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Animated GIF in InDesign

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
November 4, 2020
7 replies
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Does anyone know of the possibilities for creating an animated GIF in InDesign using the interactive features and saving/exporting as a gif? I see that there is an in5 extension one can trial/purchase to convert InDesign to a gif but was wondering if there were other possibilities.

Correct answer rayek.elfin

Preview the animation in the epub previewer, and use ScreentoGif to capture it to a GIF.

https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif

Creative Overlord

Known Participant

Just jumping in here again in case the Adobe gods are ever monitoring - our entire design team still creates gifs daily as part of regular workflow and would still love the ability to export INDD pages as jpgs, set the quality and timing and have it export as gif directly, without having to jump into PS and import as stack then export again.

We create google PMAX and display ads, EDM's, web banners, you name it, and most are gifs now, it would save so much time to skip the photoshop step.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

Well, a second shop using this workflow or a similar one would be... validating. 🙂

Just putting on my devil's advocate cap, I'd wager that most pros and shops have a few workflows that are a bit foreign to ID and need extra turns of the crank to execute. I wouldn't want to see all of them integrated into some bloated edition of the app. If there's a notable body of users creating animated GIFs starting with ID layouts, votes on a feature request would be the way to get the feature implemented (some day). But to me that's a pretty out-there use, like using Illustrator to do book pages... so such things are properly on the user to find the most streamlined, script-enabled process they can.

Creative Overlord

Known Participant

100% need this ability direct from indesign.

Screen to gif suggested below doesn't work on mac, the mac alternative program leaves margin for error having to drag the recording part to the edge of each design, which also adds time.

I wish IN5 was affordable for me as a freelance designer because the new update they talk about below is exactly what I would use, both IND to gif and to mp4 for social. I build google ads, web banners and EDM's in indesign for a large company and it's so fast paced, the only current way to do a gif from Indedign is by exporting jpg's then importing as stack in PS and exporting AGAIN finally to gif, then if you want a mp4 version for social you also have to convert to video timeline and duplicate/export as mp4. This is so tedious and feels like such a waste of time.

People on here that keep saying Indesign is the wrong tool - but it's fast, accurate, and easily handles large images placed within frames and honing of typography is easy too. I'm not going to make 3 formats of a design from scratch in photoshop or illustrator JUST to gif it when I also need that design in 10 seperate formats for other uses and Indedign makes the most sense for those.

I use PS to edit images, I use Illustrator for packaging, illustrations or patterns, I use Indesign for anything I possibly can because it remains the fastest, easiest to navigate and most accurate when placing things perfectly "to the pixel" position.

Canva is infuriating to me but I'm tempted to try learning figma for this purpose. Still, seems like a wasted opportunity and Adobe keeps doing spin-off apps - just give me one thing for IND!

Or better yet, a single beast for evvvverything and do it well!

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

InDesign, for all the grace and power you rightly attribute to it (I go to other tools only when I have to or really know it's a better option) — just isn't a good tool for web banners and such. It's not good at such small-scale work and doesn't export well to small raster images. I know many designers use it, and persist in getting the job done. but sometimes it seems like more work is spent getting around ID's limitations for this class of work than is worth it.

As for spin-off apps... isn't XD specifically for such work? Have you given it a thorough test drive, with the support of other tools as needed? That is, maybe it's worth swapping to XD as your primary workbench for web ad work.

And no, never, ever, "one tool to rule them all." There are just too many differences in facets of this job to make one tool be hammer, jackstand, metal lathe, mud gun and screwdriver. Sorry. And that's what ID would become if every designer got "just this one more thing I need." And the rest of us would have to put up with a primary tool that no longer did anything well, or was so cluttered it was no longer efficient.

Creative Overlord

Known Participant

It's funny you mention XD because I had in fact turned there first before even trying to google indesign extensions for gifs, sadly XD also does not have the capacity to export a simple gif let alone more complex ones. It also has a baffling inability to adjust kerning (or when I tried I couldn't find it, possibly this has changed since, I do need to find the time to learn that program more but given it doesn't do the main thing I'd use it for, that's not a priority).

My main frustration is that for all the apps we get, Adobe still doesn't seem to have anything for what is a large portion of the work many designers do now. Don't get me wrong, I've been designing since everyone hated indesign for being the Quark killer, I used both and loved Adobe for its innovative features and usability. But it feels like they've split into so many programs now nothing is getting the attention it deserves.

Justin Putney

Known Participant

A quick update on the in5 GIF Maker extension. We've just released version 3, which will let you turn InDesign animation into an MP4 video, which would allow you to create a finely-tuned animated GIF in Photoshop (as well as directly creating it with the Chrome extension). We'll be uploading videos to our YouTube channel soon.

rayek.elfin

Legend

@Justin PutneyA bit outdated. perhaps? It would be more forward thinking and relevant to allow for direct conversion to Animated PNG and Animated WebP.

M

m quiggl47890392

Inspiring

Adobe has created Creative Cloud Express which is their flagship for social media. You can find it in your Creative Cloud desktop app under the bar on the left for Social Media. Templates abound for video, pdf, and image projects. Of course, you can use Adobe Stock in the designs to enhance your projects!

There are options for making what you already have made in InDesign animated (you can already do that in ID but cannot export to animated GIF without In5 or other GitHub items (which is a shame!). [see Window>Interactive>Animation in ID to animate items on the page]

Or you can jump ship altogether and get Canva, another nice piece of software that also has animation capabilities for social media, etc.

We are busy designers who are being squeezed to do all kinds of stuff with the software we already own but which has not kept up with the social media times without having to shell out more cash for additional software to do things. And you wonder why your clients turn and leave the office when you tell them how much this is going to cost...

Adobe...help us out her. with animations in InDesign especially for social media (I am not talking about flipbooks but of simple animations like you find in PowerPoint that are already in InDesign). When PPT can beat up ID with standard features like this, it's humiliating.

Thanks for listening to a user who needs more to do the job I have been given.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

I'd just say that Creative Cloud is a whole box of tools because there are so many different tasks to accomplish. I can't see any reason ID should be a social media animation creator when (nearly) anyone who has it has all the other very capable, purpose-built tools as well. There's no reason every tool should do every job.

But if you think Canva is a valid alternative, we're probably on different planets. 🙂

—

M

m quiggl47890392

Inspiring

NitroPress:

I agree with you. The whole SUITE of Creative Cloud has all the tools you need but now Adobe has created another app for Social Media called Creative Cloud Express. Check it out in your Creative Cloud Desktop. 🙂

rayek.elfinCorrect answer

Legend

Preview the animation in the epub previewer, and use ScreentoGif to capture it to a GIF.

https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif

P

patrickn14295884Author

Participant

Thank you!

Geоrge

Legend

Isn't have. Change your look to create gif's in Photoshop.

Remember, never say you can't do something in InDesign, it's always just a question of finding the right workaround to get the job done. © David Blatner