All you wanted to know (Sources)

Hello!

This was shared by Blueshift on if.in! It was very helpful so i thought of posting it here!!

Here's a list of various animation software packages available for download(Some free, shareware, trial ware):

GIMP with Animation Package
This is the best freeware software for making amazing photo-effects. If you do not have Photoshop, this is a good s/w for you. Now also comes with Animation Package for creating animations.
You will need to download three files for this.
1. The GIMP for Windows (version 2.2.10) 7863 kB
2. GTK+ 2 Runtime Environment (version 2.8.9, for Windows 2000 and newer; updated installer) 3734 kB
3. GIMP Animation Package (version 2.2.0) 2542 kB
Help

Animation Shop
This is a trial version but definately does good job of animating. It has some premade transitions and effects to be applied on the image.
Help

UnFreez
This application converts several GIF images into a single animated GIF file. So you can create gif files like different texts, save them as gif and then join using this freeware app.

Other softwares that you might want to try:

Irfan View
This is basically a freeware graphic viewer which can also edit, add effects and optimize images.

Smart Morph
This is a freeware which can morph an image from one to another. Give this a try and you will like playing with this!

Online tools for creating signatures, banners etc. :

sigGen v5.0 PE
These have some abstract signatures. I bet girls will not like this!
http://siggenpe.tk/

Banner Maker
Some descent banners here! Although difficult for beginners, but still has more controls.
http://www.bannercreator.nu/banner-maker.html

3DText Maker
http://www.3dtextmaker.com/cgi-bin/3dtext.pl

Banner Break
Another good generator.
http://www.bannerbreak.com/generate.php?id=42

Glitter Maker
Girls special! No more comments.
http://www.glittermaker.com/index.php?imageText=your+text

Optimization tools and articles:

GIF Works
This is online GIF image editor which can do optimization and add effects too!
http://www.gifworks.com/image_editor.html

GIFeq 1.1
GIFeq is a small utility that allows you to optimize your GIF files, and reduce the size of them by removing comments and interlacing, optimizing palettes and more. Its a freeware and only 500KB download.

Article on optimising GIF animation.
http://www.webreference.com/dev/gifanim/

Tutorial on making glitter tags
http://forums.photobucket.com/showthread.php?t=7942

Tutorial on making siggies/avatars in MS Paint
http://www.geocities.com/graphics_help/bguide.html

Thanx to Blueshift for sharing it!

Regards,