The individual frames should be saved as normal gifs on the Desktop or in a folder. The animated gif is created by dragging the individual gifs into the "Frames" window in GifBuilder in the order they are to appear in the final animation. As an alternate method, frames can be added using the "Add Frame" command in the File menu. Note that they must be added in proper order using this method as well. Once entered into the frames window, the details of the animated gif can be worked out. The variables GifBuilder lets you control are:

• Image size. This is entered as two numbers (length x width) in pixels. It is best, however, if the original gifs are already saved in the proper dimensions before importing into GifBuilder. This command is an easy way to adjust the final image size of an animated gif if it has been submitted in an incorrect size. To adjust the size of a frame, highlight it in the frame window and click on the "Size" area at the top of the frame window.
  
  
• Animation delay. The amount of time each frame of the animation appears can be adjusted. Simply double-click on the number under the "Delay" column in the frames window for the frame you want to edit.
  
  
• Position. The position of a frame inside the display window can be edited. Clicking on a frame under the "Position" column gives you a box where the position is entered as x and y coordinates. Frames may also be moved by hand by clicking in the animation window and using the option-arrow key commands to shift the frame around.
  
  
• Disposal.This refers to what GifBuilder does with a frame after displaying it. This value is changed by clicking in the "Disposal" column or using the disposal option under the "Option" menu. The various choices should be played with to achieve the desired effect. "Do Not Dispose" means the frame stays right where it is displayed. (Best used for the last frame in a single loop.) "Restore to Background" means the frame remains but the next one will appear over it. "Restore to Previous" means it switches to the frame that appeared earlier. "Unspecified" is adequate for most applications.
  
  
• Background. This can be set to appear as transparent, white, or a specific color. Transparent means that only the frame will appear with nothing behind it. This is useful for creating gifs with a specific area of animation.
  
  
• Loop. Clicking on this value allows you to set the number of times the animation plays. The specs. for Pathfinder allow animated gifs to draw no more than four times to reduce drive grind.

Other image editing capabilities: GifBuilder lets you change things such as pixel depth, dithering, and color palettes. (These are all accessed under the "Options" menu.) These should be used with caution, however. They are rather unsubtle and can have an overkill effect, especially the "color depth" option.

REDUCING THE FILE SIZE OF AN EXISTING GIF89

Caution should be taken to make sure that the sum of the individual frames' file sizes is less than the maximum for the final compiled gif. If a gif89 must be edited for size after compiling, you should first try to change the color palette or reduce the pixel depth of each frame in GifBuilder before re-saving it. If this produces too much degradation in image quality, try this:

• Open the file in GifConverter.(Click here to download GifConverter.) Only the first frame of the animation will appear, but they are all there. Make the others appear by grabbing them with the grabber tool and dragging each of them to another part of the window. (Note: DeBabelizer cannot open gif89's properly.)
  
  
• Cut and paste each frame into an individual DeBabelizer file. Use the "File: New" command for each of the frames. Once each frame is a DeBabelizer file, you can edit the file size any way you wish. Then re-save each file. Try to keep image dimensions consistent with the original gif89.
  
  
• Drag the edited DeBabelizer files into GifBuilder. Edit and recompile the animated gif as you normally would. The final gif89 file should now be smaller.

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