GIF89a animation is a simple and cheap way to create "instant animation". It will allow a limited form of sprite-based animation. You can add a smaller image to a larger one and change its co-ordinates in following images. You could for example, make a bird fly or a ball bounce. Since the animation is done on the client side, animated GIF89a images can be cached by the browser, resulting in much faster frame rates. When someone not using a browser that can handle GIF animation, views your animation, they generally see the first of your series of images, not a broken icon.

To create this kind of animation, first create separate multiple images (frames), using a graphics tool such as Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photoshop, showing the motion or changes you want.

Then you use an animation tool to sequence them together. Several are available, including:-

• GIF Construction Set which has an Animation Wizard tool that guides you through the entire creation process effortlessly. With it you can create transparent, interlaced and animated GIF files for your web page. The Animation Wizard feature of GIF Construction Set will have you creating moving graphics in minutes. The Banner, Transition and LED Signs options of GIF Construction Set will create sophisticated graphics from scratch with nothing more than a few mouse clicks.

• GifBuilder is a scriptable utility to create animated GIF files on the Macintosh. It can be used manually to collect PICT, GIF, TIFF or Photoshop images or to convert QuickTime movies, FilmStrip or PICS files, or via AppleScript with other scriptable applications like clip2gif.

• Microsoft GIF Animator Arrange, customize, and create images in Microsoft Image Composer and simply drag them into Microsoft GIF Animator. Use the more than more than 500 tools and effects in Microsoft Image Composer™ to get the look you want. You can also drag images into GIF Animator from other image editing applications. Customize your animations the way you want. Microsoft GIF Animator has three easy-to-use property sheets that allow you to control all aspects of your animations. Make your animations loop, spin and fade in and out; set the size and transparency of your images; and control a wide range of other options all with a simple click of the mouse.

• Astound WebMotion for Windows and Macintosh. Astound WebMotion offers path and actor animation, precise timeline control, sound synchronization, interactivity, and much more - without any knowledge of programming lingo or HTML. Create actors using your own graphics or choose from Astound WebMotion's huge library of animated clip-art and actors. Simply click and drag to define a path, and your actors follow. Animations can ba saved as GIF or Java applets.

1. create a GIF89a image file containing the images in succession,
2. along with some header information including a special Netscape identifier, that informs the browser how (and how fast) to loop the images.
3. Save the new image file under a new name - take care to not overwrite one of the frame files.