Frame editor

The Frame Editor is a powerful canvas-based tool for creating and editing your storyboard frames. You can draw, add text and shapes, import images, and annotate your frames with camera movement indicators.

Looking for AI image generation? This guide covers manual editing tools. To learn about generating images with AI, see Generating images.

Opening the Frame Editor

To open the Frame Editor, double-click on any frame in your storyboard. The editor opens in a modal window with your frame canvas in the centre, a toolbar at the bottom, and a sidebar on the right.

Tip: if you can't see the editor or sidebar, check you have the Editor & Frame Builder tabs enabled.

The Sidebar

The sidebar on the right side of the editor gives you access to images, frames, and camera movement overlays.

Image Library

There are several ways to add images to your frame using the sidebar.

Unsplash

Search millions of free, high-quality photographs from Unsplash. Enter a search term or browse by category to find images.

Click an image to add it to your canvas. The image will be placed in the centre of your frame, ready to be moved and resized.

IconFinder

Search for icons and illustrations from IconFinder. These are perfect for adding visual elements, symbols, or simple graphics to your frames.

Adding Images from Other Frames

Click the Frames tab in the sidebar to see all frames in your storyboard. Click any frame to add its image to your canvas as an object you can move, resize, and transform.

This is useful for:

• Copying elements from one frame to another
• Building composite images from multiple frames
• Referencing previous frames while working

Adding Images from Your Computer

You can also add your own images:

• Drag and drop — Drag an image file from your computer directly onto the canvas
• Paste from clipboard — Copy an image and press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Cmd+V (Mac)

Camera Movement Overlays

Camera movement overlays are visual indicators that show planned camera movements on your frame. These are essential for communicating shot direction to your team or client.

Click the Overlays tab in the sidebar to see the available options:

Click an overlay to apply it to your frame. Overlays appear as semi-transparent graphics on top of your frame content. They're automatically sized to match your storyboard's aspect ratio.

To remove an overlay, click it again in the sidebar to deselect it.

Adding Shapes

Click the shapes icon in the sidebar to select from:

• Circle — An ellipse that can be resized
• Rectangle — A rectangle with adjustable rounded corners
• Triangle — An equilateral triangle
• Arrow — A directional arrow for indicating movement or focus

Click and drag on the canvas to draw your shape. Once placed, select a shape to see its context menu with these properties:

Tip: Hold Shift while creating a shape to maintain equal proportions (e.g., a perfect circle or square).

The Toolbar

The toolbar at the bottom of the editor contains your drawing tools and canvas actions.

Editing Modes

The left side of the toolbar contains four editing modes:

Drawing with the Brush

Select the Draw tool to start freehand drawing on your canvas. A context menu appears above your cursor where you can adjust:

• Brush size — Choose from 5 preset sizes (8px to 64px)
• Colour — Pick from 9 preset colours or use the colour picker for a custom colour
• Opacity — Adjust the transparency of your brush strokes

  

Tip: Hold Shift while drawing to create perfectly straight lines.

Using the Eraser

The Eraser tool removes brush strokes you've drawn. It doesn't affect other objects like shapes, text, or images — only freehand drawing.

Adding Text

Click the Text tool, then click anywhere on the canvas to create a text box. Start typing to add your text.

With text selected, a context menu appears with these options:

Double-click existing text to edit it.

Canvas Actions

The right side of the toolbar contains actions that affect your entire canvas or manage frames:

Tip: Hold Shift and click Clear to remove only the background image while keeping your drawings and objects.

Onion Skinning

Onion skinning is an animation technique that shows a faint image of the previous frame as a reference. This helps you create smooth transitions and consistent positioning between frames — particularly useful when planning animated sequences or ensuring continuity between shots.

To toggle onion skinning, click the Onion Skin button in the toolbar. When active, you'll see a semi-transparent overlay of the previous frame behind your current canvas.

Note: Onion skinning is only available from the second frame onwards — the first frame has no previous frame to reference.

Working with Objects

Selecting Objects

Switch to the Select tool, then:

• Single select — Click on any object to select it
• Multi-select — Hold Shift and click to add objects to your selection, or drag across multiple objects
• Select all — Press Ctrl+A (Windows) or Cmd+A (Mac)
• Deselect — Click on an empty area of the canvas or press Escape

Moving and Transforming

With an object selected, you'll see handles around it:

• Drag the object to move it
• Drag the corner handles to resize
• Drag the rotation handle (top) to rotate
• Hold Shift while resizing to maintain proportions

Copy, Paste, and Duplicate

• Copy — Ctrl+C / Cmd+C
• Paste — Ctrl+V / Cmd+V (pastes with a slight offset)
• Quick duplicate — Hold Alt and drag an object to create a copy

Layer Order

Objects can overlap. Right-click an object or use the context menu to change the stacking order:

• Send to Front — Bring the object to the top
• Send to Back — Move the object behind everything else

Flipping Objects

You can flip individual objects horizontally or vertically using the context menu:

Alignment

When you select an object, alignment options appear in the context menu. These align the object relative to the canvas:

Arranging Multiple Objects

When you select multiple objects, you can arrange them relative to each other:

Deleting Objects

Select an object and press Delete or Backspace to remove it, or use the delete option in the context menu.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are the most useful keyboard shortcuts for the Frame Editor:

Saving Your Work

Your changes are saved when you close the Frame Editor. If you have unsaved changes and try to close or navigate away, you'll be prompted to save or discard your work.