Originally posted by roswell1
So, I'm looking for a program that is free and capable of making an emoticon like this:
...
i know people will just tell me to make separate frames then animate them in a program, but the purpose of this thread is asking for something that
eliminates the need to make a picture, save as, change the picture, save as ect... I do not wish to have to do this repeatedly every time I attempt to
make something like an emoticon.

Emoticons are nothing more than GIFs. I.e. you have to manipulate one image, frame by frame... Some software packages make it easier than others, but
there is unfortunately still some degree of work to be done, no matter how you look at it.
There's only one Software package that I'm aware of that's used explicitly to make emoticons.
EmoteMaker - which can be downloaded
here. As far as
I know it's freeware - but I'm not 100% sure of this, you'll have to check it out yourself.
I'm sure a Google search will reveal one or two more similar packages - but I'm sure you've tried that road already...?