Photoshop

Copy and paste layers between frames

To understand what happens when you copy and paste a frame, think of a frame as a duplicate version of an image with a given layer configuration. When you copy a frame, you copy the configurations of layers (including each layer’s visibility setting, position, and other properties). When you paste a frame, you apply that layer configuration to the destination frame.

  1. (Photoshop Extended) Make sure the Animation palette is in frame animation mode.
  2. Select one or more frames you want to copy in the Animation palette.
  3. Choose Copy Frame(s) from the Animation palette menu.
  4. Select a destination frame or frames in the current animation or another animation.
  5. Choose Paste Frame(s) from the Animation palette menu.
  6. Select a Paste method:
    Replace Frames
    Replaces the selected frames with the copied frames. No new layers are added. The properties of each existing layer in the destination frames are replaced by those of each copied layer. When you paste frames between images, new layers are added to the image; however, only the pasted layers are visible in the destination frames (the existing layers are hidden).

    Paste Over Selection
    Adds the contents of the pasted frames as new layers in the image. When you paste frames into the same image, using this option doubles the number of layers in the image. In the destination frames, the newly pasted layers are visible, and the original layers are hidden. In the non-destination frames, the newly pasted layers are hidden.

    Paste Before Selection or Paste After Selection
    Adds the copied frames before or after the destination frame. When you paste frames between images, new layers are added to the image; however, only the pasted layers are visible in the new frames (the existing layers are hidden).

  7. (Optional) To link pasted layers in the Layers palette, select Link Added Layers.

    Use this option when you need to reposition the pasted layers as a unit.

  8. Click OK.