[Detailed Guide] How to Export/Save a GIF Animation from After Effects
Last Updated on September 20, 2025 by Peter Wood
AFTER EFFECTS is good at synthesis, allowing you to synthesize multiple visual elements into the same scene and use motion tracking technology to obtain a very good dynamic visual effect. If you use these functions to create GIF animation, you will get an excellent GIF animation. Next, this article will provide you with detailed steps to help you create GIF animations in After Effects, please read on carefully.
Part 1: How to Make an Animated GIF in After Effects
Method 1: After Effects+ Plugin
Although After Effects itself cannot export GIF animation, if you install the corresponding plug-in, you can also export GIF animation smoothly. GifGun is an After Effects plug-in that can run on Windows and Mac. Once downloaded successfully, it can be run and play a role in After Effects to make a GIF animation.
Step 1: Download GifGun on your computer. If it is on a Mac, it can run normally. If it is a Windows system, you need to move the file to the subfolder of the After Effects software. Open After Effects and use Command+ Options+; to summon Preferences (Ctrl + Alt+; for Windows).
Step 2: Switch to the General tab in Preferences, select Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network. After successfully installing GifGun, you can click the Windows button on the upper toolbar to run the script and open the tool window.
Step 3: The tool panel that pops up can be suspended on After Effects. The page is very simple. Click the Make GIF button to render a GIF animation at the out point and in point of the video. Click the Settings icon to select the size, frame rate, and storage location of the GIF animation.
Step 3: The tool panel that pops up can be suspended on After Effects. The page is very simple. Click the Make GIF button to render a GIF animation at the out point and in point of the video. Click the Settings icon to select the size, frame rate, and storage location of the GIF animation.
Method 2: After Effects + Photoshop
GifGun is a very easy-to-use software with simple and quick steps, but it has a very fatal shortcoming. GifGun is a paid plug-in, and you need to pay to download and use it. If you want to create a GIF animation in After Effects for free, you can do it through a combination of After Effects and Photoshop.
Step 1: Complete the creation of GIF animation content in After Effects, you can pay attention to keeping the first frame and the last frame the same, which is very beneficial for your GIF animation to play in a loop. Click the Composition button in the top menu bar, which allows you to adjust the resolution and output quality of the video.
Step 2: After editing, click the Output to button in the lower panel to bring up the drop-down menu, click the + icon in the drop-down menu, and select the save location of the video. Then click the Render button to officially export the video and start Photoshop at the same time.
Step 3: In Photoshop, click the File button in the toolbar above and select Open to import the video software. After the import is successful, you can edit the video normally. After editing is completed, in the File tab, select Export, and then click the Save For Web(Legacy) button to summon the save panel.
Step 4: Select GIF as the output format in the panel. At the same time, you can set the size, color, and Looping Options of the GIF. After the settings are completed, click the Save button to export the GIF animation successfully. So far, the production of GIF animation in After Effects has also been completed.
Part 2: How to Create an Animated GIF Directly
The above 2 methods can only be said to be complicated. One requires the installation of a plug-in and is paid software, and the other requires two professional-level software for collaborative operation. If you want the high-quality effects of GIF animation in After Effects and want a one-stop solution to the problem of making GIF animation, then you can use WidsMob GIF. WidsMob GIF is a software that can create and edit GIF animations. You can create GIF animations from videos and photos, and add the effects you want.
1. Make and edit animated GIFs from videos, photos, and dynamic images.
2. Adjust the display of GIF animation through brightness, contrast, and saturation.
3. Modify the GIF size through the defaults of major social media in the software.
4. Add text/stickers to the GIF animation to make it more interesting.
Step 1: Download and install WidsMob GIF on your computer. After the installation is complete, start the software, click the Video to GIF button, and import the video that needs to be made into a GIF animation into the software. After the video is imported successfully, the GIF animation will be automatically generated and started to play.
Step 2: The length of the video is not necessarily suitable for GIF animation and can be streamlined accordingly. In the timeline below the GIF animation preview box, you can select part of the content as a GIF animation through the selection boxes at both ends. After the selection is completed, click the Play button to preview the playback of the GIF animation.
Step 3: On the right side of the GIF animation preview box, there are many GIF animation editing tools. Click the Video Adjustment button to bring up HSL editing options for animated GIFs. Adjust the slider of Saturation and observe the changes in the GIF animation on the left to get the best viewing experience of the GIF animation.
Step 4: To better share the GIF animation on major social platforms without changing the proportion, just use the presets in the software to modify the size of the GIF animation. Click the Options button in GIF Size, select the corresponding social platform and purpose in the pop-up drop-down menu, and the size of the GIF animation will be modified immediately.
Step 5: Before exporting the GIF animation, adjust the slider of Quality in GIF Settings to obtain a high-quality GIF animation. After editing, click the Export GIF button to export the completed GIF animation. These steps can perfectly replace the production of GIF animation in After Effects.
Conclusion
Although After Effects cannot directly export GIF animations, you can also save GIF animations made in After Effects through the three methods in the article. If you want to complete the production of GIF animation in the shortest steps, then you can also directly create GIF animation through WidsMob GIF. As the best GIF editor and maker, WidsMob GIF will be able to succeed in the task.