Articles on: Capture

GIF Creation

Turn a sequence of photos into an animated GIF — a lightweight, looping image that's easy to share and always fun.



What Is GIF Mode?


GIF mode takes the series of photos captured during a session and combines them into an animated GIF. Each photo becomes a frame, creating a flipbook-style animation that loops continuously.


Unlike boomerang (which records video), GIF mode works with the standard multi-photo capture workflow. The more photo slots your template has, the more frames your GIF will contain.



How to Enable GIF Mode


  1. Open your event settings
  2. Navigate to Effects and select the GIF effect
  3. Make sure your template has multiple photo slots — each slot becomes a GIF frame
  4. Start your event


[screenshot: GIF effect selected in the effects list]



How It Works


Here's the flow from capture to finished GIF:


  1. The booth captures photos based on your template's photo slots (e.g., 3 or 4 shots)
  2. Each photo is taken with the configured countdown timer between shots
  3. Once all photos are captured, ALIVE assembles them into an animated GIF
  4. The session is marked as completed and the result is ready to share


For the smoothest-looking GIFs, use a template with 3-4 photo slots. Too few frames looks choppy, too many can make the file size large.



File Size Considerations


GIFs can get large quickly. Keep these factors in mind:


  • More frames = bigger file — A 4-frame GIF is significantly smaller than an 8-frame one
  • Resolution matters — Higher resolution photos produce larger GIFs
  • Simple backgrounds — Solid or simple backgrounds compress better than busy ones
  • Sharing impact — Larger GIFs take longer to download over SMS or email



Sharing GIFs


GIFs are shared through the same sharing options as other media in ALIVE:


  • QR Code — Guests scan and download instantly
  • SMS / Email — Send the GIF link directly
  • Native Share — Share through the device's share sheet


Because GIFs are widely supported across devices and platforms, they display inline on virtually every phone, messaging app, and social media platform without needing a special player.



Tips


  • Coach your guests — Tell them each photo is a frame in their animation. Encourage progressive poses (e.g., slowly opening a prop, building up to a big smile)
  • Use the countdown wisely — A shorter countdown between shots (2-3 seconds) keeps the energy up and makes the GIF feel snappier
  • Test the template first — Run a test session to see how the GIF looks with your chosen template and lighting
  • Pair with fun props — Sequenced props (flip signs, party blowers) create great GIF moments




Re-Running GIF on Past Sessions


Once a session exists, you can re-generate its GIF at any time from the Sessions list — useful if you want to regenerate a GIF with different settings, or add the GIF effect to a session that was originally captured with a different effect. The source photos stay on the session, so GIF assembly just runs again against the existing frames.



What's Next?


Updated on: 04/11/2026

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