Note how the timing you set on the first frame is copied as well. The timing can be changed on each frame just as you changed it on the first one. For this example I'm going to leave them each at two seconds.

Which layers do you show?
You've created your frames and added all the layers you want to see. Now you just have to tell each frame which layers to show.

To do this, first select a frame. In the Layers palette, select the eye icon to the left of each layer you do not want to see in that frame. It's just like when you work with a traditional image in Photoshop. If you see the eye icon, you see the layer. No eye, no see. Do this for each frame.

To preview your animation just select the first frame and press play! Like it? Want to see it repeated on an endless loop? Select Forever from the drop down menu below the first frame just like in Figure G.

FIGURE G

Show the animation once? Loop it forever? Heck, maybe you want to do something really out there like loop it for a set number of times and then stop. Click picture for a larger image.

To save your animation as a GIF select File->Save for Web & Devices. Your screen should look similar to Figure H.

FIGURE H

The Save For Web & Devices screen can look a little intimidating. Just remember you can always undo anything you do. It isn't neurosurgery. You can always take a "do over". Click picture for a larger image.

Make sure GIF is selected on the dropdown menu. You have another opportunity to change the size and looping actions of your animation on this screen. Finish by choosing Save and saving the animation as Images Only (*.gif).

You've done it! You can test your animation with your Web browser. Well done! Now you're ready to experiment with opacity, positioning, texture effects -- just have fun building on the basics!

Oh, and if you'd like to see how this animates, take a look at Figure I.

FIGURE I

Here's the final animation.

For more than 20 years, David Gewirtz, the author of Where Have All The Emails Gone? and The Flexible Enterprise, has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com.