Make an animation from scratch

This is the long way round, and it is worth knowing even if you mostly use the AI. You will start with an empty canvas, add a few layers, animate them and export a Lottie file.

Open a blank canvas

1. On your projects page, click New project and choose Blank canvas.

2. Pick a size. The presets cover the usual places: Square post (1080 × 1080), Story or Reel (1080 × 1920), Website hero (1600 × 900), Loader (400 × 400) and more. Or type your own, from 16 to 4,096 pixels a side.

3. The editor opens with your brand kit already on, so new shapes and text use your colours and fonts.

Add layers

The drawing tools sit in the top bar. Press the letter to switch between them: V select, R rectangle, O ellipse, T text, P pen and H hand, to move the view.

The Library tab on the left has ready shapes, text styles, your logo and whole animations. To bring in your own files, click Import in the top bar or drop them on the canvas. Lottie, SVG, PNG, JPEG, WebP and GIF all work.

Animate it in one click

1. Select a layer, on the canvas or in the timeline.

2. Click Animate in the timeline bar.

3. Pick a move. In brings things on screen, Out takes them off, Emphasis draws the eye once and Loop keeps them moving. Point at a move to see what it does before you pick it.

Select several layers first and they follow each other. Set the time between them and the order: top first, bottom first or random.

Animate it by hand

For full control, set keyframes yourself. A keyframe says "at this moment, this property has this value", and Mosso fills in every frame between two of them.

1. Move the playhead to where the move should start.

2. In the inspector on the right, click the keyframe button next to a property, like position. Or turn on Record keyframes in the timeline bar, and every change you make adds a keyframe at the playhead.

3. Move the playhead later and change the property. A second keyframe appears.

4. Press Space to play it.

The keyframes and easing guide covers moving, copying and shaping keyframes.

Export it

Click Export in the top bar, or press Cmd or Ctrl+E. Pick a format and click Export. For websites and apps, Lottie is the one to pick. The export guide explains every format.