GIMP, in general is a multi-platform image editing application that comes with features which rivals Photoshop - in general that is.   GIMP is also capable of basic animation through .GIF format and most recently the GAP extension for a more advance animation work out.

The following are the Steps to perform basic Animation with GIMP as follows:

• create a new file with 468 x 60 pixel with white background
• press CTRL + L to load the layer window
• create a new transparent layer
  • you can click on the icon on the lower left hand corner
• select the whole image via CTRL + A
• fill the background with black via CTRL + ,
• Shrink the selection by 1 px
  • main menu -> select -> shrink
    • while the image is still selected
  • put a value of '1'
    • make sure that a tick mark is set under the option 'shrink from image border'
• remove the image via CTRL + X
  • the main idea is that the a border of 1 pixel will remain
  • even though 1 pixel is hardly seen; at least it does provide a sort of margin
• lets add the logo
  • create a new transparent layer
  • paste the image to act as logo in to the current layer
  • while the image is still selected
    • click on main menu -> Layer -> Mask -> Add Layer Mask
    • select Alpha
  • create an empty transparent layer for the logo's shadow
    • while the logo is still selected
    • create empty transparent layer
    • fill it with black via CTRL + ,
    • while this shadow is still selected
      • give it a blur
        • goto main menu, then
        • goto Filters -> Blur -> Gaussian blur RLE
        • offset by 2 or more pixels on the bottom
    • once you are done with the logo image you can then flatten this via
      • main menu -> Image -> Flatten Image

The sample look something like the one below, it is very basic but it does work and does perform as required and GIMP can do more than that.

One of the things a likie about GIMP is that, the overhead image file size seems to be smaller.   For instance, the small "Leiron Review" animation is only 6,892 bytes more or less 7.0 KB only and the "Horse Man" animation is around 263 KB and it's a 520 x 350 pixel image.

The difference in terms of file size from the original, with regards to the original Horse Man image and the animated version is only 150 KB and contains 8 frames of 520 x 350 pixels each.

• 3 line of Text Animation
  • now duplicate this layer 2 times via Layer window
  • select the Text tool and write a text you would like to use
    • you can set the Opacity to say 53.5 of the current frame
    • when done merge the Text to the duplicate frame
      • main menu -> Image -> Merge Down
  • do the same with the other frames, till you have covered ALL three(3)
  • setting the delay timer
    • GIMP provides very simple means of defining the delays in ms
    • GIMP allows you to create a 12 second animation using very few frames
    • just double-click on the Layer name and add the values in ms enclose in brackets ()
    • example:
      • frame 3(9000ms)
      • frame 2(5000ms)
      • frame 1(1500ms)
  • you may need to set the Opacity back to it's original value which is ' 100 '
• To check the outcome of this simple animation
  • goto main menu, then
  • goto Filters -> Animation -> Play Back
  • when you are done it is now ready to be converted to GIF
• Create the GIF
  • to create this simple animation
  • go to
    • main menu, then
    • Filters -> Animation -> Optimize for GIF
      • select Animation or Animated GIF format
      • make sure that the 'Loop' option is tick

We Strongly recommend GAP which is more advance and act as a sort of extension to GIMP.   As of this writing Windows and Mac versions are already available for download.

The key function of the GAP is the move path dialog.

GAP works on series of .xcf images (native GIMP format), so that you can work with layers the same way as you do in static images. You don't have to copy the file yourself to add a frame. GAP has series of functions to help you manage frames.