Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Note: When you have animation applied to the layers in Photoshop, it is
discarded when you import the Photoshop layer in After Efects. It is
preferable to create the animation in After Efects if you plan to enhance
your Photoshop animation with After Efects animation efects.
Import Photoshop Files to After Efects
After Efects supports diferent options when importing Photoshop layers;
these options are related to how After Efects will handle the imported
Photoshop layers. As you will see in the following exercise, you can either
import the Photoshop ile as footage with lattened layers or as a
composition with the Photoshop layers preserved.
Note: Although you do not have to have experience with After Efects to
complete this chapter, we will go step by step to import Photoshop
content to After Efects and enhance it with animation and video efects
and render the iles as a inal video production.
Let's start with the following exercise so that you can learn how to import
Photoshop iles into After Efects:
Shortcut: Import iles to
an After Efects project
by pressing CTRL + I
(CMD + I on the Mac).
1. Open Adobe After Efects.
2. Locate the Project panel on the left side of the application. If it is not
there, open it via Window
>
Project. The Project panel is considered the
library of resources that you will use in your After Efects animation.
3. Choose File
>
Import
>
File or press CTRL
+
I (CMD
+
I on the Mac).
4. Navigate to the Photoshop ile video_animation.psd in the for this
chapter on the DVD.
When you choose the Photoshop ile to import, the Import dialog box
appears to let you choose the import method. There are two main methods
for importing the Photoshop layers, discussed in the following subsections.
Footage
This option imports either one layer of the Photoshop ile or a group of
Photoshop layers and imports the PSD ile as one image. When you
choose the Footage option from the Import dialog box, the following
options appear:
• Merged layers: Merges the PSD ile layers to one layer and imports the
layer as After Efects image footage in the Projects panel.
• Choose Layer: Speciies which layer to import; when you select this option,
the Layers drop-down menu appears to let you choose the layer you
would like to import. You can also choose to merge the styles applied to
the layer in the footage or ignore the style in the imported layer.
