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Q, I love GIFs and someone told me that you can make GIFs from iPhone photos. In fact, he showed me how to do it but later when I tried to do it myself I couldn’t remember how he did it.
Can you do an article on how to do this so I can refer to it when I try to make a GIF on my iPhone again? Thanks!
A. I’m a big fan of GIFs too. Those mini movies without sound can go a lot farther than words or emojis to convey your thoughts.
Apple has made it easy to create GIFs from your iPhone photos, if you know how. In two easy steps you can take a photo and create a GIF from it.
Step 1 Choose a Live Photo
GIFs can easily be made from Live Photos on the iPhone. Live Photos were first introduced by Apple with the iPhone 6s and can be transformed into GIFs. When you take a Live Photo, you’re actually shooting a 3 second video. The iPhone records video from 1.5 seconds before you tap the shutter button to 1.5 seconds after the button is tapped.
The result is a 3 second Live Photo, complete with video and sound. You can see demonstrations of Live Photos at this Apple Live Photo page. Tap or click on the Live button to watch the image move.
You can view your Live Photos in your Photos app on your iPhone. You’ll know if a photo is a Live Photo by seeing “Live” at the top of the screen.
You can make GIFs using Live Photos you’ve taken previously with your iPhone, and you can make GIFs by taking new Live Photos.
How to Find Live Photos in Your Camera Roll
Finding Live Photos on your iPhone that you’ve already taken is super easy. Don’t scroll through your photos to try to find them, unless you like wasting time.
Instead, ask Siri, “Show me my Live Photos.” You don’t even need to have the Photos app open, Siri will do that for you. Boom!
Or you can open the Photos app and search for “Live Photos.” The search results will be the Live Photos stored on your iPhone.
How to Take a Live Photo
But maybe you want to make a GIF from a new Live Photo. Easy peasy.
To take a Live Photo, open the camera app on your iPhone and tap the bulls-eye icon at the top of the screen. The icon will be yellow when you’re taking a Live Photo.
Then take your photo by tapping the shutter button. That’s it. You’re done with taking a Live Photo. Oh yeah.
=> You may want to turn Live Photos off after you’re done taking the photo for your GIF. Tap the Live Photo bulls-eye icon again to turn off Live Photos.
Step 2 – Turn Your Live Photo Into a GIF
Now that you’ve chosen your Live Photo, you can turn it into a GIF in one step.
Open the Live Photo you want to make into a GIF. Swipe up from the bottom of the photo.
You’ll see choices of Loop, Bounce and Long Exposure. Loop and Bounce are your choices for GIFs.
Loop plays the 3 second Live Photo in an endless loop and eliminates the sound, turning the Live Photo into a GIF.
Bounce plays the Live Photo forward then backward in an endless loop. For example, with Bounce a person performing a dive into a swimming pool would look like they are diving into the pool, then reverse, launching out of the pool.
Choose either Loop or Bounce and you have a GIF! Below is a GIF made from a Live Photo with Loop.
Don’t miss => Gifyt — The Easiest Way to Make Your Own GIF!
Video Demonstration
This video shows how to make a GIF from a Live Photo in the Photos app on your iPhone:
Sharing Your GIF
Sharing is caring. You can share your GIF from within the Photos app by tapping the sharing icon, then choosing the way you share it. Share it in an email, text message or on social media.
When you share your GIF, it should appear as a GIF file, with a .gif extension at the end of the file name. But when I transferred the GIF to my computer using AirDrop, it arrived as a movie file with a .mov extension. Use email or text message to send your GIF if having a GIF file format is important to you.
Your Thoughts
Do you like GIFs? Have you ever made a GIF? Are you going to try making a GIF with your Live Photos?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
This is the coolest thing I learned to do! Thanks!
Hi Carol, I’m glad you’re a fellow fan of GIFs. Yes, this is a super easy way to turn your photos into GIFs. Enjoy!
Hi Carolyn,
This is lovely. I agree with you on this. I love Gifs and I am glad now that I know how to get one for myself.
Thanks for sharing, have a good day.
Hi Sajid, That’s awesome you also like using GIFs. I hope you enjoy making them too, now that you know how easy it is!
Hi Carolyn,
Great tip to create a Gif as I blogger it’s very helpful for me to create one for my post. Moreover, I use to get the creative done with my designer and hence using this will save some amount thanks.
Hi Mohamed, I’m so glad you found this article on creating GIFs with your iPhone to be helpful and save you money. I hope you continue to enjoy making your own GIFs using Live Photos.