Apple Motion 5.1.1 - Manual (Page 171)

Chapter 6 Create and manage projects 171
The layers of the Photoshop file are added using the command you choose.
The Canvas drop menu has the following options:
•
Import Merged Layers: All layers of the Photoshop file are collapsed into a single Motion layer.
•
Import All Layers: A group is created, and each layer of the Photoshop file is preserved as a
separate Motion layer in this new group.
•
[Individual layers]: Each layer in the Photoshop file appears as a separate item in the drop
menu. Selecting a layer adds only that layer to the project, where it appears as a single
Motion layer.
Note: When a Photoshop file contains more layers than can be displayed in the drop menu, the
Choose Layer option appears in the drop menu. After you click the Choose Layer option, the Pick
Layer to Import dialog appears.
Add a layered Photoshop file using the Import command
1 Choose File > Import.
2 Select the layered Photoshop file to import, then click Import.
The Pick Layer to Import dialog appears.
3 Choose a command from the Layer Name pop-up menu:
•
Merged Layers: All layers of the Photoshop file are collapsed into a single Motion layer.
•
All Layers: A group is created, and each layer of the Photoshop file is preserved as a separate
Motion layer in this group.
•
[Individual layers]: Each layer in the Photoshop file appears as a separate item in the drop
menu. Selecting a layer adds only that layer to the project, where it appears as a single
Motion layer.
If you don’t like the layer you chose, you can pick a different one from the Photoshop file without
deleting or importing again. You do so by selecting the recently imported Photoshop layer, then
choosing a different Photoshop layer from the Layer pop-up menu in the Properties Inspector.
PDF files
The PDF file format is a PostScript-based document format that accommodates PostScript-
based graphics and text, as well as bitmap graphics. Areas of transparency in a PDF file are also
transparent in Motion.
PDF files are capable of storing PostScript-based illustrations. Unlike graphics file formats such as
TIFF and JPEG, which save images as a collection of pixels at a given resolution divided into red,
green, and blue channels, PostScript-based illustrations are saved as mathematical descriptions
of how the artwork is drawn. As a result, PDF files using PostScript-based artwork and text have
infinite resolution.
The practical difference between bitmap files and PostScript-based files is that scaling a bitmap
beyond 100 percent results in the image progressively softening the more you increase its size.
PostScript-based illustrations remain sharp and clear no matter how large or how small you
scale them.
When importing a PDF file, its size is relative to the original page size of the file. As a result, even
small graphics can have a large frame size, with empty space surrounding the graphic. When
exporting a graphic as a PDF file for use in Motion, you may want to scale the graphic to fit the
page dimensions, or reduce the page size in the source application’s page preferences to fit the
graphic’s dimensions.
67% resize factor