For instance, I consulted this one on how to easily remove backgrounds. There are plenty of online tutorials about using Photoshop. From there, I create multiple layers out of the image, typically a static background and one or two elements on their own layers that will be the moving parts of the animation. I’ll also resize them to a resolution of 72 pixels/inch and a max width of 500. Size considerations typically limit what you can do, so I make sure to crop images. I also look for a big impact with little work. I try to think of animations that will be short and work in a loop. First, I think ahead about what kind of animation I’d like to create. I use Photoshop to alter the images and also to create the GIF itself. Other times, I will look for distinct elements in the foreground that I can basically cut out and make animated, such as this flying squirrel. For the beating heart included in this post, I used the bloat and pucker tool of the liquify filter to give the illusion of a beating heart. Making knees bend is a lot easier than making a snake slither… A particularly easy approach is finding an image that could be lightened or darkened to emulate the flickering of a candle, for instance. Next, I look for images that aren’t too complex. It’s much easier to animate a butterfly flapping its wings on a blank background than one on a flower. What makes a good candidate, you may ask? For one, I look for images with uncomplicated backgrounds. It begged for a GIF: the squirrel had nothing in front of it, and once removed would leave am intact background. Uncommon Flying Squirrel from the Report on the Commissioner of Patents (1856). When I find a suitable image, I’ll either right-click and save it or use my snipping tool (“grab” on a Mac or “snipping tool” on a PC) to take a screenshot. Then I prefer the single page view (which is in the lower right of the reader). Once I find something of interest, I’ll click the Read Online link under the View the Book grouping on the left. Typically I just browse, either by date, subject, or even what’s been recently reviewed. I’ll usually go to the Smithsonian Libraries page to see what’s been recently digitized. The Internet Archive is an amazing repository of millions of digitized books from around the world, chock-a-block full of images that lend themselves to creating something fun. On the Internet Archive’s eBook and Texts section, you can browse by collection, library, or use the search feature to find books. Since these books are no longer under copyright restrictions, we aren’t limited in the creative reuse and remixing of the products. We digitize books for the main purpose of making them accessible for study and reference. Below, I’m going to go through the basic steps I take in order to turn images collected from our digitized books into the animated GIFs the Smithsonian Libraries posts to its Tumblr blog. Lucky for me, we live in a time when tools for making my twisted dreams come true are readily available. It might be a sign of a twisted mind, but I can’t help imagining illustrations and pictures from old books coming to life. From A system of anatomical plates of the human body by John Lizars (1840?)
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