Add GIF to Image – 4 Easy Methods to Make a Still Image Alive You Should Know

Last Updated on March 16, 2023 by Peter Wood


Adding GIF to still images will make your photo come alive, which is also a trend in sharing your life on social platforms. That’s because cute and animated GIF is a good way to grab people’s attention and level up your content. Whether you want to add GIF memes or logos to images, here are 4 easy and professional ways for you in the following article.

Add GIF to Image

Part 1: How to Add a GIF to an Image with Photoshop

Photoshop is a professional photo editing tool with powerful image manipulation technology. You can easily use it to add GIFs to images by creating frame animation. It also enables you to adjust the GIF color and frame rate to keep the high-quality output. If you are not new to Photoshop, read more to learn how to add a GIF to images with Photoshop:

Step 1: Click the File menu and choose the Open button to load your background image and the animated GIF separately in two windows. And you will find your GIF will be added as several frames in the layer.

Add Image and GIF into Photoshop

Step 2: In the image window, click the Window menu and choose the Timeline option. Then, click the Create Frame Animation button from the drop-down list at the bottom.

Create Frame Animation Photoshop

Step 3: Go to the GIF window and choose all the frames, then right-click your mouse to copy them and add GIF to images later.

Copy GIF Frames Photoshop

Press the Ctrl + V button to paste the GIF frames over the still image, and click the OK button on the popping-up window. You will find the frames listed in the timeline.

Paste Frame to Image Photoshop

Step 4: To set the still image as the background in all frames, you can right-click your mouse and choose the New Layer Visible in All Frames option.

Make New Layers Visible in All Frames Photoshop

Step 5: Here, you’ve completed adding GIF to images with Photoshop. At last, click the File menu and choose the Export tab. Click the Save for Web button to export your image as GIF file. You can also change the color, quality, and loop according to your need.

Make New Layers Visible in All Frames Photoshop

Part 2: How to Add animated GIF to Images Online

Online Tools like Photopea will be easier for you to add GIF to images since you don’t need to download the tool. It’s just like a simplified Photoshop with a similar interface and operation steps. The difference is that Photopea also accepts files from Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc. It even provides a built-in PeaDrive to save all your images on the cloud. When using it to add GIF to images, you need to pay attention to avoid clicking on the sidebar ads.

Step 1: Go to the official website of Photopea and click the Open From Computer button to upload your GIF and still images. Dragging and pulling the files is also workable.

Open File Photopea

Step 2: Go to the GIF project and choose all the frames in the right-bottom corner, then right-click the mouse and choose the Duplicate Into... option. A window will pop up; you need to click the downward arrow and choose the image project to copy the frames.

Photopea Duplicate GIF Frames

Step 3: After that, switch to the image project and move the GIF frame to the desired place. Remember to turn off the Auto-Select option at the top.

Add GIF to Image Photopea

Step 4: Now, you have added the GIF to the images. Click the File menu, then Export as option, and choose to save the image in GIF format.

Export GIF Photopea Win Download Mac Download

Part 3: How to Add GIF to a Still Image on Smartphone

When you only have access to your Android phone, GIF Maker, GIF Editor will help you add GIF to a still image at any time. This app enables you to convert any image/video to GIF and add GIF image overlay. Before using it to add GIF to images, you can buy the pro version ($2.99/month) to get all features and remove the ads.

Step 1: Launch GIF Maker, GIF Editor and tap the Image to GIF button to make GIF on Android. You can adjust the length, speed, size, and more settings as you like. Here are more apps to make GIF on iPhone/iPad.

Step 2: After converting the still image to GIF, you need to tap the Decoration button and choose the GIF picture to add. Change the position, time, and loop to make the best image with GIF overlay. Then, you can directly save it to your album.

Add GIF to Images App Win Download Mac Download

Part 4: How to Add GIF to a Background Image with High Quality

Unlike Photoshop and Photopea, there is another powerful but easy-to-use tool for you to add animated GIF to images - WidsMob GIF. You can create GIF from still photos with added GIF stickers in simple clicks. It offers flexible settings in all aspects, including filter, size, quality, and loop time. Moreover, you can adjust the perspective, opacity, and filter of the GIF sticker to make it more natural.

1. Create animated GIFs from video and photo with several frames.

2. Provide preset GIF sizes for Twitter/Instagram/TikTok/Facebook.

3. Add GIF stickers or text with customized size, position, and opacity.

4. Support 10 fps and 320 pixels to export your GIFs with high quality.

Win Download Mac Download

Step 1: Free download and launch WidsMob GIF on your Windows/Mac. Click the Photo to GIF button on the main interface and click the Add Frames button to upload the still image. Then, you can set the duration, brightness, size, background color, etc.

Add Frames WidsMob GIF

Step 2: To add GIF to images, you can click the Sticker button at the top and choose the desired GIF file. Easily rotate it and change the size by dragging the dots at the corner of GIF. You can also change the perspective and opacity to make the picture more harmonious.

Add GIF Sticker WidsMob GIF

Step 3: Finally, click the Export GIF button at the top-right corner. Enter the file name and choose the desired destination to save your GIF now.

Export GIF WidsMob GIF Win Download Mac Download

Conclusion

Here you have learned how to make still images to GIF and add animated GIF to the images. Professional tools like Photoshop and Photopea are too complex for beginners. Thus, you can have a try on WidsMob GIF, an easy-to-use but powerful tool to add GIF to images in one click. It also enables you to adjust the duration, position, and more settings to export high-quality output.