GIF Maker

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GIF Maker is a small Rust terminal app for turning a folder of image frames into an animated GIF. It uses a Ratatui interface for controls, scans local image files, and writes a looping GIF.

Features

• Reads frames from example/frames by default
• Lets you choose a custom input folder from the terminal UI
• Supports png, jpg, and jpeg input files
• Sorts frame files by path before encoding
• Resizes every frame to match the first image
• Encodes an infinitely looping GIF to ./output.gif
• Lets you adjust FPS from the terminal UI

Requirements

• Rust toolchain with the 2024 edition support
• A folder of image frames named in sortable order, for example:

example/frames/
  frame_001.png
  frame_002.png
  frame_003.png

Use zero-padded file names so the sorted file order matches the intended animation order.

Usage

Create the default input directory and add frames:

mkdir -p examples/frames
cp /path/to/images/* examples/frames/

Run the app:

cargo run

Inside the TUI:

Key	Action
i	Edit the input folder
Up	Increase FPS
Down	Decrease FPS
Enter	Generate the GIF
q	Quit

While editing the input folder:

Key	Action
Text input	Type the folder path
Backspace	Delete the previous character
Enter	Save the input folder
Esc	Cancel editing

The generated GIF is written to:

./output.gif

How It Works

The app starts a Crossterm alternate-screen terminal, renders the interface with Ratatui, and handles keyboard input in a simple event loop.

The GIF generation flow is:

1. Scan the selected input folder for supported image files.
2. Sort the frame paths.
3. Decode the first image to determine GIF dimensions.
4. Resize every frame to those dimensions.
5. Encode frames into a looping GIF using the selected FPS.

Project Structure

src/
  app.rs           App state and FPS controls
  file_scanner.rs  Image discovery and sorting
  gif_encoder.rs   GIF encoding pipeline
  main.rs          Terminal setup and event loop
  tui.rs           Ratatui layout rendering

Development

Run a local check:

cargo check --all-targets --all-features

Format the code:

cargo fmt

Run Clippy:

cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings

This repository also includes Lefthook configuration for pre-commit checks. See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup details.