How to Animate in Photoshop with a Trackpad and an Idea in 7 Simple Steps

An animation I made about cherries recently

Animation is hard. Here is a guide to make it a little simpler for you:

Animation has been a way for filmmakers to tell stories that no other medium would have been otherwise able to support. The creativity and imagination allows studios to take on projects that speak to a variety of ideas.

Sounds appealing right?

Well it is! It takes a lot of time, but the product is worth it.

I don’t have a tablet or stylus, but I want to make something. How do I get started?

What you will need:

• A computer with a working mouse or trackpad
• Photoshop
• An idea you want to animate with a storyboard
• How long you want each of the shots to be

Helpful but not required:

• An external hard drive to save your projects on.

Something to note before going on:

Animating with a track pad is not very ergonomic and I would only suggest it for simple and short animations from time to time.