Export videos, GIFs and images
Every export format, which one to pick, and the settings that matter: size, quality, trimming and presets.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+E (or click Export at the top right), click a quick preset such as YouTube or Chat GIF, then click the black button at the bottom.
- Video is for YouTube and TikTok, GIF is for chats, Frames makes pictures, and Project makes files you can keep editing in Pivot.
- Exporting makes a copy to share. Keep your .styk project too: it’s the only file you can keep editing in StykAnimate.
Your animation lives in a .styk project file, and only StykAnimate can open it. Exporting turns it into something anyone can watch: a video, a GIF or pictures. This guide shows you how to export for the place you’re sharing to, then explains every setting in the Export window.
Export your first video
- Save your project first with Ctrl+S. Exporting never changes your project, but saving keeps your work safe.
- Open the Export window: click Export at the top right of the editor, choose File → Export…, or press Ctrl+Shift+E.
- Click a quick preset for where you’re sharing, for example YouTube. It fills in the format, size and quality for you, and a line under the presets says what you’ll get (“Ready for YouTube: 1920 × 1080.”).
- Check the name in Name. The grey text at its end (.mp4) is the file type you’ll get.
- Read the line at the bottom left. It sums up the export, for example 1,920 × 1,080 px · 24 frames · 1.00s at 24 fps.
- Click the black button. It names what it makes, such as Export MP4. The window shows the progress, then asks where to save the file (in the browser, the file downloads).
Street fightSavedThe Export window is closed. Click Export above, or press Ctrl+Shift+E, to open it again.
Export
Quick presets
Plays everywhere: phones, YouTube, social apps and video editors.
Sharp, with a sensible file size. Right for most uses.
MP4 has no transparency: transparent areas become black.
Stop exporting?
The file will not be saved.
- Click a quick preset, like YouTube or TikTok, and read the line under the presets.
- Switch Format to GIF, then try Frames and Project. Watch which rows come and go.
- Trim the range: drag a black handle under the preview, or type in From and To.
- Turn on See-through background above, then compare MP4, WebM and GIF in the preview.
- Export it with the black button at the bottom.
- Close the window with Cancel or Esc, then open it again with Ctrl+Shift+E.
This window works like the real one, with a 24-frame animation. Nothing is saved to your computer.
Pick the right preset
The eight Quick presets at the top cover the places people share most. Each one only fills in settings you can still change, and stays highlighted until you change the type, size or quality it chose. Changing the name or the frame range keeps it.
| You want to… | Click | What it sets |
|---|---|---|
| Upload to YouTube | YouTube | MP4, 1080p, Max quality |
| Post a YouTube Short | Shorts | MP4, 1080p, Max quality |
| Post on TikTok | TikTok | MP4, 1080p, Great quality |
| Post an Instagram Reel | MP4, 1080p, Great quality | |
| Post on X | X | MP4, 720p, Great quality |
| Send it in Discord or another chat | Chat GIF | GIF, scaled so the short side is 480 px |
| Put it over other footage in a video editor | Transparent | PNG sequence (.zip) at the scene’s size |
| Keep the sharpest copy | Best quality | MP4, 4K, Max quality |
Presets never change your scene’s shape. On a wide scene, Shorts, TikTok and Instagram show a note that the video will play with bars. To fill a phone screen, make the scene tall (for example 1080 × 1920) in Scene settings, ideally before you start animating, and check that the action stays inside the camera.
Choose a format and type
If no preset fits, choose a Format, then a Type. The grey line under Type says what that type is good for.
- MP4: plays everywhere, from phones to YouTube and video editors. The safe choice.
- WebM: an open format for web pages. In the desktop app it keeps a see-through background.
- AVI: for older editing software. Under Encoding, a lossless codec keeps a perfect master copy.
- WMV: for older Windows programs.
- Windows AVI (Windows only): encodes with a video codec installed on your PC, with that codec’s own settings.
Video is the only format that can carry sound: see Sound.
- GIF: loops forever in chats, forums and web pages. Up to 256 colours a frame, no sound, and up to 50 frames per second.
- APNG (animated PNG): like a GIF but with full colour and smooth see-through edges. Plays in web browsers.
