Photoshop Elements Animating Tutorial

[kathrynzix]

@AlphaPhilly Can you add sound to your animation?

[ZackerTheCat]

What PHOTOSHOP ELEMENT is this??

[starryshark]

what is I made 20-30 frames, then made another 20-30 frames, would it cut off some of my frames?

[neirathea]

thanks for the tutor ^-^ <3

[jinxfurpup]

I love you ^H^ I finally know how to do this!

[heathervnal]

I finally learned to animate, thank you so much. <3

[TheBomberofPeace]

What would you suggest for a large animation?

[ThePicturePixie]

Hi I wa wondering if you could help me with something? I have the picture and layers ready and I've re-sized it over and over but it still says my picture is to big. I've only got 6 layers on it. If you could help I'd be super greatful Thank you.

[AlfaFilly]

@ThePicturePixie Hmm... can you tell me the picture dimensions and resolution? I normally work on rather small canvases for animations, I believe 5 x 7 inch. with a 75 Res (sometimes 100 Res but rarely).

[ThePicturePixie]

@AlfaFilly I'm not sure on the resolution but I changed the size from 10 x 10 to 4 x 4. I'll try changing the Res *hug* Thank you ^^

[silverpelt0001]

How can you get it to play I have the file saved as a gif but I don't know how to play it repeatedly

[AlfaFilly]

@silverpelt0001 You mean set the animation on repeat? Typically if you click the "loop" check box it will allow the .gif to repeat itself endlessly.

[silverpelt0001]

@AlfaFilly I think I already had it like that but Ill try again thanks :3

[BijouKittyArtist]

My elements can have 500+ frames... is that normal? o.0

[AlfaFilly]

@BijouKittyArtist No idea. But I'm jealous D=

[jump2020206]

QUESTION! For frame delay, it won't let me change it from 0.2... do you know of anyway to change this?

[whitenightwolf8]

how do you get the animation onto windows movie maker?

[Cronos844]

how do you upload the gif to windows movie maker

[AlfaFilly]

@WhitemistWarriorCat

Sorry for late reply! What do you mean by removing the lines? Did you merge your lineart and color layers together before trying to animate them?

[MangaAnimeChibi]

OMGG THANK YOU SOO MUCH!! I have been waiting for AGES to find an animating tutorial for photoshop elements!!!

Question:

Does this work with all photoshop elements? I've got (I think) photoshop elements 5.5

[AlfaFilly]

@MangaAnimeChibi I believe so. I'm not 100% positive though. You'll have to try it out and see. :)

[Eskimotuutti]

Windows Movie Maker animations can be good too, you just have to know what to do. Ewedy2's animations are good examples of good WMM-animations. But as said, WMM is difficult to use and making animations with it requires a lot of patient.

But thanks for the tutorial! I really needed it. :3

[javias]

Wow! Thank you for such a simple tutorial to follow! It wasn't overly detailed (which can sometimes make it confusing) Very helpful for me since I no longer have flash and didn't want to buy it again)

[javias]

Wow! Thank yuou for such a simple tutorial to follow! It wasn't overly detailed (which can sometimes make it confusing) Very helpful for me since I no longer have flash and didn't want to buy it again)

[akariwolf96]

can u do like paint and save it and then put it in movie maker

[WolfZonez212]

does it work for photo shop 4?

[katieshallstalkyou]

When I click save for web nothing shows up. :(

please help!

[bloodlinewolves]

ok im getting a wacom bamboo tablet and it said it comes with photoshop elements is elements that comes with tablet something i can animate with

[kleinama9870]

Thanks for the great tutorial :) this will really help me with my animating

[Bubblegum10127]

This is SOOO helpful :)

[03Fay]

I have a question; how do you get the background on each slide? It always comes out uneven for me :c

[AlfaFilly]

@03Fay

Oh? What do you mean by uneven?

[rusepro123]

Thx a ton! This makes TOTAL sense to me and I'm gona start right now on mine -> might just post a vid response!

[AlfaFilly]

@rusepro123 Glad it was helpful! And feel free. I'd love to see it. :)

[LiliBean3]

how do you get it onto wmm? it doesnt show up, and i cant watch it. it ends up as on pictuer, but its only one layer of it. Please help!

[smileart3]

@AlfaFilly thanks so much! I just have a couple technical problems like the frame delay but otherwise, everything's going great! Thanks for the vid!!

