Create and insert GIFs in PowerPoint (2022)

GIFs are a great way to liven up presentation slides and add a dash of humor. with a touch of humor. The animated images grab the attention of your of your audience and add life to your presentation. GIFs are especially popular on social networks because they play automatically and can run in an endless loop. Due to their small file size, they are also ideal for presentations.

Content

1. What are GIFs?

The abbreviation GIF stands for the English term Graphics Interchange format. GIF files can, in contrast to static image representations such as JPG or PNG, generate moving images. These moving images are displayed in the browser or in other output programs as an animation that is constantly repeated. For example, you can display a logo that that moves continuously.

2. Why should you use GIFs?

GIFs and videos have many features in common, yet there are a few differences. For example, GIFs have a small file size, which gives them an advantage over videos. However, each pixel within a GIF can have 256 colors, which makes GIFs appear in lower resolution than videos.

GIFs vs. Videos

GIFs	Videos
Low file size Lower resolution GIFs have no sound	Partially large files High resolution videos Videos can be accompanied by sound

3. Where to find GIFs?

Among the largest providers of GIFs is the online database Giphy. GIFs can be shared and saved here. Giphy offers its own GIF search, which is also integrated into Whatsapp Messenger. Another provider for GIFs is Tenor. Here, you can also find countless GIFs on various topics.
Note: However, caution is advised with online providers for GIFs, because in case of a commercial use of GIFs copyright can be violated. A better and also safer alternative is therefore to create your own GIFs.

4. Create GIFs in PowerPoint

GIFs can be easily created in PowerPoint.
Note: If you set transitions between slides, they will be exported as well. For a smooth transition between the slides, you can use for example the PowerPoint transition "Morph". This can be found under Transitions > Morph. For the Morph effect, however, you need at least two slides with the same element. In our example we have chosen no transition, so that the Thank You lettering jumps around slightly and looks more alive.

Create the slides you want to make into a GIF. To make the GIF move, you could change the position of the elements or the colors between the slides.
In order for the created slides to become a GIF, you must click on File and Export and then select "Create animated GIF".
The export settings can be found on the side. By selecting the box "Make background transparent" you can export a transparent GIF. Otherwise the background of the GIF corresponds to the background of the slide. In addition, you can determine the display duration of the individual slides. Since in our example we want to create a fast moving GIF we have selected a time of 00.10 seconds per slide. Below that you can limit the number of slides to be exported in the GIF.
Click on Create GIF to export and save your GIF.

5. Insert GIFs in PowerPoint

In order to insert an already existing GIF into a presentation, you follow these steps.

Select the slide where you want to insert the GIF.
Click on the tab Insert and then on Images.
If you have already downloaded the GIF file, you can click on This device and then navigate to the location of the GIF. Click on the insert button and the GIF will be placed on the selected slide.
If you want to search for a suitable GIF online, click on Online Images. The online images window will open and in the search bar at the top you can type in your keyword. Add and an additional "GIF" to search for GIFs.
Click Insert and the GIF will be inserted on the selected slide.