How to send GIF animated e-cards using Mail

Question

Level 1

9 points

How to send GIF animated e-cards using Mail

There was no forums category for 'MAIL' so I am hoping someone on this board may help?

I am trying to send an animated e-card by email… It’s a freebie that I dragged and dropped onto my desktop. It animates fine when I view it through finder. but if I drag it into a Mail email message field it only copies one (of the three) images so just ends up as a still image.

Is it simple or complex to get this animation effect to work in an email. and will most recipients of said email view it in the same way?

Many thanks and HAPPY 2015 TO ALL !

Posted on Jan 1, 2015 2:55 AM

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Answer 1

mns579

Level 4

1,170 points

Jan 1, 2015 7:12 AM in response to mbriscoe

Mac Mail doesn't display animated GIFs. Mac Mail will send animated GIFs, but whether the recipient can see the animation depends on the receiver's email client. Fuller explanation and some suggestions here: http://www.nurweb.biz/apple-mail-does-not-show-gif-animation/.

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Answer 2

mbriscoe Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 1, 2015 8:57 AM in response to mns579

Thanks for that link mns579... What a shame, They're so nice those animated pix. So at best it looks like it's going to be difficult sending animated pix in mail. and I don't like sending emails to people with html links to an e-card. Oh well!... Thanks again

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Answer 3

mns579

Level 4

1,170 points

Jan 1, 2015 9:34 AM in response to mbriscoe

You could convert the GIF to a movie (with, for instance QuickTime 7 Pro), but that movie would play only once and then stop on the last frame. The workaround to this loop limitation is to have put many copies of a GIF-based movie into a single movie--so that the GIF animation seems to loop even though it in fact is simply a long movie with a repeating sequence. And to make the movie as crossplatform as possible, save it to an iPod-compatible format. QT 7 Pro offers a convenient export mode of "Movie to iPod" that creates a nearly universally playable MPEG4 file. But even with these workarounds, you still have to rely on the recipient to click the movie to get it to play.

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