i use aseprite for this (which can be free if you figure out how to build it from source)! but there are free alternatives!

people have mentioned something called "firealpaca", and i guess "krita" also does animation! you could even use blender if you know how to use blender. really there are tons of options. just bing it.

the rules: it has to have more than one frame.

i might try using easytoon (i dont know if it is the simplest and fastest tool for scratching something - the result from it is always 1-bitdepth, and the editor has onion skin feature) (i rarely use it, i use to be more about editing picture sequences, and then joining everything from gifsicle, imagemagick, or online tools)

One may use ffmpeg for, too, with a command like this

ffmpeg -y -framerate 1 -i %2d.png -vf fps=1 -r 1 test.gif

To create a gif out of file names with two digits in sequence in a folder, that plays one frame each second, and repeats, for example

you guys love the idea of doing this kind of thing in the worst possible way, and i commend you for it

bitpack is neato!

i always forgot alternativeto for finding tools! xD https://alternativeto.net/software/easytoon/ (might be useful!)

long live turbodog

thinkin about turbodog

turbodog