Move your mouse over her.
To stop, move your mouse
out of the picture.

The above GIF animation consists of the following two transparent GIF images.

pinup001.gif (transparent) size: 85 KB

pinup002.gif (transparent) size: 85 KB

To create a transparent GIF animation, you need a Graphics program that allows you to do just that.

My favorite program is JASC Paint Shop Pro. You can download it from this site:

http://jasc.com/

You can use its trial version free of charge for 60 days.

If you don’t know how to create a transparent GIF image, please visit this page: How to Create a Transparent GIF Image.

Once you come up with a set of transparent GIF images such as the three images above, you now start to create a GIF animation. You need an animation construction program. My favorite is JASC Animation Shop. You can also download its trial version from the above JASC site.

First, you click the animation wizard icon as shown as above. Once a dialog box appears, check the radio button for “transparent”.

If the size of each picture is different, you have to instruct where to place each picture. In this case, both pictures are of the same size, it does not make a difference.

If the the size of each picture is different, however, you have to be careful. you have to choose the right radio button. For an example, visit this page: Ditzy Blonde: Transparent GIF Animation
(A new window will open up.)

The second selection does not make any difference either, because both pictures are of the same size. If the size of each picture is different, you have to choose the right button. For an example, you can click the above link.

In the above dialog box, you can set up how many times the animation will be looped. You also have to instruct the program how long you want each frame to be displayed. In this case, I’ve chosen 2 seconds.

Now, you select images. Once you are finished, click the next button. The program will create an animation and prompt you for animation quality as shown below:

The enlarged dialog box is shown below.

You can choose its quality by moving the lever at left. The top notch is for 256-color animation and the size will be the biggest of all. In this case, I’ve chosen the second notch, that is, 127-color animation.

NOTE:

Baud:

the number of electrical symbols per second that a modem sends down a phone line. Although incorrect, it is often used as a synonym for bps (bits per second). This is named after J.M.E. Baudot—inventor of the teletype.

ISDN:

It stands for Integrated Services Digital Network—a faster, digital phone service that operates at speeds as high as 128 kilo bits per second.

ADSL: (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)

A technology that lets you transmit data over phone lines much faster than regular dialup or ISDN, as much as 7 million (7,000 kilo) bps. It is asymmetric because it allows faster download speeds than upload. In other words, receiving email is faster than sending it. This service is always on, so there is no wait to connect. Because your phone service is unaffected, you can make and receive calls while you access the Internet.

The animation you have seen at top eats up 138 KB of memory. To display it, your browser has to wait for 12 seconds on ISDN or 27 seconds on a 56K-baud modem.

How to reduce the size

Naturally, you wonder if there is a way to reduce the size. I’ll explain it in the next page:

How to reduce an animation-file size

Related Links

• Ditzy Blonde : Transparent GIF Animation
  
  
• How to Present a GIF Animation
  
  
• How to Speed Up a Presentation
  
  
• How to Speed Up a Presentation Even More
  
  
• Optimize Your Animation!
  
  
• How to Use an IMG Tag
  
  
• Javascript Animation with Some Tricks
  
  
• How To Handle Multiple GIF Animation Presentation
  
  
• Dramatize your Pictures with Event Handlers!