A picture can be worth a thousand words – especially if that image is an animated GIF.
Whether you’re trying to express a special sentiment, share a moment or pile on a meme, these great apps can help you create GIFs that are all your own.
Giphy Capture
Giphy Capture, made by the company behind one of the largest libraries of ready-made GIFs on the web, is an easy-to-use app for recording your Mac’s screen, adding (and animating!) annotations and turning the result into an animated GIF with just a few clicks.
Gifox
Gifox can record a specific window or section of your Mac’s screen, which makes it great for capturing quick screencasts that you can export as GIFs. The app also includes a slew of options for tweaking the quality and size of your GIF.
PhotoScape X - Photo Editor
Although primarily a photo editor, PhotoScape X is a handy tool for creating an animation from a sequence of photos. Apply the app’s moody filters and effects to create GIFs with real personality.
Cinemagraph Pro
Want a truly unique GIF? Look to Cinemagraph Pro, which turns a full-motion video into an animated image where you choose what moves – and what doesn’t. Imagine a GIF depicting ocean waves breaking on the shore while people on the beach stand motionless, or a person walking down a footpath while cars on the street are frozen in time.
ScreenFlow
While ScreenFlow is best known for letting you make beautiful screencasts and instructional videos, it’s also a handy GIF maker, thanks to its advanced video-editing timeline and tools for adding captions, effects, voice-overs and more. Impressive GIF compression is a welcome bonus.