How to open ImageReady animations without ImageReady
26 October, 2009 | Filed under “The Archives”
The problem
So, this customer wanted an update to an animated GIF advertisment. It was an aging file made by a different designer with ImageReady, the now discontinued Photoshop companion. I said, sure, no problem, send the file.
Of cource, it did not open in Photoshop, or rather, it did not open as the sequence of images I so sorely remember from those days when not every advertiser accepted Flash animations. All I got was a single index-layer with only the first frame of the animation showing. What about import options, then? Video Frames to Layers… looked (somewhat) promising, but alas, the GIF-file was greyed out, not willing to become part of a questionable plot. I cast a sidelong glance at the dusty G4 in the corner, seriously considering a step back in time.
As it turned out, however, I was not the only one with this problem. People had been scratching their heads since the CS3 suit was released in 2007, and had found means to battle the obstacle. At least as far as Windows users are concerned. It seems that Macintosh users (that is me, in there) are more on their own in this matter, but, for some, a change of suffix from “gif” to “mov” combined with a video import as described above, might cut the mustard. For me, it did not.
Adobe washes its hands in the matter and have moved on. Or probably moved sideways if one ponders their solution to the problem: Use Fireworks! A strange move in their effort to streamline Photoshop (an impossible undertaking, by the way). An admirable thing it is to get rid of ImageReady, but leaving things to Fireworks? Hmmm.
Anyway, I will not spend too much energy on this. To save myself the trouble of once more going through it all when next time the problem pops up, I will transfer it all from memory to the archives of these web pages for later retrieval.
The solution
Let us use Eadweard Muybridge’s amazing animation of galloping thoroughbred bay mare Annie G. If we have to go back in time, let us at least do so in style!
1. Fire up Fireworks, no pun intended.
2. From the menu bar, choose:
File > Open…
3. In the Open File window, navigate to the gif-animation, uncheck Open as "Untitled", and hit the <Open> button.
4. When the file opens in Fireworks, hit the Play-button to test the animation. If it does not run, bang your head against a wall, make a cup of tea and join the heroic ranks of researchers. If it runs, choose:
File > Export…
and demand Export: Frames to Files (in Fireworks 9/CS3) or Export: States to Files (in Fireworks 10/CS4). You may want to experiment with the Trim Images option.
That is all there is to it. The original, single file GIF-animation has been broken down into two or more separate “frames”, named something like “muybridge_f01.gif”, “muybridge_f02.gif” etc. If you had not unchecked the Open as "Untitled" option, your sequence would have been named “Untitled_f01.gif” etc.
