Animations

PixelZ supports frame-by-frame animation. Each frame is a snapshot of all your layers. You build the animation frame by frame, preview it on the canvas, and export the whole thing as an animated GIF.

The timeline

The timeline at the bottom of the editor lists every frame, with rows for each layer. Click a frame to switch to it. Each cell in the grid is a cel — the pixels for that layer on that frame.

Adding and editing frames

• Alt+N — add a new frame after the current one
• Alt+C — duplicate the current frame
• Alt+Backspace — delete the current frame
• Shift+, / Shift+. — move current frame left / right

Navigating frames

• , or ← — previous frame
• . or → — next frame
• Home / End — first / last frame

Frame duration

Every frame holds its own duration in milliseconds — new frames start at 100 ms (10 fps). Double-click a frame number, or right-click it and pick Frame Duration, to type a new value or hit one of the fps presets. Hovering a frame column shows its duration in the status bar.

To change several at once, Shift-click for a range or Ctrl-click to pick frames individually, then set the duration — one value, one undo step. The same selection applies to deleting frames.

Playback

Press Enter to play / pause. Playback and GIF export both honour the per-frame durations, so what you preview is what you ship.

Onion skin

Press F (or the onion button in the timeline) to see neighbouring frames faintly behind (or in front of) the current one. Its settings choose how many previous and next frames show, their opacity and how fast it fades, a red / blue tint or plain colors, their position, and whether only the current layer is shown.

Layers

Layers stack on top of each other within a single frame, and the timeline shows them as rows. A common workflow: outline on the bottom layer, base colors above, shading on top. Each layer can be hidden, locked, or merged into the one below.

Layers are shared across frames — adding a layer adds it to every frame. Each layer/frame intersection (a cel) holds its own pixels.

• Shift+N — add a new layer
• Shift+D — duplicate the current layer
• Shift+Backspace — delete the current layer
• ↑ / ↓ — select previous / next layer

Each layer is a row in the timeline: drag to reorder, toggle visibility (eye icon), lock to prevent edits, rename, and right-click for Merge Down, Flatten and Use as AI reference. Up to 150 layers and 150 frames per project, and 3000 cels (frames × layers).

Exporting animations

In Export As, choose GIF and all frames or a range, played forward, reverse or ping-pong — or export a sprite sheet. See Export.