Open the Timeline panel (Window > Timeline) in Frame Animation mode.
If the timeline shows keyframes instead of individual frames, select the menu icon and then select Convert Frames > Convert to Frame Animation.
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Enhance animation frames
Last updated on
Oct 27, 2025
Learn how to reduce animation file size in Adobe Photoshop and improve playback quality by applying frame-based settings and export options in the Timeline panel.
Once your animation is ready, improve it for efficient download to a web browser:
- Limit the frames to only include areas that change between frames to reduce the size of the animated GIF.
- Apply the same animation settings as a standard GIF. Note that consistent dithering is used across the frames to prevent flicker, which may increase processing time compared to a standard GIF.
- Use the Adaptive, Perceptual, or Selective palette to ensure the colors stay consistent across frames.
Select the menu icon and then select Optimize Animation.
Review the options in the Optimize Animation dialog box and select OK.
- Bounding Box: Crops each frame to only the changed areas. It reduces file size but may not be compatible with some GIF editors.
- Redundant Pixel Removal: Makes unchanged pixels transparent to reduce file size. To apply this, select the Transparency option in the Optimized panel (File > Export > Save for Web).
Right-click the frame in the Timeline panel and select Automatic as the disposal method when using the Redundant Pixel Removal option.
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