Animated Text Fade

Another easy animation technique is the "Text Fade" effect and it goes like this:

Open a new canvas and click the Text tool. Click on the canvas and create the required text block in the Text Editor which opens up, like so:

While the text is still selected, click MODIFY>ANIMATE>ANIMATE SELECTION. Change the settings in the dialogue box which opens to those shown below:

For this example, the text will fade in from zero to 100% opacity and remain stationary throughout the fade. The number of "Frames" has been set to 10 to give a basic smooth transition, but you may wish to set that at a higher number to smooth the effect even more. But be warned - MORE FRAMES=BIGGER FILESIZE!!!

Click O.K. when done, and you will see the text block on your canvas change to an "animation symbol", as below:

It is a plain white object at the moment, because what you see is the "Frame 1" image, set by you in the previous step to 0% opacity.

You will also notice (if you happen to have the "Frames" panel open), that the Frames display has changed to:

Take note of the "Looping" icon at bottom left. Clicking this icon will give you access to the looping facilities, and will allow you to adjust the setting to your required effect for the final animation. You may also wish to adjust the "Frame Delay" settings to speed up or slow down the effect (shown here at the default setting of 7/100ths of a second). You can do this for individual frames by double-clicking the frame speed entry of that frame and typing the new speed into the dialogue box which appears. Alternatively, press SHIFT and click the last frame entry to select ALL frames, then double-click any entry to access the dialogue box and change ALL frames speeds, if necessary.

You can now preview your animation by clicking the "Play" icon at the bottom of the file window.

Now, remember to change the file-type settings in the "Optimize" panel to "Animated Gif" before exporting your file.

Or you won't see a darn thing!!!

And check out my "Animated Banner" tutorial if you wish to use a background image with your animated text!