Animation panel overview, Frame mode controls – Adobe Photoshop CS4 User Manual
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USING PHOTOSHOP CS4
Video and animation
Last updated 1/10/2010
Animation panel overview
An animation is a sequence of images, or frames, that is displayed over time. Each frame varies slightly from the
preceding frame, creating the illusion of movement or other changes when the frames are viewed in quick succession.
In Photoshop, the Animation panel (Window
> Animation) appears in frame mode, showing a thumbnail of each
frame in your animation. Use the tools at the bottom of the panel to navigate through the frames, set looping options,
add and delete frames, and preview the animation.
The Animation panel menu contains additional commands for editing frames or timeline durations, and for
configuring the panel display. Click the panel menu icon to view available commands.
Animation panel (frame mode)
A. Selects the first frame B. Selects the previous frame C. Plays animation D. Selects the next frame E. Tweens animation frames F. Duplicates
selected frames G. Deletes selected frames H. Converts to timeline mode (Photoshop Extended only) I. Animation panel menu
In Photoshop Extended, you can use the Animation panel in either frame mode or timeline mode. Timeline mode
shows the frame duration and animation properties for document layers. Use the tools at the bottom of the panel to
navigate through frames, zoom the time display in or out, toggle onion skin mode, delete keyframes, and preview the
video. You can use controls on the timeline itself to adjust frame duration for a layer, set keyframes for layer properties,
and designate a section of the video as the working area.
Animation panel (timeline mode)
A. Enable audio playback B. Zoom out C. Zoom slider D. Zoom in E. Toggle onion skins F. Delete keyframes G. Convert to frame animation
In timeline mode, the Animation panel displays each layer in a Photoshop Extended document (except the
background layer) and is synchronized with the Layers panel. Whenever a layer is added, deleted, renamed, grouped,
duplicated, or assigned a color, the changes are updated in both panels.
Note: When animated layers are grouped as a Smart Object, the animation information from the Animation panel is
stored in the Smart Object. See also “
315.
For a video on the timeline mode, see
Frame mode controls
In frame mode, the Animation panel includes the following controls:
Looping Options
Sets the number of times an animation plays when exported as an animated GIF file.
Frame Delay Time
Sets the duration of a frame during playback.
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