Optimizing Animation Shop Images

After you've imported your file/s into Animation Shop, run the Optimizer to ensure that the file size doesn't get too large.

• Go File > Optimization Wizard or press Shift+Z to bring up the Optimization Wizard dialog box.
  
  
  I recommend changing the settings so that it creates a new animation image each time you run the optimizer. This way you can save several different versions without worrying about over-writing the previous one. Then you can compare them later and delete the ones you don't want, saving the best quality with the best file size.
  Press the Next button to continue on.
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  Set the quality slider as high as it will go and press the Next button until you get to the Optimization Results window.
  
  Check the file size. If it isn't too large, click the Finish button and then save your image.
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If the file size is too large or you want to see if you can make it smaller, use the Back button to return to the first screen and push the slider down one notch.

Notice that the quality of the finished image degrades as you push the slider down to get smaller file sizes. If you can't make the file size small enough you may want/need to resize the animation. See instructions below:

• Go Animation > Resize Animation or press Shift+S to bring up the Resize dialog box.
  
• Change the size of the image using either Pixel Size or Percentage.
  
  Click the OK button to resize your file. Now run the Optimization Wizard on this file.
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  This file (50% of the original) comes in at only 19KB at the best quality setting.
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If you enjoyed this tutorial I'd love to hear from you. If you need help with anything here or if the steps aren't clear, please let me know and I'll try to explain it better.