In Photoshop, you use the Timeline panel to create animation frames. Each frame represents a configuration of layers.
Illustration of an animation. The unicycle image is on its
own layer; the position of the layer changes in each frame of the
animation.
To create frame-based animations in Photoshop, use the following
general workflow.
Open a new document, or your self-portrait PSD with the layer.
If they are not already visible, open
the Timeline, and Layers panels. Make sure the Timeline panel is in
frame animation mode. In the middle of the Timeline panel, click the
downpointing arrow to choose Create Frame Animation and then click the
button next to the arrow.
Add a layer or convert
the background layer.
Because a background layer cannot
be animated, add a new layer or convert the background layer to
a regular layer. See
Convert
background and layers.
Add content to your animation.
If
your animation includes several objects that are animated independently,
or if you want to change the color of an object or completely change
the content in a frame, create the objects on separate layers.
Add a frame to the Timeline panel.
Edit the layers for the
selected frame.
- Turn visibility on and off for different layers.
- Change the position of objects or layers to make layer content
move.
- Change layer opacity to make content fade in or out.
- Change the blending mode of layers.
- Add a style to layers.
Photoshop provides tools for
keeping characteristics of a layer the same across frames. See Unifying
layer properties in animation frames.
Add more frames and edit
layers as needed.
The number of frames you can create
is limited only by the amount of system memory available to Photoshop.
You
can generate new frames with intermediate changes between two existing frames
in the panel using the Tween command. This is a quick way to make
an object move across the screen or to fade in or out. See
Create
frames using tweening.
Set frame delay and looping
options.
You can assign a delay time to each frame and
specify looping so that the animation runs once, a certain number
of times, or continuously. See
Specify
a delay time in frame animations and
Specify
looping in frame animations.
Use the controls in the Timeline panel to play the animation as you create it. Then use the Save
For Web command to preview the animation in your web browser. See
Preview optimized images in a web browser.
Optimize the animation
for efficient download.
There
are different options for saving your frame animation:
- Save as an animated GIF using the Save For Web command.
- Save in Photoshop (PSD) format so you can do more work on the animation later.
- Save as an image sequence, QuickTime movie, or as separate files. See also Export video files or image sequences.
Adding frames is the first step in
creating an animation. If you have an image open, the Timeline panel
displays the image as the first frame in a new animation. Each frame you
add starts as a duplicate of the preceding frame. You then make changes
to the frame using the Layers panel.
Make sure the Timeline panel is in frame animation mode.
Click the Duplicate Selected Frames button
.
Before you can work with a frame, you
must select it as the current frame. The contents of the current frame
appear in the document window.
In the Timeline panel, the current frame is indicated by a narrow
border (inside the shaded selection highlight) around the frame
thumbnail. Selected frames are indicated by a shaded highlight around
the frame thumbnails.
In the Timeline panel, do one of the following:
- To select contiguous multiple frames, Shift-click
a second frame. The second frame and all frames between the first
and second are added to the selection.
- To select discontiguous multiple frames, Ctrl‑click
(Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) additional frames to
add those frames to the selection.
- To select all frames, choose Select All Frames
from the panel menu.
- To deselect a frame in a multiframe selection, Ctrl-click
(Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) that frame.
In the Timeline panel, select one or more frames.
- To edit the content of objects in animation frames, use the Layers
panel to modify the layers in the image that affect that frame.
- To change the position of an object in an animation frame, select
the layer containing the object in the Layers panel and drag it to a new
position.
Note:
You can select and change the position of
multiple frames. However, if you drag multiple discontiguous frames, the
frames are placed contiguously in the new position.
- To reverse the order of animation frames, choose Reverse Frames from the panel menu.
Note:
The frames you want to reverse do not have to be contiguous; you can reverse any selected frames.
- To delete selected frames, choose Delete Frame from the Timeline panel menu or click the Delete icon
, then click Yes to confirm the deletion. You can also drag the selected frame onto the Delete icon.
