How to Create a GIF in Premiere Pro CC (2018)

GIFs are everywhere. Social media, messaging apps, forums, emails. They are a quick, looping format that communicates an idea or reaction in just a few seconds. Most people use Photoshop to create GIFs, but you can actually make them directly in Premiere Pro. If you are already editing video in Premiere, there is no reason to open a separate program just to export a short loop.

Today we go over how to create a GIF in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

How to Create a GIF in Premiere Pro

Setting Up the Sequence

1. Import your footage and drag it onto the timeline to create a new sequence.
2. Go to Sequence > Sequence Settings and adjust for GIF-friendly dimensions:
   • Set the Frame Size to something small. 500x500 is a good starting point for square GIFs. For widescreen, try 500x280 or similar.
   • Set the Time Base to 15 frames per second. GIFs do not need to run at 24 or 30fps. Lower frame rates mean smaller file sizes.
   • Set Pixel Aspect Ratio to Square Pixels.
   • Set Fields to No Fields.
3. Adjust the Position and Scale in Effect Controls to reframe your footage within the smaller dimensions.

Trimming the Loop

4. Find the section of footage you want to turn into a GIF. GIFs work best when they are short, around 2-5 seconds.
5. Trim the clip so only the looping section remains on the timeline.
6. Click the Loop button in the Program Monitor to preview how the GIF will look when it loops. If the loop point is jarring, adjust your trim points to find a smoother transition.

Exporting as GIF

7. Go to File > Export > Media (or press Ctrl+M).
8. In the Export Settings, set the Format to Animated GIF.
9. Set the Preset to Animated GIF (Match Source).
10. Click on Output Name to choose where to save the file and give it a name.
11. Click Export and Premiere Pro will render out your GIF.

Optimizing File Size

GIF files can get large quickly. Here are ways to keep them manageable:

• Reduce dimensions. A 300x300 GIF is significantly smaller than a 500x500. For most social media use, 300-400px wide is plenty.
• Lower the frame rate. 15fps looks smooth enough for most GIFs. Going down to 10fps saves even more space at the cost of some smoothness.
• Keep it short. Every additional second of animation adds to the file size. The best GIFs are 2-4 seconds long.
• Reduce color complexity. Footage with lots of colors and gradients creates larger GIFs than footage with flat colors. Applying a posterize effect can actually help reduce file size by limiting the color palette.

Tips

• For cross-platform compatibility, GIFs exported from Premiere Pro work on Windows. On Mac, you may need to use Photoshop or an online converter instead.
• Consider using MP4 instead. For social media, short MP4 loops are often better than GIFs. They have better quality, smaller file sizes, and support millions of colors. Most platforms that accept GIFs also accept short videos.
• Test the loop. Open the exported GIF in a browser to see how it looks looping. Adjust the trim points if the loop is not seamless.

That is how you create a GIF in Premiere Pro. It is a quick workflow for turning any video clip into a shareable, looping animation.