Guides

Guides

How to do the jobs Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects make hard: by hand first, then with a plug-in if you want one.

How to Get After Effects Shape Layers Back into Illustrator

After Effects has no export to Illustrator. Three ways to bring shape layers back as vector paths, what each one loses, and a one-click option.

Why Photoshop's Export As Crops Transparent Pixels (and How to Stop It)

Export As and Quick Export trim the transparent space around your artwork. Why it happens, which fixes still work in 2026, and which ones broke.

Why Pixel Art Goes Blurry When You Place It in Photoshop

Placed pixel art turns soft because Photoshop resamples it. The three causes, how to spot each one in ten seconds, and how to bring sprites in sharp.

Make a 9-Slice Sprite in Photoshop for Unity, Godot, Unreal and GameMaker

Prepare a 9-slice UI sprite in Photoshop at the smallest size your engine needs, and get the border values for Unity, Godot, Unreal and GameMaker right.

Export Photoshop Layers as PNG Without Trimming (Keep Canvas Size)

Photoshop crops exported PNGs to their pixels. Three ways to export layers and groups at full canvas size, with position kept, and a one-click option.

How to 9-Slice Scale in Photoshop Without Distorting the Corners

Photoshop has no 9-slice scaling. Here's how to resize a UI frame or button by hand without stretching the corners, and a faster way with a plug-in.