The
unify buttons (Unify Layer Position, Unify Layer Visibility, and
Unify Layer Style) in the Layers panel determine how the changes
you make to attributes in the active animation frame apply to the
other frames in the same layer. When a unify button is selected,
that attribute is changed in all the frames in the active layer;
when that button is deselected, changes apply to only the active
frame.
The Propagate Frame 1 option in the Layers panel also
determines how the changes you make to attributes in the first frame
will apply to the other frames in the same layer. When it is selected,
you can change an attribute in the first frame, and all subsequent
frames in the active layer will change in relation to the first frame
(and preserve the animation you have already created).
In the Timeline panel, change the attribute to one frame.
In the Layers panel, click Unify Layer Position
, Unify
Layer Visibility
, or Unify
Layer Style
to
have the changed attribute apply to all other frames in the active
layer.
In the Layers panel, select the Propagate
Frame 1 option.
In the Timeline panel, change the attribute for the first frame.
The changed attribute is applied (in relation) to all subsequent
frames in a layer.
Note:
You can also propagate frames by Shift-selecting
any consecutive group of frames in the layer and changing an attribute
in any of the selected frames.
Choose Animation Options from the Layers
panel menu, and then choose one of the following:
Displays the unify layers buttons when the Timeline panel is open.
Displays the unify layers buttons whether the Timeline panel is open or closed.
Hides the unify layers buttons whether the Timeline panel is open or closed.
To
understand what happens when you copy and paste a frame, think of
a frame as a duplicate version of an image with a given layer configuration.
When you copy a frame, you copy the configurations of layers (including
each layer’s visibility setting, position, and other properties).
When you paste a frame, you apply that layer configuration to the
destination frame.
Select one or more frames you want to copy in the Timeline panel.
Choose
Copy Frame(s) from the panel menu.
Select a destination frame or frames in the current animation
or another animation.
Choose
Paste Frame(s) from the panel menu.
Replaces the selected frames with the copied frames.
No new layers are added. The properties of each existing layer in
the destination frames are replaced by those of each copied layer.
When you paste frames between images, new layers are added to the
image; however, only the pasted layers are visible in the destination
frames (the existing layers are hidden).
Adds the contents of the pasted frames as new layers
in the image. When you paste frames into the same image, using this
option doubles the number of layers in the image. In the destination
frames, the newly pasted layers are visible, and the original layers
are hidden. In the non-destination frames, the newly pasted
layers are hidden.
Paste Before Selection or Paste After Selection
Adds the copied frames before or after the destination
frame. When you paste frames between images, new layers are added
to the image; however, only the pasted layers are visible in the
new frames (the existing layers are hidden).
(Optional) To link pasted layers in the Layers panel,
select Link Added Layers.
This option works only when pasting frames into another
document. Select it when you plan to reposition the pasted layers
as a unit.
-
The term tweening is derived from “in
betweening,” the traditional animation term used to describe this
process. Tweening (also called interpolating) significantly
reduces the time required to create animation effects such as fading
in or fading out, or moving an element across a frame. You can edit
tweened frames individually after you create them.
You
use the Tween command to automatically add or modify a series of
frames between two existing frames—varying the layer properties
(position, opacity, or effect parameters) evenly between the new
frames to create the appearance of movement. For example, if you
want to fade out a layer, set the opacity of the layer in the starting
frame to 100%; then set the opacity of the same layer in the ending
frame to 0%. When you tween between the two frames, the opacity
of the layer is reduced evenly across the new frames.
Using tweening to animate text position
To
apply tweening to a specific layer, select it in the Layers panel.
Select a single frame or multiple contiguous frames.
- If you select a single frame, you choose
whether to tween the frame with the previous frame or the next frame.
- If you select two contiguous frames, new frames
are added between the frames.
- If you select more than two frames, existing frames
between the first and last selected frames are altered by the tweening
operation.
- If you select the first and last frames in an animation,
these frames are treated as contiguous, and tweened frames are added
after the last frame. (This tweening method is useful when the animation
is set to loop multiple times.)
