A GIF, which is an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format, is a lossless format for image files that support both static and animated images. It is called a lossless format because it does not degrade the quality of the image. GIF is an image format meant for sharing on the Internet. GIFs store image data using indexed colour, meaning a standard GIF image can include a maximum of 256 colours. Though they can theoretically store more than 250 colours, such GIFs will have a file size almost same with JPEG and hence they are rarely used.
GIFs are not ideal for storing digital images like those captured using digital or smartphone cameras since GIFs contain a limited number of colours. GIFs are most suitable for web buttons and banners since these typically do not require many colours.
WhatsApp supports GIF and it does have its vast collection of GIFs we can choose from. Most times the GIFs provided by WhatsApp are appropriate to express what we want and hence we do pick from the WhatsApp collection. However, there are unique ideas or expressions we can’t accurately communicate with the WhatsApp inbuilt GIFs. It then becomes necessary to create our custom GIFs. WhatsApp allows its users to create their custom GIFs in the WhatsApp app. The process is simple. It is similar to sending a video to someone, with just a little tweak and WhatsApp converts the video to GIF for you. The two methods explained below are for iPhone, iPad and Android.
Creating custom GIFs in WhatsApp on iPhone
Step One:
Open the WhatsApp messenger on your iPhone or iPad. It can be found on your home screen or in your App folder.
Step Two:
Scroll to the chat you want to send the GIF to. Tap on the chat to open the conversation.
Step Three:
Tap on the Attachment icon, which will open the attachment options in a new pop-up. The attachment icon is a “+” icon on the left-hand side of the conversation.
Step Four:
Select the Photo and Video Library from the pop-up menu. It will open your phone’s photo and video gallery.
Step Five:
Look for the video you want to convert to GIF and tap on it. WhatsApp will open the video in the WhatsApp’s video editor.
Step Six:
Tap the GIF button on the top right of the editor. The GIF icon is next to the Video icon beside the video you have uploaded. Note that the GIF icon will look white on a blue background when selected. Once the GIF is selected, the video will automatically turn to GIF.
You can trim the length of the GIF in the timeline. Simply drag the line demarcating the length of the video to your desired length. Note also that GIFs are usually small in size so if the video is large, above 850kb, the GIF icon will disappear, meaning that the size of the video is too large. You can reduce the size of the video by trimming the video in the timeline until the GIF icon appears beneath the timeline. To send the GIF, simply tap the send icon.
Creating Custom GIFs in WhatsApp on Android
Step One:
Open WhatsApp messenger on your Android phone. You can find WhatsApp on the home screen or in the Apps section. Tap the WhatsApp icon to open it.
Step Two:
Scroll to the chat you want to send the GIF to. Tap on the chat to open the conversation
Step Three:
Tap on the Attachment icon, which will open the attachment options in a new pop-up. The attachment icon is a paperclip icon on the right-hand side of the text area.
Step Four:
Select the Gallery icon from the pop-up menu. It will open your phone’s photo and video gallery.
Step Five:
Look for the video you want to convert to GIF and tap on it. WhatsApp will open the video in the WhatsApp’s video editor.
Step Six:
Tap the GIF button on the top right of the editor. The GIF icon is next to the Video icon beside the video you have uploaded. Note that the GIF icon will look white on the light-green background when selected. Once the GIF is selected, the video will automatically turn to GIF.
You can trim the length of the GIF in the timeline. Simply drag the line demarcating the length of the video to your desired length. Note also that GIFs are usually small in size so if the video is large, above 850kb, the GIF icon will disappear, meaning that the size of the video is too large. You can reduce the size of the video by trimming the video in the timeline until the GIF icon appears beneath the timeline. To send the GIF, simply tap the send icon.
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