by Melissa Raissa

Created on: July 22, 2010   Last Updated: July 23, 2010

This is the simplest of slide animation effects, requiring no transition between photo slides. All you have to do is arrange your frames and the GIF animation file will play it continuously frame after frame. The blinking effect is the default animation style and can be used for simple slideshows as well as for depicting certain objects such as blinking lights, neon signage, and the like.

Blinking effects are considered by some to be crude type of animation and can be very distracting to readers. They are often used in web banners to capture the attention of the reader but most people feel that it's quite garish or gimmicky. You can make this effect easier on the eyes by using tiny images for your animation or using non-contrasting colors for the text and background.

Blinking Texts
Using bold colors for text might be encouraged for marketing or promotion activities, but when it comes to visual design, subtlety is key. More so when you're using a flashy effect such as blinking animation. Of course, this will also depend on the purpose of your image if you're really planning on catching your readers attention or if you want your image to blend with the rest of the page.

Open your a new image with GIMP or you can open an existing picture that you want to use for the background. To add your text, click TOOLS->TEXT at the menu bar or click on the Text Tool icon at the Toolbox. On your canvas, draw a text box with the Text Tool which will in turn open the GIMP Text Editor. Type in your text and adjust the style, size, color and other settings at the Tool options.

Once you're done with your text, click EDIT->COPY VISIBLE at the menu bar then click EDIT->PASTE AS->NEW IMAGE. This will open a new file that will now serve as your GIF animation file with your copied image as the first animation frame. Once we have more than one frame, we can preview the animation by clicking FILTERS->ANIMATION->PLAYBACK at the menu bar of this file.

We will now create the next animation frame. Go back to the previous window, then at the Layers dock make a copy of the current text box by right-clicking on the Text layer and selecting Duplicate Layer. Now, make one of the textbox invisible by clicking on the “eye” icon beside the Text layer. You now have only one visible Text layer wherein you can type in new text for the second animation frame.

Once you're done with the second text, click EDIT->COPY VISIBLE at the menu bar. Now, go to the GIF animation window and click EDIT->PASTE AS->NEW LAYER at that window's menu bar. This will give you a second layer or frame for your animation. If you plan on adding more frames, just repeat the steps for creating the next animation frame.

When you've completed all of your frames, save the animation file with the GIF extension. At the following dialog box, select the Save As Animation option then specify the speed of your animation by adjusting the millisecond value at the next pop-up dialog. Aside from blinking texts, you can also create blinking images using basically the same steps above.

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