if i have pngs in photoshop, is it better to save is as psd to import in animate?what is the best file format ?lossless quality?

[wgallo]

i am having a hard time with this. i just learned i cant break apart pngs in animate cc. so obviously if i want to do that, i have to do it in photoshop. if thats the case, do i save with psd layers to get it in animate cc? which format will prevent loss of quality to do that?

[Ussnorway]

moved to Animate CC

[Colin Holgate]

PSD and PNG are perfect quality, but PSD still has layers, PNG is a flat image.

It would depend what it is that you're trying to do as to which is best. Neither are any better in terms of quality. PSD has the advantage that you can use the different layers in Animate.

[ClayUUID]

wgallo  wrote

i just learned i cant break apart pngs in animate cc.

You can break apart PNGs in Animate.

Maybe you should explain what you think you mean by "break apart".

[wgallo]

Sure. And im sorry i was misunderstood. I import a png into animate. And i would like to split the artwork in separate parts so i can animate them in separate. I right click and choose convert to symbol but it wont let me select segments of it to edit. Thats my dilema. I thank you so much for taking your time to help me as i am a beginner.

[ClayUUID · Accepted solution]

Animate is the wrong place to be chunking up bitmap artwork. Anything you want to animate as a discrete image, you should import as a discrete image.

But if you're determined to do things inefficiently, you can break apart bitmaps by placing them on the stage and pressing Ctrl-B or selecting Modify -> Break Apart from the menu. This replaces the bitmap with a vector rectangle that has the former bitmap applied to it as a fill. You can now use all of Animate's vector manipulation tools to chop bits out of it to your heart's content.

[Colin Holgate]

After you have selected the bitmap and done Break Apart, then click and hold on the Lasso tool. You'll see there is a Magic Wand tool. It is able to pick up areas of the same color from the broken apart bitmap. Click repeatedly on different areas until everything you want in that symbol is selected, then Modify/Convert to Symbol (or F8). What was selected will become a symbol, and it will also be removed from the broken apart content.

[ClayUUID]

Note that doing this can easily create a complex vector outline, which will render more slowly than a simple rectangle.