoft GIF Animator

Microsoft GIF Animator is a discontinued software program that was used to create and edit animated GIF images. It offered features like drawing tools, animation frames, and effects to build basic GIFs.
Microsoft GIF Animator image
gif animation image-editing

Microsoft GIF Animator: Create & Edit Animated GIF Images

A discontinued software program for creating animated GIF images with features like drawing tools, animation frames, and effects.

What is Microsoft GIF Animator?

Microsoft GIF Animator was a basic GIF creation and editing software program released by Microsoft in the 1990s. It was targeted at casual users who wanted to make simple animated GIFs for the web or other purposes.

The interface included a timeline for adding and organizing animation frames. It also had drawing tools for creating images and text, as well as a library of clip art. Users could add visual effects like color cycling or apply basic movement and transformations to images.

While more advanced than Microsoft Paint, Microsoft GIF Animator did not have as many robust features as professional GIF and image editing suites. It struck a balance of being easy to use yet capable of producing basic GIF animations.

Since GIFs have had continued popularity on the web, newer and more full-featured GIF creation tools have largely replaced Microsoft GIF Animator. But it filled an important software niche in the early days of animated GIF adoption.

Microsoft GIF Animator Features

Features

  1. Create and edit animated GIFs
  2. Drawing tools
  3. Animation frames
  4. Effects
  5. Onion skinning
  6. Support for transparency
  7. Timeline for frame sequencing
  8. Ability to import images
  9. Export GIFs
  10. Built-in GIF viewer

Pricing

  • Freemium

Pros

Easy to use interface

Powerful animation tools for basic GIF creation

Support for layers and transparency

Free version available

Works on Windows

Cons

No longer updated or supported

Limited animation capabilities compared to modern software

Pro version was expensive


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