GIFs are the universal language of the web.
Need to convey your reaction and an emoji won't cut it? Use a GIF.
Want to show one of your favorite scenes from a movie, but without sound and more pixelated? Use a GIF.
Want to just cobble together random pictures and watch them flash across the screen? Definitely time for a GIF.
Thankfully, it has never been easier to craft GIFs on your own. What used to require some semblance of skill can now be done with a few clicks of your mouse.
There are tons of free GIF creation sites that make it simple to craft GIFs from images or videos.
Here are some of the best – and easiest-to-use – GIF creators we've sampled.
If you're looking to craft a GIF from a video, it doesn't get much easier than Imgur's recently launched video-to-GIF tool. Simply plug in the video you want, adjust the sliders and click Create GIF. It's as simple as that.
Memecenter's GIF maker gives you a whole slew of options to make some more complicated GIFs. You can upload videos or images and actually layer them on top of each other with an interface that isn't so different from Adobe Photoshop. The site also provides easy access to classic meme images and videos for faster meme creation.
Along with the standard GIF from pictures and YouTube, Make a Gif's easy-to-use interface also allows you to create GIFs using your webcam.
This site lets you create basic image GIFs by uploading pictures and setting the animation speed. What GIFmaker offers that other sites don't is the ability to upload GIFs and dissect their individual pictures, which is handy. It also has a built-in GIF optimizer, which reduces a GIF's file size.
Picasion isn't flashy, but it gets the job done. A simple, straightforward interface allows you to create GIFs from images and your webcam. Everything you need is right there on the front page. Set the GIF size and rotation speed and you're done.
Another free GIF creation site that allows for both GIF to video and picture GIFs, it gives you easy-to-use tools for creating high-quality GIFs in no time at all. Imgflip's only real drawback is the "imgflip.com" watermark that it attaches to the GIFs you create. In order to remove it, you have to be a member of Imgflip pro.
If you are looking to craft GIFs exclusively from YouTube videos, GIF YouTube is your best bet. It's painfully easy. Insert the web address of the video you want to convert to GIF form, adjust the start and end point and GIF length, give it a witty title and then click Create GIF.
If you can handle the broken English that is prevalent on the site, FreeGifMaker.me provides you with a few easy image GIF creation tools you won't find anywhere else. For example: have you ever seen a GIF and thought to yourself, "this GIF would be way better played backwards?" You haven't?
Okay, so maybe the feature is kind of lame, but you can still totally do it thanks to this site. Find a GIF you like, plug it in, click Create GIF, and boom. It's the same GIF — backwards. You can also add silly effects to your GIFs, if you so please, in addition to the normal GIF-crafting goodness.
What's your favorite GIF creation site? Let us know in the comments below.
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