*New Feature* Create Animated GIFs using PowerPoint

Hello Insiders 👋

My name is Aimee, and I'm a PM in the Office Graphics team.

Have you ever had an idea for an animated GIF but didn't know where to get started?

With the new feature Export/Save As Animated GIF, you can now create your ideas in PowerPoint.

This feature is currently rolling out on Desktop for Office 365 Subscribers only, and the Web coming very soon.

- Windows: Version 2001 (Build 16.0.12410)

• Mac: Version 16.34

This feature is not available on Office Perpetual, namely Office 2019 or 2016.

Getting Started

Making an animated GIF is easy – I’ll make two in this post!

Follow along with my steps.

STEP 1

Open PowerPoint and insert your media.

For my first GIF, I am creating a memorable email signature, so I inserted an animated sticker and some text that I liked:

For my second GIF, I am creating a rotating gallery of images to share on my social media, so inserted a series of images on each slide:

Tip: Adjust the dimensions of your slide via the Slide Size menu: go to Design Tab > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size

STEP 2

Choose your export options in the Create an Animated GIF menu.

Go to File > Export > Create an Animated GIF.

In this menu, you can adjust the size/quality of your GIF, and set the seconds spent on each slide:

Tip: If don’t want to adjust the export options, it’s faster to use the Save As menu: *go to File > Save As and in the Save-as-Type dropdown, select "*Animated GIF Format  (*.gif)"

STEP 3

Click Create GIF. 

An Explorer window will open - in here, navigate to where you’d like your Animated GIF exported to.

Click Save and PowerPoint will begin exporting your slide(s) as an Animated GIF. 

Go to your selected folder to see your creation!

Here is my new animated email signature:

And here is my food gallery:

OTHER TIPS

This feature respects all media supported in Slideshow (shapes, text, images, SVGs, videos, Animated GIFs, 3D Models, etc), PPT Animations and PPT Transitions.

A good way to preview your Animated GIF before export is to view your slides in Slideshow Mode.

Feedback

I'm actively working on this feature in Office, and your feedback is key to guiding improvements. 

Use Send A Smile in the Office app to let us know what you think, or reply to this thread.

I read and appreciate all feedback 🙏

With love,

Aimee

None of the media used in this blog post is endorsed by Microsoft. They were selected by the writer as examples only.

Animated sticker by Molly Jacques on GIPHY

Photos by chuttersnaponUnsplash