How to Reverse a GIF Using Python's Pillow (PIL) Library

GIF images are ubiquitous in online communication, and reversing a GIF can create a fun visual effect. This guide shows how to achieve GIF reversal using Python's Pillow (PIL) library.

1. Import the required modules

from PIL import Image, ImageSequence  # import Image and ImageSequence modules
im = Image.open(r'./1.gif')  # place the source GIF in the same directory as the script

2. Decompose the GIF into individual frames

sequence = []  # list to store frames
i = 0
for f in ImageSequence.Iterator(im):  # iterate over each frame
    sequence.append(f.copy())
    i += 1
    f.save('out_' + str(i) + '.png')  # save each extracted frame as a PNG file

3. Reverse the order of the frame sequence sequence.reverse() 4. Reassemble the reversed frames into a new GIF

sequence[0].save(r'./out_zr640.gif', save_all=True, append_images=sequence[1:])  # save the reversed GIF in the current directory

The resulting GIF plays the original animation backward, as shown in the example images.

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