Giphy Artist Questions:
For the Curious
Hi there! Before you contact me, check if I answered your question below.
This information is based on my experience, and is not meant to be used as an official guide for Giphy in any way. For up-to-date information, please check Giphy :)
I need an official artist who can upload my GIFs to their account. Can you do this?
No, I cannot upload your GIFs to my artist account due to obvious branding reasons and terms of service.
Please read through Giphy Support FAQs and apply for the creator or brand account if you’d like to see your GIFs on social media. You should have a professional portfolio.
Artist accounts are now invite-only by the Giphy team, so apply through the creator account first.
If you are applying for a brand account (if you are a musician, you fall under this category), you are required to have a domain email.
Do you have any tips for creating gIFs?
Keep an eye on the front page of Giphy to see what’s trending. Check the dashboard analytics to see how your GIFs do.
Consider what makes a GIF shareable. Is there a message?
Make sure you fill out the hashtags. That’s how people will find your content. Use a mix of hashtags that are popular and less popular ones. Your GIFs can gain visibility through the less popular hashtags.
Check out what other people are tagging for that same GIF subject. Don’t forget to tag your name to make it easier to find you!
How do you make your GIFs?
I draw them with Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop and import the file into After Effects for animation. When exporting stickers, make sure it’s exported as a transparent file. There are free youtube tutorials out there if you’re unsure how.
How long does a Creator or Brand application approval process take?
It could take a few weeks. It depends on the volume of applications they receive. For me, application approval was pretty quick, but that was years ago. Reach out to their Support Team if you haven’t heard back.
Do my GIFs need to go through an approval process every time i upload and how long does it take?
Yes, this is separate from the application process. Upload ahead of time if it’s time-sensitive. It could take a few days or less. If you upload on the weekend, approval is slower so your stickers won’t show up on social media immediately. Also, if you have curse words or offensive gestures, that may get flagged and slow down approval.
Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done. The GIF format is practically vintage and have a limited range of colors it can support, so you won’t get the highest quality through that format.
Try to upload higher resolution and test different GIF export options, while still keeping your file size to a minimum. I use Photoshop to maximize control over my GIF exports.
When the GIF gets uploaded to the GIF platform, it undergoes compression and if you’re posting to social media, that platform will also further compress it.