User Guide

75
ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0
User Guide
• As a single still footage item imported from all the Adobe Photoshop layers merged
together
When you import a layered Adobe Photoshop file as a composition, all the layers
contained in the composition retain their original positions as set in Adobe Photoshop.
You can open the composition in After Effects and animate the layers.
To import a layered Adobe Photoshop file as a new composition:
1 Choose File > Import > File.
2 In the Import File dialog box, make sure that All Acceptable Files is selected for Files of
Type, and then locate and select the Adobe Photoshop file you want to import.
3 Choose Composition in the Import As pop-up menu, and then click Open.
The original filename is used twice in the Project window: for the file as a composition and
for the folder containing each Adobe Photoshop layer as a separate footage items.
To import an Adobe Photoshop file or one of its layers as a single footage item:
1 Choose File > Import > File.
2 In the Import File dialog box, make sure that All Acceptable Files is selected in the Files
of Type box, and then locate and select the Adobe Photoshop file you want to import.
3 Choose Footage in the Import As pop-up menu, and then click Open. The Interpret
Footage dialog box appears (unless you have set Preferences to skip this dialog box).
4 Select the layer you want to import from the file, or choose Merged Layers to import all
layers in the file as a single layer. Then click OK.
Note: When you import one Adobe Photoshop layer as a single footage item, its name in the
Project window consists of the layer name followed by the Adobe Photoshop filename.
Using transparent areas and layer masks from Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop supports a transparent area and one optional layer mask (alpha channel)
for each layer in a file. You can use these layer masks to specify how different areas within a
layer are hidden or revealed. When you import one layer of an Adobe Photoshop file, After
Effects combines the layer mask (if present) with the transparent area and imports it as a
straight alpha channel.
UG.book Page 75 Wednesday, February 21, 2001 12:05 PM