Flattening frames into layers

You can flatten animation frames into layers. A single, composite layer is created for each frame, containing all of the layers in the frame. The original layers in the frame are hidden but preserved (the original layers will be available if they are needed for another frame).

Note: If you save an animation as a GIF, the animation frames are flattened and the original layers are lost. You should save the original file in Photoshop file format to preserve layers for reediting.

To flatten frames into layers:

In the Animation palette, choose Flatten Frames into Layers from the palette menu.

Viewing animations

Viewing an animation lets you preview the frames in timed sequence. You can preview an animation in ImageReady or in a Web browser.

To view an animation in ImageReady:

1Click the Play button in the Animation palette. The animation is displayed in the document window. The animation repeats indefinitely unless you specified another repeat value in the Play Options dialog box. (See “Specifying looping” on page 409.)

2To stop the animation, click the Stop button .

3To rewind the animation, click the Select First Frame button .

To preview an animation in a browser:

1Click the Preview in Default Browser tool , in the toolbox, or choose File > Preview In and select a browser from the submenu.

2Use the browser’s Stop and Reload commands to stop or replay the animation.

Optimizing animations

You can apply optimization settings to animated images just as you do to nonanimated images. You should always optimize an animation in GIF format because GIF is the only format in ImageReady that supports the display of animated images on the Web.

Note: While you can optimize an image that includes animation in JPEG or PNG format, these formats do not support animation. The resulting Web page will display only the current frame of the animation.

In addition to the standard optimization options for GIF format, you can optimize frames to include only areas that change from frame to frame. (This greatly reduces the file size of the animated GIF.) ImageReady also applies a special dithering technique to animations to ensure that dither patterns are consistent across all frames and to prevent flickering during playback. Due to these additional optimization functions, ImageReady may require more time to optimize an animated GIF than to optimize a standard GIF.