gif is locked

[Tugboat_Timmy]

I pasted a snapshot in ps and saved as a gif. Now, I need to upload it for an example but I need to blur out the password.

When I reopen the gif in photoshop, the layer is locked and I can't alt-click/double click to unlock it.
The layers name is index. So, for a while, I've just been coyping all to new doc to work around (which is pretty annoying btw). But it's just about time I stop working around this, and just learn how to unlock.

Thanks

[dave milbut]

<nodding>

[Tugboat_Timmy]

Thanks, is there a way to save my gifs, so it doesn't use index color mode?

btw, sorry if this is FAQ, but I did search for locked gif but didn't find anything for the index thing.

[dave milbut]

no. that's what a gif is. to edit you need to do as tony says and change the mode to rgb when you open it. when you resave it, it'll automatically convert it to index color mode.

dave

[Tugboat_Timmy]

Yeah, I was able to do that, just was wondering if I could save a step when I save as gif in the future.

Thanks guys.

[Don McCahill]

Timmy

You should be saving your files as PSDs anyway. You will still have to convert an existing Gif from indexed, but if you use the Save for web feature to make new gifs, you can leave the image as a PSD.

The advantage to this is that PSD format supports million of colors, and GIF only uses 256. By keeping the file as PSD you maintain the additional colors, incase you decide to use the file to make a jpg later.