How to Make Animated GIF Emojis
The party parrot did not come from nowhere. Here is how to make your own animated emoji from any clip.
What you are making
An animated emoji is just a small looping GIF. The constraints come from the platforms: Slack wants it under roughly 128 KB, Discord under 256 KB, and Teams under about 1 MB. Aim for 128 x 128 pixels and a loop of two seconds or less and it will fit everywhere.
From video clip to emoji
- Get a short clip: a screen recording, a video you have rights to, or an existing GIF.
- Open it in a free converter like ezgif.com. Use the video-to-GIF or resize tools.
- Trim to the funniest two seconds. Shorter loops are funnier and smaller.
- Resize to 128 x 128 (or 100 x 100) and export as GIF.
- Check the file size. Over the limit? Drop the frame rate or cut a few frames and export again.
Upload it
Slack: emoji picker, "Add Emoji", upload, name, save. Teams: emoji picker in any chat, "+", upload. Discord: Server Settings, Emoji tab, Upload Emoji into an animated slot. Full steps for each platform are in the upload guides linked from the guides page.
What makes a good animated emoji
One clear motion, a loop that resets cleanly, and a subject that reads at thumbnail size. If you cannot tell what it is at 32 pixels, it will not land in chat. When in doubt, more bounce.