Photoshop

Prepare images for use in After Effects

You can import a Photoshop (PSD) file directly into an After Effects project with the option of preserving individual layers, layer styles, transparent areas and layer masks, and adjustment layers (preserving the individual elements for animation).

Note: After Effects works in RGB color mode. For best results, work in RGB mode in Photoshop for files you will be exporting to After Effects. After Effects CS3 can convert files from CMYK to RGB. After Effects 7 and earlier cannot convert files from CMYK to RGB.
Before you export a layered Photoshop file for use in After Effects, do the following to reduce preview and rendering time and to avoid problems with importing and updating Photoshop layers.
  • Organize and name layers. If you change a layer name or delete a layer in a Photoshop document after you import it into After Effects, After Effects won’t be able to find the renamed or deleted layer. The After Effects Project panel lists that layer as missing. (You can also group layers into Smart Objects. For example: If you used a set of layers to make a foreground object and a set of layers to make a background, you can group them as one Smart Object each, and easily animate one to fly in front of the other).
  • Make sure that each layer has a unique name. Duplicate layer names can cause confusion.
  • Choose Always from the Maximize PSD And PSB File Compatibility menu in the File Handling Preferences dialog box.
  • Use the appropriate pixel dimension preset for video and film in the New Document dialog box.
  • Do any required color correction, scaling, cropping, or other edits in Photoshop so that After Effects doesn’t have to do extra image-processing work. (You can also assign a color profile to the image that corresponds to the intended output type, such as Rec. 601 NTSC or Rec. 709. After Effects can read embedded color profiles and interpret the image's colors accordingly. For more information on color profiles, see Working with color profiles