Introduced by CompuServe in 1987, GIF (the graphics interchange format) is the first color image format that supports both static and animated images. Nowadays, it is still a popular image format widely used by many people. Why do GIFs have enduring popularity in the digital world? The factors contributing to the phenomenon can be illustrated as follows. First and foremost, GIFs adopt a lossless compression method (LZW) that maintains the original image quality. Secondly, the GIF’s animation feature conveys more dynamic information than still images. Last but not least, the rise of social media has also exerted positive effects on GIFs, and more people like to incorporate GIFs into their daily communication.
Given the circumstance above, the importance of GIFs is self-evident. Knowing how to screen record to GIFs help people keep up with the trend. The article gives a detailed introduction to GIF screen recording and step tutorials. Let us kick off and start!
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Part 1: Make Animated GIF Screen Recording with GIF Screen Recorder
Theoretically, people can make GIFs either by a GIF screen recorder or a video converter. GIF screen recorder is the most straightforward way because it gives people more possibilities for personalized customization. Here is a list of GIF screen recorders that we carefully picked out for you to take a look at.
#1 - iTop Screen Recorder PC
The iTop Screen Recorder is a versatile screencasting tool applied in many aspects like video conference recording, movie recording, music recording, and gameplay recording. It can also serve as a GIF screen recorder Windows to make animated pictures. Some highlights of this product include:
- 100% Free
iTop is a free GIF screen recording tool providing top service at zero cost.
- Social Platforms Sharing
Straightly post and share your GIFs on various social platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Instagram, Google Drive, and Dropbox.
- Select Region
The iTop GIF screen recorder supports a flexible recording region, and you can select any area you want to capture to make a GIF.
- Various File Formats
The iTop GIF screen recorder gives a wide selection of output choices. People can not only save videos in GIFs but also in MP4, AVI, FLV, MKV, MOV, and TS.
- Built-in Editor
With a lightweight editor built into the iTop GIF screen recorder, you can rag the red slid bar to trim and cut the video as you want.
How to Make GIF Screen Recording with iTop Screen Recorder?
Now, you are probably wondering how to make GIFs screen recording with the iTop free screen recorder? Is the process complicated? In fact, using the iTop screen recorder to make GIFs is extremely easy, and even beginners can master it in a short time.
Step 1
Download the iTop screen recorder and install it on your computer. Double click to run the application, and the main interface will pop up.
Step 2
Click the Setting icon on the upper right corner of the interface and head to the Format tab. Select GIF as the output format and hit the save button to save the change you have made.
Step 3
Go back to the main interface and choose the recording region you wish to make GIF screen recording.
Step 4
Once finished, click the red circle button or hotkey F9 to start GIF recording, and click the red square button or hotkey F9 to end GIF recording. GIF file will be available under the My Creation folder.
Hotkeys of iTop Screen Recorder
#2 - Giphy Capture macOS
Giphy Capture is a GIF screen recorder free for macOS users to record flexible screen areas and export the capture to a high-quality animated GIF image up to 30 seconds long. The instant capture, precise editing, and quick sharing make it an ideal tool to create GIFs on Mac.
Here are the main features of the Giphy GIF screen recording tool:
- Capture GIFs in just a couple of clicks.
- Have functional editing tools with settings on frame rate, loop types, and animated captions.
- Save your favorite videos as GIFs and share them immediately with your friends through email or social media like Facebook and Twitter.
- Access to your GIFs from anywhere at any time.
- You can change GIF speed and loop behavior with Giphy Capture macOS.
Part 2: Transfer Video File to GIF Screen Recording with Online Converter
Instead of recording GIFs with a GIF screen recorder, the second approach is to use an online converter to transform video files to GIFs. It is a quick yet simple way for people who don’t want to download or install additional software on their computers to create GIFs.
In addition, online converters have no limitation on operating systems, providing great convenience. People can turn their videos into shareable GIFs as long as there is internet access. Some popular online GIF converters are FlexClip GIF Maker, Clipchamp GIF Maker Online, GIPHY’s video-to-GIF tools, Adobe Creative Cloud Express, GIF Toaster, Imgur, Gifycat, and more. Since the steps to make GIFs with online converters are pretty similar, the article will only take Adobe Creative Cloud Express as an example to illustrate a detailed tutorial.
Step 1: Open the website
Visit the official website of Adobe Creative Cloud Express.
Step 2: Upload
Click “browse on your device” and upload a video you wish to convert to GIFs. Make sure your chosen video is no more than one hour long.
Step 3: Convert
Before converting to GIF, you can adjust and trim your video to your ideal length by dragging the slide bar. Next, select output size and image orientation as per your needs. You will have options as follows:
GIF Quality: large, medium, small
Image orientation: landscape, portrait, square, original
Step 4: Download
Click the Download button to complete the video to animated GIF convert. Your GIF will be found in your “Downloads” folder.
Part 3: GIF Screen Recording with Chrome Extension
Apart from GIF screen recorder and GIF convertor, Chrome Capture is a good choice to create GIF files inside the browser. The free Chrome extension allows people to capture selected areas, customize resolution & FPS, and share with friends on instant messaging apps.
Here is a brief guide on using GIF screen recorder chrome extension to create animated GIFs.
Step 1
Navigate to the Chrome Web Store. Select and add Chrome Capture to your browser. You will see the logo of Chrome Capture in the toolbar once successfully added.
Step 2
Head to a video website you want to capture. Left-click the Chrome Capture icon in the taskbar and select a recording region to record the video. Next, tweak the configuration by clicking the setting icon.
Step 3
Once finished, click the video icon to start recording and click it again to stop. The video clip will be saved in GIF and be available to edit, upload and share.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the article introduces three approaches to help you animate GIFs with ease, and they are 4k GIF Screen Recorder (iTop Screen Recorder & Giphy Capture), GIF Screen Recording Online (Adobe Creative Cloud Express), and GIF Screen Recorder Chrome Extension (Chrome Capture). For people having higher demands on GIF creation, It is strongly recommended down the professional screencasting tool iTop Screen Recorder and make more eye-catching GIFs with the iTop's full set features.
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