Gifworks Tutorial: Making Banners with 3D Text

Making animated banners at Gifworks is fun & easy. To get started, click on "File", then click on "New 3D Text". You will be taken to a new page with 5 sections where you will make your banner.

STEP 1: Select New Text Color
You have 3 ways of selecting the color for your banner:

Click a box on the color cube
Enter decimal numbers (0-255) in the R, G & B boxes
Enter a hexidecimal number in the "Color" box

Your will see your color in the sample box.

STEP 2: Select A Font From The Lists Below
Choose a font from one of the 6 font families:

Serif Fonts (50 fonts)
Non-serif Fonts (120 fonts)
Handwritten Fonts (40 fonts)
Decorative Fonts (50 fonts)
Outline Fonts (20 fonts)
Crazy Fonts (31 fonts)

You will see a sample of your font choice in the bottom box of this section.

STEP 3: Select The Dimensions Of The Text Image
You have 4 choices:

Default
Standard Banner (468x60)
LE Banner (400x40)
Custom - Enter your width & height in the boxes

STEP 4: Select Animation Effects, Looping and other Options
Choose 1 of 12 animation effects; we will make one banner with each. Click here to see Paulie's sample banners.

Rotate Right Sample
Rotate Right Single Sample
Rotate Left Sample
Rotate Left Single Sample
Slide Right Sample
Slide Left Sample
Swing Sample
Swing Single Sample
Flip Backward Sample
Flip Forward Sample
Zoom Sample
Stationary Sample

Choose looping: the default is "Run Forever" or you may click on Run & enter the number of times you want your banner to loop.

Select a Speed: fast, medium or slow.
Choose a Font Size (4-30). The default is 12.
Choose a Depth (1-30). This determinines how "thick" your letters will be. The default is 3.
Choose Tilt Forward in degrees. You will see the tilt as your banner turns. Enter "0" to have your letters stand up straight. The default is -5.
Choose Tilt Right in degrees. This determines how of of the side of each letter you will see. The default is -5.
Choose the number of Frames (1-30)you want your banner to have. More frames will make your animation smoother, but will increase the file size.

STEP 5: Enter Your Text
Enter your text in the box, then click on Preview