[Pedr6500]

@kadee92 wlmm sux get wmm its better for now

[RUBYthedragon]

Thank you so much! This really helped me ^^

[smileart3]

@AlfaFilly Thanks so much! That helped a bunch!

[AlfaFilly]

@kadee92 Sorry for late reply. Did you save the animation as a .gif file like I said in the video? And if so, what did it say when you tried to load it into WMM?

[Phantomphaan]

How do you color in on the layers? Do you use just one for all of them? I'm totally confused.

[AlfaFilly]

@Phantomphaan This is basically how it works:

1 Layer for the line art, 1 Layer for the color, 1 Layer for the BG

So for each FRAME you have 3 layers. In my example in the video I simply flattened the layers together for each frame. So for each individual movement within the animation uses 3 layers per frame.

If that doesn't make sense send me another PM and I will give you some screen shots to help you. :)

[fightofthewarriors]

Can you use this to make videos?

[AlfaFilly]

@fightofthewarriors Well, you can make animations with it but you will have to put the animations in a video program like Windows Movie Maker in order to format it to upload it on, say, here on YouTube.

[smileart3]

Question:

How do you draw each frame so that the character is in a consistent spot and it doesn't appear to shift across the screen?

BTW, this tutorial has motivated me to get to PSElementing. Haha

[AlfaFilly]

@smileart3 Sorry for late reply! That can be a challenge, most definitely. But all you really have to do is after you make 1 frame, just take that layer and lower the opacity (lower it to about 30% or below, just enough to see it) and draw the second frame using that one as a guideline (tracing it kinda) on a separate layer. That helps keep the character relatively consistent. :)

[mvn882]

wow thanks!

i just started making animations and this tutorial really helped thx.

[HapplyFace]

Is 100 frames too many?

[Crystalheart1212]

wow this is helpful :D

does this work with Elements 7 also?

[Citywolf100]

@Crystalheart1212

I was wondering the same thing.

[AlfaFilly]

@Crystalheart1212

I would think so. Try it out and see. :)

[TheToxicShadow]

What canvas size do you usually use? I went for the usual default, but when i tried to save it, a box popped up saying it was too big.

[AlfaFilly]

@TheToxicShadow I usually use either 8w x 6h or 7w x 5h.

Also, make sure your Resolution isn't set high. I typically just keep mine at 72. See if that works. :)

[1RebelliousWolf]

Ohmagawd. Thank you so much! I've been wanting to practice with animations but I've been stuck trying to find an actual animating program/software.. Now, I don't have to :D Thank you!!!

[Looksnak]

this was soooo helpful thx so much!!!

[PrussianCanine]

This is great! It really is! THIS HALPS ME TOOOOO MUCH!

DANKE DANKE!

[Wolfgirl894]

how did you get the same background in every frame? i cant do that :I

[AlfaFilly]

@Wolfgirl894

You just duplicate the background layer as many times as your number of frames and merge them with your frame layers. :)

[FoxyKitsune89]

How long does an animation have to be to not be considered a .gif?

[AlfaFilly]

@FoxyKitsune89

You can make a .gif file with as many frames as you want. .gif is just the file type you save it as like .bmp, .png, .jpeg, etc.

But as far as programs go, certain ones have a limit to how many frames will fit into a .gif but it all depends on the program and the file size.

[Sally4ucp]

aww! i have paint, gimp and a program called pencil. CAN YOU HELP ME!!! PLEASE!!!! I NEED ANIMATING TIPS!!!! I SUCK AT ANIMATING AND MY LAPTOP HAS A VIRUS ON IT SO I HAVE TO USE MY MOM'S MAC!!!! HELP ME!!!!!

[4everkiba]

Thankyou! This helped so much!

[MalibuCullen]

OMG this helped me SOOOO much ty XD

[dawnsfyer]

subs!thank you this helped so much!now i dont have to use meh serif drawplus thing to animate :DD

[Madizzle013]

very helpful! (:

[Chirrel]

Thank you so much! I heard it as a rumor before that you could animate by using photoshop, but I never looked into it... Until now that is! So thank you! I'll be placing some animations on my online gallery which is renei @ DeviantArt. Thank you once again! ;w; <3333

[i3want3cookie]

I'm going to try my best to do this.. thank you for your time and energy, i appreciate this!

[chickiefoo]

Nice tutorial, too bad I can't try it out cause my photoshop is being a retard

[alaskanbird]

Is there any way were you can have the background not combined with the layers? Or would you have to use a different program for that?

