Working with Alphas
By: Linda
Used with Permission

In Animation Shop open the alpha of your choice

working backward (spell name backward)

stack each letter on top of the last making sure the first letter of the name is on top

click on new image

if you're making a long name (make sure the width in long enough to hold your name) & the height is 200

check how many frames are in your alpha
(Frames are each square in the image)

go to animation, insert frames, empty
(remember you already have 1 frame) so deduct 1 frame from the amount you need.

Make the blank frames active by clicking on the 1st frame then go to

edit, select all

edit, propagate paste (this will put the image you move in the exact place in each of the frames)

Go to the first letter, click on the 1st frame making it active then go to

edit, select all

Make sure you're on the first frame of your work area image & 1st frame of the letter (or animation)

Drag the first frame of each letter over to the first frame of your work area. (Don't release the mouse until you have it exactly where you want it).

When you have all the letters in place you can use your crop tool to make a box around the name. Make sure all the animations are inside the box in each frame.

Click crop

If this is still bigger than you like go to

Animation, resize animation & experiment with the width only until you get the size you want.

Also if you want your animation to go slower or faster go to
Animation, frame properties (the smaller the number the faster your animation will move)

This will work with any regular alpha whether it's animated or not.