Frame Tags

Creating Tags

There are two ways to create a tag:

From the timeline

Select one or more frames, right-click the selection, and choose Create Tag. The tag is created immediately, spanning the selected frames. Tag Frame… in the frame header's context menu does the same for the frame you clicked (or the frames you have selected), then opens the Animation Tags panel with the new tag's name ready to type.

From the Animation Tags panel

1. Open the Animation Tags panel — either from the panel visibility controls, or via Tag Frame… in the frame header's context menu
2. Click the + button in the panel header. The tag is created straight away on the playhead's frame, or over the frames you have selected, with a placeholder name and the next color in the palette, and its card opens ready to edit
3. Edit the name, from/to frame numbers, direction, and color in the open card

Every field saves as you change it, there is no confirm step.

Tags sit above the frame ruler. By default each one is a thin colored stripe over its frames; hover a stripe to read its name. The arrow button at the end of the transport row swaps the stripes for tag rows: one named row per tag, where you can move, resize and reorder them. Five rows fit, more than that scroll. The choice is remembered for each file.

Tag Properties

Animation Directions

• Forward - Plays frames in order (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3...)
• Reverse - Plays frames backwards (3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1...)
• Ping-Pong - Bounces back and forth (1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3...)

Editing Tags

Resize a Tag

Open the tag rows, then drag the handle at either end of a tag's bar to expand or shrink its frame range. Drag the bar itself to move the whole tag.

Reorder Tags

Drag the grip at the left of a tag row up or down. The order is yours: the Animation Tags panel lists tags in the same order, and a tag higher in the list draws its stripe above the ones it overlaps.

Moving a Tagged Frame

Alt+drag a frame header (or use the move-frame shortcuts) to relocate a frame that carries a tag edge, and the tag stretches or slides with it, over a neighboring tag if it has to.

Edit Tag Properties

Click the tag's row in the Animation Tags panel to expand its inline accordion. From there you can edit the name, from/to frame numbers, direction, and color. There is no separate editor modal.

Delete a Tag

Click the X button on the tag's row in the Animation Tags panel. This removes the tag but keeps all frames intact. There is no right-click menu on tags.

Focused Playback

Double-click one of a tag's edge handles to focus playback on that tag's frame range, or click the direction-icon Focus button on the tag's row in the Animation Tags panel (it doubles as Unfocus once that tag is focused). When focused:

• Play button only plays frames within the tag
• The tag's frames are visually highlighted
• Tag direction (forward/reverse/ping-pong) is respected

Export Compatibility

Tags are preserved when exporting to Aseprite (.aseprite) format. This means:

• Tag names, ranges, and colors transfer correctly
• Direction settings are maintained
• Aseprite users can continue working with your organized animation

When exporting sprite sheets, tags can help define which frames to include or generate separate sheets per animation.

Exporting a single tag

The standalone Frame Export and Animated GIF Export tools include a tag picker — pick a tag like walk or jump and the export will only include those frames, instead of the whole timeline. The sprite sheet exporter lays frames out as a horizontal or vertical strip, and when splitting by tag you can choose whether the per-tag strips stack into rows or columns.

Organization Tips