- PNG frame or SVG frame: just the frame you’re on, as one picture. SVG is a vector drawing that stays sharp at any size.
- PNG, JPEG, GIF or SVG sequence: one numbered picture per frame, packed in a .zip. PNG keeps transparency; JPEG makes smaller files without it.
- Pivot animation (.piv): the whole animation, to open in Pivot Animator.
- StykAnimate figure (.stkz): the selected figure, to reuse in other projects.
- Pivot figure (.stk): the selected figure, for Pivot Animator.
- Movieclip (.stykmov): the selected movieclip. Select one first, or the type stays greyed out.
Pivot files can’t hold everything StykAnimate can, like effects, sound or some shapes. Keep your .styk project as the original.
Export only part of the animation
- Look at the strip of small pictures under the preview. It shows your whole animation.
- Drag the black handle on the left to where the export should start, and the one on the right to where it should end. Frames outside the range fade out.
- Or type the first and last frame in From and To.
- Click ▶ to play the preview and check the first and last poses. All puts the whole animation back.
The bottom line updates as you trim. A single PNG frame or SVG frame always uses the frame you’re on, so it has no range.
Export counts every frame that plays, including inbetweens. Five poses that each hold for 4 inbetweens play as 25 frames.
Size, quality and the other settings
A bigger size can’t add detail to a small imported picture, but stick figures, shapes and text are drawn fresh at any size, so they stay sharp.
StykAnimate remembers your type, size, quality, picture and encoding choices for next time. The name and the frame range start fresh each time.
Sound
If your project has sound, video formats show a Sound row with the sound’s name, switched on. Turn it off for a silent video. GIFs and pictures never have sound. In the browser editor, sound is included only where the browser can encode it.
See-through backgrounds
A transparent background is useful when you want to put your animation on top of something else in a video editor. It takes two steps:
- Make the scene’s background see-through. Click the colour chip next to Scene in the stage header, and set Alpha % to 0.
- Export to a type that keeps it. The quickest way is the Transparent preset (a PNG sequence). The Transparent switch next to Picture shows whether the type you chose keeps it; you can’t switch it yourself.
PNG frame and sequence, APNG, SVG, WebM in the desktop app, and GIF (hard edges only: each pixel is either fully see-through or not at all).
MP4, AVI and WMV turn see-through areas black; JPEG turns them white. WebM in the browser editor also fills them in.
While it exports
The window shows what it’s doing (Rendering frames…, then Finishing your file…), the percentage, how many frames are done and about how long is left. A GIF makes two passes: first it builds the GIF colours, then it writes the frames.
To stop, click Cancel export or press Esc, then Stop exporting. Nothing is saved if you stop.
When it’s done, open the file in a video player or browser and check its length, first and last frames, sound and background before you post it.
Exporting in the browser editor
The browser editor exports MP4, WebM, GIF, APNG, pictures and Pivot files. AVI, WMV and Windows AVI need the desktop app and show as Unavailable. Browser WebM and MP4 don’t keep transparency.
Common questions
The Export button is greyed out.
A setting needs fixing, and a red line just above the buttons says which: an empty or invalid name, a range where the last frame is before the first, or a size that’s too big. Fix that field and the button comes back.
It says the picture is too big.
Each side can be up to 16,384 pixels and a frame up to about 67 million pixels. Choose a smaller size.
My TikTok video has black bars.
Your scene is wide. Change it to 1080 × 1920 in Scene settings and rearrange the shot, then export again.
My video has no sound.
Check that Sound is switched on in the Export window, and that you chose a Video format. GIFs and pictures can’t carry sound.
My GIF looks grainy or banded.
GIFs have at most 256 colours a frame. Try Colours → Dither, or export APNG or MP4 instead.
The background is black instead of see-through.
MP4, AVI and WMV can’t be see-through. Choose a type from the green list in See-through backgrounds, and check that the scene’s background Alpha is 0%.
Why is the Movieclip type greyed out?
It exports the selected movieclip. Close the window, select a movieclip on the stage, and open Export again.
Keep going
Still stuck?
Ask the community, or tell us what’s missing from the docs.