Tutorial: Adding Text or Frames/Borders to an Animation -- Using PSP and AS3

[charliemc]

Have you ever wondered how people add text, frames or other 'static' elements to their animations? It's actually very simple to do!

First you need an animation to work with, like this one:


And by adding some elements we can easily end up with something like this:


You'll need to use both Paint Shop Pro 7 (PSP7) and Animation Shop 3 (AS3) for this tutorial.

Ready? Let's go!

1. First open both PSP and AS3.
   
   
2. This can be done with animation -- perhaps one you've created by using a community tutorial! (grin) But for the purposes of this tutorial, we'll use the following blank animation:
   
   
   Start by right-clicking and Saving this to your hard drive.
   
   
3. Go to AS3 and Open the animation you just saved.
   
   
4. Go to PSP7 and create a New image, 100 x 100 pixels, TRANSPARENT.
   
   The 'quick and easy' way to make a 'frame' (or border) around your image is to use our handy dandy Selections process! Once you get used to it, you'll wonder why you ever used any other method! (grin)
   
   
5. Add a New Raster Layer to your image.
   
   Note: This is basically for practice purposes, as you have a 'blank' image to begin with and therefore could just use it. But if you had an actual image you were adding to, then you'd always want to add a New Raster Layer to it!
   
   
6. Go to your Color palette and select whatever color you want to use as a frame/border under Style, Foreground Color.
   
   Hint: This doesn't have to be a solid color, by the way! You can always use a Gradient or a Pattern, if you wish!
   
   
7. Go to your Tool Palette and select the Flood Fill tool. If your Tool Options Palette isn't open, open it now. (Click the Toggle Tool Options Window button in your Standard Toolbar, or go to View > Toolbars. Put a checkmark by Tool Options and then press the Close button.) Use these settings:
   Blend mode: Normal
   Match mode: None
   Tolerance: grayed out/ignore
   Opacity: 100
   Sample merged: not selected
   
   Click the Flood Fill tool on your new layer to fill it with the color you selected.
   
   
8. Go to Selections > Select All. The layer will now have a moving marquee and be selected.
   
   
9. Return to Selections. Go to Modify > Contract. For 'Number of pixels' enter 2 and click OK.
   
   
10. Go to your keyboard and hit the Delete key to remove the center/selected area.
    
    
11. Go to Selections > Select none.
    
    You now have a frame/border! Easy, isn't it? No fussing around with trying to draw one...
    
    If you use Raster (floating) text on your icons, then you now need to add another New Raster Layer to your image. If you use Vector text, then you can skip this step!
    
    
12. Select your Text tool from the Tool Palette. Click this on your image to add whatever text you wish. (This isn't about adding text, per se, so we won't bother to deal with various text settings here.)
    
    Hint: If I'm adding more than one line of text -- or text in more than one font -- then I'll often do this on several layers separately. That means you can easily move the text around until it's positioned just the way you want it! (smile)
    
    Once you've got your frame/border plus text, it's time to take this over to AS3 where our animation is waiting for us!
    
    Hint: Want to see where to add your frame and text to your animation before you merge your layers? Then go to AS3 and highlight one frame of your animation. Right-click and Copy it. Go to PSP7 and Paste as New Image. You can then add your various layers to this so you can see what it will look like in advance! When done, simply highlight the bottom layer in your Layer Palette and Delete it!
    
    
13. Go to Layers > Merge > Merge visible. (Do not flatten merge!)
    
    You'll now have something like this:
    
    
    
14. Right-click and Copy your image.
    
    
15. Go to AS3. Right-click and Paste as New Animation.
    
    
16. You now need to duplicate the frames of your image. If your animation has five (5) frames, then duplicate until your new animation has five (5) frames, as well!
    
    Right-click > Duplicate.
    
    Note: AS3 duplicates whatever is currently selected, for the record.
    
    Time to combine these!
    
    
17. With your new animation (frame/border and text) selected, go to Edit > Select All.
    
    IMPORTANT: Be sure you can see the FIRST FRAME of both animations! They should not be over-lapping each other, if possible. (If they are, make sure your border animation is on top!)
    
    
18. Select the Arrow tool (if it's not currently selected). Now you want to 'drag and drag' the frame/border from frame one (1) of your new animation into frame one (1) of the original animation.
    
    
    
    Important Note: Don't 'drop' this until you have the frame/border perfectly positioned, otherwise you'll end up having to try again! (smile) If you're simply working with text, then you'd be dragging and dropping the text to wherever you wanted it to be positioned. (The same is true for any element you're adding, obviously.)
    
    Hint: The drag and drop method can take some practice, so don't beat yourself up if you don't 'get it' right away. If you've held down the mouse button and then released it too soon, simply hit the Undo button on your Standard toolbar. Then go to the new animation, highlight it and hit the Undo button again. You're now ready to 'try again' until you get it right! (grin)
    
    
    
    Once you've got the frame/border and/or text added to your animation, you need to Save. I suggest saving it with a new name, which means you won't over-write your original animation! (Pressing the F12 key on your keyboard is a quick way to start the saving process.)

That's all there is to it! Easy, isn't it?

So now you know how all of us have such an easy time lining up our frames/borders and text on animations! (smile)

Remember that you're always welcome to share your results with all of us...

==CharlieMC, assistant moderator