[AlfaFilly]

@alaskanbird You'd have to use another program. In Elements it basically takes your layers and puts them into an animation. So if you don't have the background merged with the frames then the frames won't have a background and the background frame will be off somewhere random, if that makes sense? xD

[alaskanbird]

@AlfaFilly Yes it does. I just wanted to know if there was another way to do it. :D

[Colbatros]

if the name of the program is "Adobe Photoshop Elements", is it good too?

[AlfaFilly]

@Colbatros Elements is just as good as normal Photoshop. In fact, ANY program can be "good" if you want it to be. :]

[Musicluffah]

This is so damn helpful.. Thank you so much!

[Icefang1000]

hey i cant get past 2 layers after that it wont lent me animated any pointers?

[AlfaFilly]

So it won't animate anything past 2 frames/layers? Either your canvas size is too big or your resolution is too high. You can adjust them in the Image > Resize options. :)

If those don't work then I'm not sure what the problem is.

[Icefang1000]

thanks ill try it :)

[WolfAnime101]

thx dude, now meh animations look more realistic! xDD

[Damage9i05]

thanks

[NikiDragon2343]

i'm gonna try this.....sometime

[SylphViper]

I.....friggin'....love...YOOOO­OUUUUU!!!

AHAHAHAHAHA! I'm sooo sorry but I've been trying to find out how to do this for AGES!! You are my SAVIOR! (Well, uhh...actually, Jesus kinda is my savior, but uhh....heheheh....XD) ANYWAY I'm subscribing and I will be looking forward to anything you make. Excellent work!

[AlfaFilly]

@SylphViper

Jesus! CHYEAH!

Haha, but you are very welcome! Glad to be of service!

And thank you kindly for the sub! I hope to be more active in the coming months, so look out! ;]

[SylphViper]

Ahhhh, gotcha! We need more informative videos :D. lol, and you gotta love Family Force 5 XD

[AlfaFilly]

@superspypies1

What I do is after I get the primary animation frames completed, I make the backgrounds and duplicate them for each number of frames then merge the animation frames down onto them. Then I go to the .gif maker.

[InsaneWerewolf]

Thank you! This was very helpful to me!! :D I didn't really know that you could make short animations in photoshop elements.

And to a previous Q and A, well, I have a Mac and I can make gifs on photoshop (I'm not sure if I can anywhere else, though) and my computer can read the file. And since WMM can't be used on a mac, I use iMovie; it's very similar to WMM, just slightly different.

[twixbaby55o]

This video is quite possibly the most helpful video I have ever viewed o__O You've no idea how much I love this tutorial right now.

I'm an aspiring artist, and have always wanted to do animation. I was under the (false) impression that you couldn't do animations in photoshop elements, but I am pleasantly suprised :D

Thankyou so much for this! It helps alot! (Your a very good artist youself ^-^)

[AlfaFilly]

Happy to help! And thank you!

[tamkinrules]

can't you export it directly as some sort of movie file like asf or wwm?

[AlfaFilly]

@tamkinrules No, only .gifs.If you want to make it .wmm file you'll have to put it in WMM first.

[99LinkinPark991]

How do you load gif vidoes on utube? It wont let me

[aragonargie]

@99LinkinPark991... i put it in sony vegas and render it in MP4 format and then put it in utube.. thats it

[99LinkinPark991]

How do you upload gif on utube, it says its not supported or something, do you have to run it through something?

[AlfaFilly]

You have to put them in a program like Windows Movies Maker first. Then you can upload it.

[UchihaHalo]

**Sorry if it's repeated, computer froze up**

Is it possible to use another program besides WMM? Because my computer won't run it.

[UchihaHalo]

My computer is crappy, and for some reason won't run WMM. Can you use another program, such as Sony Vegas, for example?

[AlfaFilly]

I'm sure it would work. The only thing I learned is that Mac's don't read .gifs. At least that's what someone told me.

[SumiTobihi]

wow u can animate ON photoshop elements 6??? u like dont have to move it to WMM? or something like that? *is confused*

[AlfaFilly]

If you want to make a long animation, then you have to make several short scenes in photoshop (like this tutorial says) then put those .gif files into WMM. If you just want to make a short little animation, like say an animated icon, then you don't have to do anything else.

