Hi. I'm trying to make an image with all the sprites for an animation of a character in a game. The problem is that I have each frame of the animation in separate png images of 512x512 pixels.
In the middle of each of the images is the character, and the rest of the canvas is transparent. I want to copy all 8 frames of the animation into one 512x4096 image, with each frame one beside the other (this is what the game engine accepts), but the spacing has to remain. Otherwise the animation would be off-center when played.
When I select each image (using select all) and copy it to the new image, though, the selection gets rid of the transparent canvas around the character and just copies the colored pixels (sort of tightens around the character). This doesn't allow me to snap the frame into its right place in the big image.
Up until now I've resorted to putting a background on the individual 512x512 frames, flattening the image, then copying (now the colored pixels use up the whole canvas). When I have all the frames in the big image, I select the background color and delete it again. It seems to me this is not a very optimal approach, and since I'm going to be making a lot of these sprite sheets, it would be awesome to know how to do it right (especially since other animations have much more than 8 frames, and putting backgrounds on each would be a pain).
Any help is much appreciated!!
In the middle of each of the images is the character, and the rest of the canvas is transparent. I want to copy all 8 frames of the animation into one 512x4096 image, with each frame one beside the other (this is what the game engine accepts), but the spacing has to remain. Otherwise the animation would be off-center when played.
When I select each image (using select all) and copy it to the new image, though, the selection gets rid of the transparent canvas around the character and just copies the colored pixels (sort of tightens around the character). This doesn't allow me to snap the frame into its right place in the big image.
Up until now I've resorted to putting a background on the individual 512x512 frames, flattening the image, then copying (now the colored pixels use up the whole canvas). When I have all the frames in the big image, I select the background color and delete it again. It seems to me this is not a very optimal approach, and since I'm going to be making a lot of these sprite sheets, it would be awesome to know how to do it right (especially since other animations have much more than 8 frames, and putting backgrounds on each would be a pain).
Any help is much appreciated!!