gif-editing

name	gif-editing
description	Use when a user wants simple GIF edits: static overlays, crop/resize, palette or duration fixes, optimization, frame extraction, preview/debug exports, or converting local media into a GIF; not for pinned/snap-to-object tracking.
version	1.1.0
author	Hermes Agent
license	Apache-2.0
platforms	["linux","macos","windows"]
metadata	{"hermes":{"tags":["GIF","Media","Editing","Pillow","FFmpeg","Optimization"],"related_skills":["gif-search","gif-pinned-overlay-tracking","slack-gif-creator","youtube-video-download"]}}

GIF Editing

Overview

Lean router skill for ordinary GIF edits. Use it for static overlays, cropping, resizing, palette cleanup, duration/loop fixes, frame extraction, optimization, and preview/debug exports.

Do not let this skill compete with the tracked-overlay workflow. If the user says the asset should be pinned, snapped, attached, follow an object, follow a pixel signature, or scale with a moving area, load gif-pinned-overlay-tracking and use its canonical scripts.

Routing

User need	Use
Find a GIF from Tenor/Giphy	gif-search
Download video/media from a URL	youtube-video-download or yt-dlp directly
Static logo/sticker/watermark on every frame	this skill
Crop, resize, optimize, convert, extract frames	this skill
Logo/sticker follows a moving object	gif-pinned-overlay-tracking
Slack-specific GIF sizing or emoji constraints	slack-gif-creator

Core workflow

1. Preserve the source; write a new output path.
2. Normalize the source locally.
   • Web page URLs are often not media URLs; resolve them before editing.
   • If converting video to GIF, use an ffmpeg palette pass rather than a one-shot conversion.
3. Prepare overlays as RGBA and preserve transparency until final quantization.
4. Edit frame-by-frame with Pillow for per-frame compositing, or ffmpeg for format/size/fps operations.
5. Preserve frame durations and loop count unless the user asks to change speed.
6. Export debug artifacts when placement is uncertain: first frame, mid frame, contact sheet, or preview HTML.
7. Verify output before reporting success.

Useful commands

Resolve a page URL to media when needed:

yt-dlp --no-playlist --force-overwrites -o 'gif_work/source.%(ext)s' '<url>'

Video to GIF with a palette pass:

ffmpeg -y -i source.mp4 -vf "fps=15,scale=640:-1:flags=lanczos,palettegen" palette.png
ffmpeg -y -i source.mp4 -i palette.png -lavfi "fps=15,scale=640:-1:flags=lanczos[x];[x][1:v]paletteuse" output.gif

Use one-off Python dependencies without mutating the user's environment:

uv run --with pillow python your_edit_script.py

Pitfalls

• Tenor/Giphy page URLs are not always direct GIF URLs. Resolve/download the underlying media first.
• GIF variants can have different dimensions. Inspect frame 0 before choosing coordinates.
• For transparent overlays, composite in RGBA and only quantize at export; otherwise logos can gain white/black boxes or jagged edges.
• Preserve durations. Re-saving every frame at a default duration can make the GIF too fast or too slow.
• Do not use keyframe interpolation or static coordinates when the user asked for a true snap/pin to a moving object; route to gif-pinned-overlay-tracking.
• In CLI sessions, report absolute paths plainly. Do not emit platform-specific MEDIA:/path tags.

Verification checklist

• Output exists and is separate from the source.
• Dimensions, frame count, durations, and loop match the intended result.
• Overlay transparency survived.
• Visual placement is checked on frame 0 and at least one mid/late frame.
• File size is reasonable for the target platform.
• Any generated debug/preview path is reported plainly.

Script ownership

This skill intentionally has no bundled tracking scripts. The canonical script-backed workflow for object-following overlays lives in gif-pinned-overlay-tracking. Keep deterministic tracking machinery there so public packages do not duplicate and rot.