[SumiTobihi]

wow o-o thanx

[candycane1239]

Sooo when you save it for web what do you do after that to save it as oh i dunno an Deviant Art avatar?

[AlfaFilly]

As long as the avatar is 50x50 pixels and 15kb or smaller it should work on deviantART. After you save it for web that's all you do. Then just go use it.

[candycane1239]

Okay thank you SOOOOOOOO much this is like the only tutorail that helped me since i use elements! *Glomps*

[AniyuuWolf]

Omg i do exactly as you say but it only saves the first layer!

[AlfaFilly]

Hmm... are you sure you selected the "animate" check box? If you don't check it it will save only the first layer.

[AniyuuWolf]

Yes :l

Is it mybye becuase its Photoshop 7?

[AlfaFilly]

*face palm*

This is a tutorial for Photoshop /Elements/. 7 is not Elements.

xD

[AniyuuWolf]

It Is elements 7 :l

[AlfaFilly]

Hmm.. well it should work. I dunno. D:

[CelestialBrushOkami]

No matter how small a size I reduce my pictures to, it always says that the size limit exceeds the size at which it can be animated. What's wrong with it?!

[AlfaFilly]

Hmm... the only other things that could be the cause is either 1.) your resolution is too high. The default is usually 75. Anything higher possibly effects it. (the resolution is seen under the canvas size when you go to change it) or 2.) you have too many frames. Sometimes you have to have a limit of frames. For me it's around 24 at a canvas size of 7x6 inches.

[CelestialBrushOkami]

Okay, thanks. The only other reason I could think of for it not to work is because I have the Mac version. Perhaps it doesn't work in quite the same way as Windows.

[AlfaFilly]

Yeah, if these reasons aren't the answer that very well could be why. There might be some mac tutorials for it around somewhere. Try and check them out if this doesn't work. Good luck! :)

[CelestialBrushOkami]

If .gif's are meant for short animations, what is meant for longer ones?

[AlfaFilly]

More experienced animation programs such as Flash are used for longer animations.

[Laurakb1]

Which size of do you use... I can't figure out wether the size on my drawing space is too small... I normally use 17,99cm x 12,01cm. Is that small?

[AlfaFilly]

I'm not too good with cm. XD I always use 7x5 inches or 8x6 inches.

[Laurakb1]

Thank you ^^

[DMSallen]

thanks <3

[Leopardgaze1]

Thx for doing the video, it helped a lot!!! But after you save it (when you press ok), how do you get it to play the video???

[AlfaFilly]

You just have to go wherever you saved it (such as in My Pictures) and find it and view it there. :)

[KaraogAslaug]

how do ya get photoshop element 0.3??

[AlfaFilly]

Usually any computer store will sell them. I got mine with my Wacom Tablet though.

[fluddly]

Awesome!

How much did you pay for your tablet? :)

[AlfaFilly]

Exactly $104 :)

Unfortunately, I don't think they sell my tablet version anymore.

[fluddly]

Oh, that's a shame! :(

[xenogal]

Thx filly! this realy helped =3

[PrincessDamona]

This video really helped me when I started making animated pictures. My first was 2 girls named Sayu and Kiri doing the caramelldansen. Thx for doing this!

[RunningFur]

SKillet! XD Family force Five is my favorite band Epicness *.* I luv your style and your really good at animation

[midna3000]

juust wondering, what do you use to draw on your PC? some people, i heard, use some kind of tablet....others scan their pictures onto their PC...i dunno what to use sooo ya. thanks

[AlfaFilly]

I draw my pictures out on paper and scan them in. Then I use a Wacom Graphire tablet to color them in photoshop :)

[ShootingStarz990]

How do u copy the picture onto other frames?

[AlfaFilly]

Try Layer > Duplicate Layer. Then Merge them together. Layer > Merge Down.

[ShootingStarz990]

thanx. This rlly helped me out. I got some up.

[R3nO0]

Thank you so much for this tutorial.

I've been looking through google and I've still got no answer.

You say that there is a limit to frames/layers? How much is that limit? How many frames/layers can I have in PS 5?

[AlfaFilly]

It all depends on canvas size for me. Smaller canvas can take more frames, larger less. HOWEVER I'm uncertain if this applies to everyone. I think it varies. I can't do anymore than about 20 but I've heard other people can do more than that. I'm not sure why.

[R3nO0]

Okay, thank you.  Yes, I had to shrunk mine and I can't go over 24 layers.

But, this tutorial was really helpful.

