Gickr does software-free animated GIF creation

I was at a bit of an impasse earlier today while writing aboutthe newGoogle Maps page that lets you see user adjustments inreal-time. A video to show off the feature would have beenoverkill, while an animated GIF afforded the same view to readersat a substantially smaller file size. Not having Photoshopinstalled on this machine (which has a pretty simpleanimated-GIF-making wizard), and not wanting to go through atedious multistep process using Paint.net, I turned to Gickr.

Gickr is a simple tool that lets you upload up to 10 files fromFlickr oryour PC and turn them into an animated GIF with variable speedcontrol. The service is aimed mostly at social networking users whowant to pack the most into their profile picture or photogalleries, but if you've ever been curious about making ananimated GIF but have been put off either by some of the obscurespecial software required or complex how-to guides, then this isthe tool for you.

Once you've uploaded your images to the service you cantweak things like how big you want the end image to be, and howfast it cycles through each picture. Gickr hosts the GIF for you,and gives you an embed code and the option to add tags to make it apart of the user gallery. The one limitation is that the serviceadds a little Gickr watermark to your image in the top left corner,even if you want to host the image yourself. That, and the fasttransition speed is truly nauseating unless you're attemptingto make a cartoon. I still enjoy its simplicity when compared withadmittedly more powerful, but complicated standalone softwaretools.