- Click the Tweens button
in the Timeline panel.
- Choose Tween from the panel menu.
Specify the layer or layers to be varied in the added
frames:
Varies all layers in the selected frame or frames.
Varies only the currently selected layer in the selected
frame or frames.
Specify layer properties to be varied:
Varies the position of the layer’s content in the new
frames evenly between the beginning and ending frames.
Varies the opacity of the new frames evenly between the
beginning and ending frames.
Varies the parameter settings of layer effects evenly
between the beginning and ending frames.
If you selected a single frame in step 2, choose
where to add frames from the Tween With menu:
Adds
frames between the selected frame and the following frame. This option
is not available when you select the last frame in the Timeline panel.
Adds
frames between the last frame and first frame. This option is available
only if you select the last frame in the Timeline panel.
Adds
frames between the selected frame and the preceding frame. This option
is not available when you select the first frame in the Timeline panel.
Adds
frames between the first frame and last frame. This option is available
only if you select the first frame in the Timeline panel.
In the Frames To Add box, enter a value, or use the Up
or Down Arrow key to choose the number of frames. (This option
is not available if you selected more than two frames.)
-
The
Create New Layer For Each New Frame command automatically adds a
new layer visible in the new frame but hidden in other frames. This
option saves time when you are creating an animation that requires
you to add a new visual element to each frame.
Choose Create New Layer For Each New Frame from the Timeline panel menu.
A check mark indicates that the option is turned on.
When you create a new layer, it is visible in all animation
frames by default.
- To show new layers only in active frames, deselect New Layers Visible In All Frames from the Timeline panel menu.
- To hide a layer in a specific frame, select the frame, and then hide the desired layer in the Layers panel.
You
can specify a delay—the time that a frame is displayed—for
single frames or for multiple frames in an animation. Delay time
is displayed in seconds. Fractions of a second are displayed as
decimal values. For example, one-quarter of a second is specified
as .25. If you set a delay on the current frame, every frame you create
after that will remember and apply that delay value.
Select one or more frames in the Timeline panel.
Click the Delay value below the selected frame to view
the pop‑up menu.
- Choose a value from the pop‑up menu. (The last
value used appears at the bottom of the menu.)
- Choose Other, enter a value in the Set Frame Delay
dialog box, and click OK. If you selected multiple frames,
specifying a delay value for one frame applies the value to all
frames.
The frame disposal method specifies whether
to discard the current frame before displaying the next frame. You
select a disposal method for animations that include background
transparency to specify whether the current frame will be visible
through the transparent areas of the next frame.
Frame disposal methods
A.
Frame with background transparency with Restore To
Background option B.
Frame with background
transparency with Do Not Dispose option
The
Disposal Method icon indicates whether the frame is set to Do Not Dispose
or
Dispose
. (No
icon appears when Disposal Method is set to Automatic.)
Select a frame or frames for which you want to choose
a disposal method.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS)
the frame thumbnail to view the Disposal Method context menu.
Choose a disposal method:
Determines
a disposal method for the current frame automatically, discarding the
current frame if the next frame contains layer transparency. For most
animations, the Automatic option (default) yields the desired results.
Note:
To preserve frames that include transparency,
select the Automatic disposal option when you are using the Redundant
Pixel Removal optimization option.
Preserves the current frame as the next frame is added
to the display. The current frame (and preceding frames) may show
through transparent areas of the next frame. Use a browser to see
an accurate preview of an animation using the Do Not Dispose option.
Discards
the current frame from the display before the next frame is displayed.
Only a single frame is displayed at any time (and the current frame does
not appear through the transparent areas of the next frame).
You select a looping option to specify
how many times the animation sequence repeats when played.
Click the Looping Option Selection box at the lower-left corner of the Timeline panel.
Select a looping option: Once, 3 Times, Forever, or Other.
If you selected Other, enter a value in the Set Loop
Count dialog box, and click OK.
to select the next frame in the series as the current frame.
to select the previous frame in the series as the current frame.
to select the first frame in the series as the current frame.