Thank you though!

[AlfaFilly]

Ok, then I guess it isn't just me then. :)

You're very welcome!

[mythreadhead]

nice

[warrior123400]

If you can figure out Windows Movie Maker, you can make the frames faster. It's actually a really nice program, and it's free. O.O

[AlfaFilly]

I have WMM and I've tried it. I don't like animating in it. It's rather amateur for me. I've seen people make great animations in them, but it's pointless for me. Plus, all the individual frames would take up way too much space on my computer than a single .gif would.

[SwiftSilver23]

is this for windows?

[AlfaFilly]

It works for both Windows and Mac I think. As long as Elements works on your comp then it should work.

[PokemonRox101]

Can you preview your animation before saving? :3

[AlfaFilly]

I don't think so. You can flip through the frames in the Save for web feature but that's as best to a preview as there is from what I've seen. :)

[torchicx1127]

thank u soo much <3 dude ur awsome

[oOSilverSpillOo]

THX the tutorial sooo much :D

[TwistedPuppy1]

Like when you draw a picture, layer 1, lineart, layer 2, color,, and then the background, do you merge them and then put in three new layers for the .gif thing?

[AlfaFilly]

You have to have each frame as a layer. No other excess layers. Meaning you can't have the lineart layer, color layer, and BG layer separate because it won't work. As long as you have each set of layers in a frame merged it should be good.

[HyperWolfTiger]

thank you now I can animate!!!!!!!!!!

[IndiWolf]

can you have the layers for a walk cycle clear like without white

[AlfaFilly]

Are you asking ME to do that or are you asking IS IT POSSIBLE to do that?

[IndiWolf]

im just asking if its possible to do that

[AlfaFilly]

Cool, in that case, yes indeed it is. You simply do the same thing but without a background and when you go into the Save for Web part, simply check the Transparency box and change the "Matte" to "none". :)

[IndiWolf]

thankiezz

[IndiWolf]

i managed to figure it out i posted it on youtube

[Sakina28]

Hi! Thank you so much for your tutorial! I get everything your saying but i have a question. If your make something like a fanflash where you supposedly have to have your character lip synch to a song, what do you recommend, traditional where you put all the images in windows move maker and work out the speed there or do what you did here? I have photoshop elements 6.0... Thanks!

[AlfaFilly]

Hmm... that's actually something I've been working on myself. It's rather difficult to do certain lip syncing in Elements animating system since you can't vary each frame's time. Where-as on WMM you can more easily do that, though WMM can be a big pain when trying to animate smoothly.

I'd say try out both. Try making a .gif of a lip syncing part and see how well it fits and if not I'd suggest WMM. :)

[Sakina28]

Thank you so much! I will try! ^^

[tomcat941]

its good but i don`t want to pay to make my animations when i can do it for free

[AlfaFilly]

Well, it all depends on quality I guess. Some people can make really good animations in something like MSPaint, but others... well, let's just say paying the money would be worth it.

[Pociluyko]

or how do you record it

[Pociluyko]

after you finish the animation how do you take it and put it with others cause it's on the internet

[AlfaFilly]

The wording of your question confused me a bit but I think I know what you asked.

I put my animations in Windows Movie Maker and export them then load them here on YouTube.

[Pociluyko]

i think i figured it out thanks. and great tutorial it really helps

[MissingEspeon101]

Hey and thx for your help i just signed up for it and do you have to buy Elements ?

[AlfaFilly]

Yes. You might be able to find a free download somewhere, but I bought mine with my tablet.

[MissingEspeon101]

Oh ok and thx for your help

[moonclanleader]

I don't get it o.o

[AlfaFilly]

What don't you get?

[SparklyEvilWolfAngel]

I really don't care, but I'll just see if it works on GIMP anyway. XD

I'm getting Photoshop Elements in Christmas...

[californiaartist]

i have that phtotshop XD X3

[DnWvideo]

u should use camtasia for recording n stuff...

[AlfaFilly]

Camtasia? I don't think I've heard of that one. I'll go check it out! Thanks for the suggestion!

[DnWvideo]

no problem, it cost money but you could get it for free if you ask for serial numbers around youtube they give it away, you could check my video I have the camtasia tutorial, but i hope this doesnt bother you because obviously this is sort of illegal, or you could just pay for it, or the trial.

[AlfaFilly]

Haha, its ok. I might try the trial and see if it works before going all out. :)