It happens in every edit. The moment needs a GIF, so you stop, jump out to a browser, hunt for the right one, download it, maybe convert it, then dig it out of your downloads folder and bring it back into Premiere Pro or After Effects. None of that is editing. It is a detour, and by the time the GIF finally lands on your timeline, your momentum went with it.
GIFer is a Filmit plugin for Premiere Pro and After Effects built to skip all of that. It puts a full GIF panel inside your editor: search Giphy, browse trending and categories, save favorites that sync between both apps, and insert a GIF into your timeline in one click. This guide follows the full demo video, from the one-time setup to dropping GIFs into both editors.
This video may reference an older version of GIFer. Features and UI may have changed since recording.
What is GIFer?
GIFer is a GIF search and insert panel for Premiere Pro and After Effects. It runs on the backbone of Giphy, so the trending feed, the categories, and the search all live in a panel docked next to your timeline. Find the GIF you want, click insert, and it is in your project, with no browser, no downloads folder, and no conversion step in between.
It installs through Filmit Studio, the free companion app for Windows and macOS, and opens as a panel from the Window menu in either app. Because it is the same panel in both editors, you learn it once and use it everywhere you cut, with your favorites following you from app to app.
How to open GIFer in Premiere Pro or After Effects
Once GIFer is installed, open it from Window, then Extensions, then GIFer. The panel opens right inside your editor, and the steps are identical whether you are in Premiere Pro or After Effects.
One thing to know on first launch: the panel may open with nothing loaded yet. That is not a broken install. GIFer needs a quick one-time setup before it can start pulling GIFs in, and that is the next step.
The one-time Giphy API setup
GIFer runs off the Giphy API, which means it needs an API key before the panel populates. Setting one up is simple, and there is a dedicated walkthrough for it: scroll to the bottom of Filmit.io and you will find a guide called Giphy API setup that takes you through the whole process. It is short, and there are how-to articles and help pages covering it as well.
If you hit a snag anywhere along the way, reach out through the contact form on the site or hop into the Filmit Discord and ask. Once your key is in place, everything populates and the panel comes alive: trending, categories, your favorites, and settings, all ready to go.
Pro Tip: If GIFer opens and looks empty the first time, that is the API setup waiting to happen, not a bug. Run through the Giphy API setup walkthrough at the bottom of Filmit.io and the panel fills in.
Trending, categories, and search
With setup done, the panel is straightforward. Trending shows what is popular on Giphy right now, which is perfect when you want something current and do not have a specific GIF in mind. Categories let you browse by mood or subject when you know the vibe but not the exact clip. And when you know exactly what you are after, search takes you straight to it.
The point is that all of it happens next to your timeline. You browse options in the same window as your edit, so picking a GIF stops being a context switch and becomes part of the cut.
Favorites that sync between both apps
When you find a GIF you know you will use again, click favorite and it saves to your favorites tab. In the demo it is a Donald Duck GIF, but the real value shows up over time: every reaction you favorite becomes part of a personal library that is always one tab away.
Favorites are not locked to one app, either. Favorite a GIF while you are cutting in After Effects and it is waiting for you in Premiere Pro, with the same categories and the same trending feed around it. The panel stays consistent across both editors, so your library travels with you.
Pro Tip: Favorite GIFs as you browse, even ones you do not need for the current edit. The library you build means the perfect reaction for next week is one click away instead of another search.
Insert a GIF into your timeline in one click
This is the whole reason GIFer exists. When you are ready to drop a GIF into your edit, find your timeline and click insert. The GIF lands on the timeline just like that, ready to trim, scale, and time to the moment. Want a few more? Click insert again and stack them up. The loop is find, click, done.
Behind the scenes, GIFer keeps things tidy. In After Effects, every inserted GIF saves into a dedicated GIF folder instead of scattering files around your project. And if you want those files somewhere specific, open the directory setting and point the folder wherever you like.
Pro Tip: Set the GIF directory to the assets folder for your current project. Every GIF you insert travels with the project when you archive it or hand it to another editor.
The same workflow inside Premiere Pro
Everything above works the same way in Premiere Pro. Open GIFer and your favorites are right where you left them, with the same categories and the same trending feed. Find your timeline, click insert, and the GIF drops straight into your sequence. In the demo that is Donald Duck landing on a very crowded timeline, followed by a few more for good measure.
Premiere Pro even gets a couple of extra options in the panel beyond what After Effects has. The core loop does not change, though: search, favorite, insert, keep editing.
A panel that keeps improving
GIFer is actively updated, and the demo says it plainly: by the time you watch the video, there are probably already new options in the panel, with more on the way. If there is something you want GIFer to do, the settings page links straight to the Filmit Discord, the support form, and a feature request path.
That feedback loop is real. On Discord you can tag Max, the founder, and talk through ideas directly, and it is exactly the kind of input that shapes what gets built next.
Key takeaways
GIFer turns the GIF hunt from a browser detour into a couple of clicks inside your editor.
Trending, categories, and search, powered by Giphy, in Premiere Pro and After Effects.
Skip the browser, the download, and the conversion step entirely.
Save a GIF once and it is waiting in both apps.
Inserted GIFs save to a dedicated folder, and the directory setting puts it wherever you want.
The Giphy API setup walkthrough at the bottom of Filmit.io gets the panel populated, with help on Discord if you need it.
Why I built GIFer
GIFer came out of a frustration every editor recognizes. You are locked into an edit, the moment needs a GIF, and everything that follows happens outside your editor: the browser, the hunt, the download, the maybe convert, the re-import. The GIF was never the hard part. The workflow around it was, and it broke my focus every single time.
So we built the panel I wanted: the whole GIF loop inside Premiere Pro and After Effects, with favorites that follow me between apps. There are a couple of new options I want to add, so keep an eye out for those. And if you want a say in what comes next, our Discord is linked right in the settings page. Tag me and tell me what would make GIFer better for you. Thanks for being a part of Filmit.
Get started with Filmit
GIFer installs through Filmit Studio, the free app that manages every Filmit plugin for Premiere Pro and After Effects. One install puts GIFer in your editor, and the same app keeps it updated as new options ship.
If you like keeping searches inside your editor, pair GIFer with Sourcer, the stock media panel that does the same thing for photos and video clips: search from inside Premiere Pro or After Effects and insert to your timeline in one click. Less time hunting in a browser, more time actually editing.
