How to Create Cinemagraph in Adobe Photoshop

In this era of technology, people are embracing the latest tools to facilitate their life. One such tool which is trending in social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest is Cinemagraph. All those who are active in social media, they are well familiar with this term. Cinemagraph is a micro-video and functions as a still image containing minor portions repeatedly moving. Therefore, this can also be called a living photograph. It is programmed in such a way so that it loops infinitely without any pause and flaw. Cinemagraph should not be longer than 8 sec and should be created circumspectly. It serves various purposes in various fields due to its unique appearance.

Cinemagraphs are elegant and enchanting and so businesses are enormously using these in their websites and social media platforms to grab the attention of potential clients. This results in higher user engagement in social media (clicks in banners and ads) and longer sessions on websites. On top of that, cinemagraphs also have the power to reminisce about emotional reactions than mere photography.

Step By Step Guide to Create Cinemagraph in Photoshop

Step 1

At first, you have to import the video from which you want to create cinemagraph. To carry out that, go to File » Import » Video Frames to Layers.

After you pick your video file, a window will pop up with the import options. You can leave all the settings as it is, and import the video file. This will drive all your frames to be created as layers in the layer panel on the right-hand side of your screen.

Step 2

After that, you should create a group of all the layers barring layer 1. To do so, go to Layer » New » Group from Layers.

Step 3

Next, you have to select the group and proceed for adding mask to the group. To carry out that, go to Layer » Layer Mask » Reveal All.

Step 4

Following that, press Ctrl+I to invert the color of the mask and set the foreground color as white. Now, select the brush tool from the toolbar from the left-hand side of the screen and brush the area you wish to loop in the living photograph.

Step 5

Now, you have to go to Window » Timeline to open all your layers in animation format at the bottom of the screen. As all the frames are transparent apart from the first one, you have to go to the layer panel and select the bottom layer (1st layer). Following that, click on the Unify layer visibility icon and press the Match button.

Step 6

After that, you have to click on the toggle icon of the timeline and select all the frames. Now, copy all the frames by clicking the toggle icon again and selecting Copy Frames. After all the frames are copied, click the toggle icon of the timeline once more, and select the Paste Frames option. Leave the Paste After Selection option selected and press the OK button.

Step 7

Click the toggle icon of the timeline again keeping the newly pasted frames selected and choose the Reverse Frames option. You can also adjust the Set Frame Delay to make a shift in the moving frames if you wish.

Step 8

Finally, go to File » Save For Web and select GIF to save your video. Furthermore, you can alter any Dither settings to adjust the file size of your GIF image.

Finally, the cinemagraph with the help of Adobe Photoshop is created.

Example of another living photograph

If you want to create cinemagraphs in bulk to use as GIFs or for other marketing objectives, Color Experts International is at the forefront to serve you with utmost satisfaction. We have been functioning in the field of image retouching for over 30 years. Our service has always been customer-oriented and this has enabled us to achieve positive outcomes in the past years. We have fruitfully worked with some of the reputed companies including Adidas, Nike, Puma, etc.

We have 250+ professional photo manipulators who are always committed to fulfilling the requirements of the company’s clients. We use the latest photo editing tools like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Lightroom, Pen Tablet (Wacom), etc. Our clients include professional photographers, e-commerce site owners, magazine publishers, website owners, advertising agencies, etc. We offer top-notch service at a competitive price. Based on the quantity of your order, we also render a high volume discount.