Animated LED Sign in Photoshop

by lookatmygrlyfont

19K3147

Intro: Animated LED Sign in Photoshop

In this instructable you will learn how to make an animated LED sign in Photoshop. Dont worry ill give you the a PSD of the template in multiple colors. Oh Yeah I made this one for my girlfriend.

STEP 1: What You Need. (Don't Skip This Step.)

You will need the following:

-Mac/PC
-Photoshop
-The template pack below (red, blue, and green)
-Patience... lots of it.

STEP 2: Plan

You really don't want to make our message very long or you could be working for quite a while. My I love you thing took ~45 min but i had to make the templates and stuff. So plan on at least a half hour.

STEP 3: Start Making Your Message.

To make your message you will be using mostly the paint bucket tool. First open up the template color of your choice and the dot color. Then load the lighter of the two colors with the eye dropper tool. Then you can start making your first letter. My first letter was an "I" so I put two dots on the top and bottom. Then save it as number 1.jpg or something like that. MOVE YOUR LETTERS TWO DOTS TO THE LEFT FOR EVERY IMAGE.

STEP 4: Next

Everyone you make save it as a different number. You will have to turn the lighter colored "LEDs" back to dark so load the darker color. To do that load the darker color in with the eyedropper and use the paint bucket to return them to the original state.

STEP 5: Pre-Animation

You should have 20+ images. Open them all in Photoshop. Then close and reopen the the template image. After its open go to the layer menu > merge visible. Find the image called 1.jpg (or whatever you named it) and press command(mac)/control(windows) + A to select all then command(mac)/control(windows) + C to copy it.
Then go back to the template image and press command(mac)/control(windows) + V to paste it as a new layer. Continue this for every image until you have all of the images in one side the template document.

STEP 6: Animation

So now go to Windows > Animation. Then go to the drop down arrow and click make frames for layers. After that change the time to .2 seconds. Hit play and see if its how you like.

STEP 7: Saving

To save to to file > save for web. Then just hit save and it pick your location to save it. After its saved you may have to open it in a browser such as firefox to see the animation, so right click on the file and go to open with and chose your browser.

38 Comments

robot more 13 years ago

great 'ible i used gimp and unfreeze to make mine

ander 15 years ago

This is like drawing a screensaver frame-by-frame. It'd be immensely more practical just to write a program that lets you type in whatever text you want, then converts it to an animated GIF for you in any format you want. Are there no programmers on this topic? Only graphic artists? Just curious.

DrCoolSanta 15 years ago

I aggree with the people that say that MS GIF animator, or any other for that matter will work just as good. After all you aren't using any special effects for the frames. And of course that will be much more easier, I mean it is quite easier to work with such stuff in ms paint and put them up in a freeware animator.

I'll show you something:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d71/RockingGroudon/blink001.gif

It has been some time since I made this animation, and of course I made this in ms paint. nothing fancy, but to make this in photoshop will be so difficult. I mean, yes photoshop is so powerful, but for effects that are so simple, there is no use using a complicated software compared to a normal software.
Yes I could have done that in PS, but then the effect would have been totally different. Much more close to reality.

DrCoolSanta 15 years ago

Do the same thing. And I mean the same thing. Make the frames in layers and export it to gif.

zachninme 16 years ago

Why can't this done using Photoshop in Wine in Linux? It works! Or in GIMP....

theburn7 15 years ago

It works in gimp, try it out!

zachninme 15 years ago

I don't think you understood what I meant ;-)

theburn7 15 years ago

oh i did, i am just saying gimp will work, spread the word, yo

lookatmygrlyfont 16 years ago

not sure if it works in GIMP cause i dont use it. I also dont use linux w/ wine so idk. If it works let me know though...

derfman24 15 years ago

you select open with gimp

jdisco 16 years ago

Probably change the extension to .xcf

ac1D 16 years ago

photoshop work with wine. if you want to do this, dont use photoshop. use microsoft with a free .gif images animator. lol!

lookatmygrlyfont 16 years ago

hmm you barley speak english. um no photoshop is 100 times better than anything youll get from M$.

ac1D 16 years ago

i agree with you, i totally agree. But, i dont want to be rude, but look.. your led are just little circle, no effect, nothing. This Really look like you used ms.paint. everyone could reproduce it in paint!

lookatmygrlyfont 16 years ago

LEDs are circle. Well most of them. when you do better please tell me. Yes sure it needs work. I guess i should just delete this damn thing since everyone is hating on it.

ac1D 16 years ago

i know they are circle. take a led and a battery. look at the led when its lighten, look directly at it. its not a flat blue color.
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