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Karan Datwani
Karan Datwani

Posted on • Originally published at backpackforlaravel.com

Add Engaging Animations To Your Webapp for FREE

Lottie animations have become a popular choice for adding rich, engaging animations to websites and apps. They’re lightweight, scalable, and easy to implement, making them a go-to solution for designers and developers alike. In this tutorial, we'll explore what Lottie animations are, how to use them, and where to get them.

What is Lottie?

Lottie is a library developed by Airbnb that renders animations in real-time on the web and mobile apps. It reads JSON files exported from Adobe After Effects using the Bodymovin plugin, allowing complex animations to be easily integrated without compromising performance.

Why Use Lottie?

  • Lightweight: Compared to traditional video files or GIFs, Lottie animations are extremely small in size.
  • Scalable: Because they’re vector-based, Lottie animations remain crisp and clear at any size.
  • Cross-Platform: Lottie works seamlessly across different platforms, including web, iOS, and Android.
  • Easy to Integrate: With the Lottie library, implementing animations is straightforward, requiring just a few lines of code.
  • Community Resources: Lottie has an active community, sharing many animations for FREE.

Getting Started

LottieFiles is a go-to resource for Lottie animations. It provides a vast library of FREE and premium animations, tools for creating and editing animations, and even plugins for easy integration with many platforms like vanilaJS, React, VueJS, IOS, Android, etc.

Visit LottieFiles.com and search through categories to find animations that suit your needs. Download the animation you like in the JSON format.

Adding Lottie Animations to Your Project

  1. Add an element where your animation will appear:
<canvas id="canvas" width="300" height="300"></canvas>
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  1. Include the Lottie Web library and play the animation with JavaScript:
<script type="module">
  import {DotLottie} from "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@lottiefiles/dotlottie-web/+esm";

  new DotLottie({
    autoplay: true,
    loop: true,
    canvas: document.getElementById("canvas"),
    src: "https://lottie.host/4db68bbd-31f6-4cd8-84eb-189de081159a/IGmMCqhzpt.lottie", // or .json file
  });
</script>
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Wanna Embed into HTML or Wordpress?

That's also possible. Here is an example of embedding a lottie animation:

<script src="https://unpkg.com/@lottiefiles/lottie-player@latest/dist/lottie-player.js"></script>

<lottie-player src="https://lottie.host/4c2a69ec-47c3-49ae-b296-8a4770ce5cf5/sl7OhHvAbk.json" background="#FFFFFF" speed="1" style="width: 300px; height: 300px" loop controls autoplay direction="1" mode="normal">
</lottie-player>
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Where is IOS, Android, React or Vue.. integration?

For other platforms, find the suitable lottie player here.

Conclusion

Lottie animations offer a way to enhance the user experience with rich, high-quality animations. With resources like LottieFiles.com, integrating and customizing these animations has never been easier. Whether you're a designer or a developer, adding Lottie animations to your toolkit can elevate your projects and make them stand out.🥇

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