Animated Sticker Creation Guidelines

These guidelines will help you create the images necessary for animated stickers.

Requirements

Frame Rate for APNG Files

  • Use the following steps to determine the frame rate for your APNG.
  • 1. Set the order for each PNG file that makes up each animated sticker.
  • 2. Choose a playback time that matches your number of PNG frames.
  • 3. Determine the number of loops for the sticker taking into consideration the playback time.
    • The playback time multiplied by the number of loops cannot be more than 4 seconds total.
    • If your sticker's playback time exceeds 4 seconds, reduce the sticker's number of loops.
  • 4. Specify the APNG file and save it.
  • If you exceed the filesize limits, use a PNG compression tool, such as Pngyu, to compress your image files.

PNG Frame Sequence for APNG Files

  • Arrange your frame order so that the sticker's still image in the first frame expresses your sticker's main feeling or idea.
  • Animated stickers begin playing as soon as their chat is opened or when the stickers are tapped. However, their first frame is displayed as a still image in the following cases.
  • · In chats when their animation is not playing
  • · In chats on versions of LINE or devices that do not support animated stickers
  • · On their in-app Sticker Shop and LINE STORE preview pages
  • Once your frame sequence has been determined, use an APNG creation tool to generate your APNG file.
  • Note: LINE does not provide APNG creation tools.

An Important Message About Frame Order for Animated Stickers

  • Animated stickers must be able to convey feelings or ideas not just through their animations, but through their still images as well.
  • Please ensure that the first frame of each of your stickers, used as the sticker's still image, suitably describes the feeling you want each sticker to express.

  • For example, in an animated story where a character's expression changes to one of gratitude by the last frame, please use the same image in the first frame as that of the last frame in order to express the character's emotion accurately.
  • Even though the "02.png" frame is the first frame of the animated story, because it does not describe the emotion we want to capture in this sticker's still image (01.png), a different image is used in "01.png" instead.
  • Frame 01.png instead uses the illustration from the final frame, because it better expresses the sticker's main theme.
  • "01.png" is displayed as the sticker's still image when it is not playing and on the sticker selection screen.

Frame and Loop Limits per Sticker

  • · The maximum playback time for an individual sticker is 4 seconds. Playback time options are limited to 1, 2, 3, or 4 seconds. Non-whole number playback times, such as 1.5 seconds, are not permitted.
  • · PNG frame limits per APNG: Between 5 and 20 frames.
    * When creating APNG files with a creation tool such as APNG Assembler, repeated identical images may become combined as a single frame.
    * Files that use the same data for all frames will fail to function properly as animated stickers and will result in an upload error.
  • · The total playback time for an APNG cannot exceed 4 seconds.

1 second (20 frames) x 4 loops = 4 seconds 1 second = 20 frames

4 seconds (20 frames) x 1 loop = 4 seconds 4 seconds = 20 frames

1 second (50 frames) x 1 loop = 1 second (Exceeds maximum frames allowed) 1 second = 50 frames

3 seconds (20 frames) x 2 loops = 6 seconds (exceeds 4 second playback time limit) 3 seconds = 20 frames

Images Likely to Exceed Size Limits when Converted to APNG

Stickers that make heavy use of gradations instead of flat colors

Stickers in which large parts of the background is animated

Detailed flame, motion lines, or sparkle animations drawn over a large area

Images Unlikely to Exceed Size Limits when Converted to APNG

Flat colors with a restricted palette

Animations that use recycled frames (Marked frames are recycled.)

Guidelines

Recommended Stickers

  • · Stickers that are easy to use in daily conversation and communication.
  • · Stickers that consist of easily understandable expressions, messages, and illustrations.

Non-Recommended Stickers

  • · Stickers that are difficult to use in daily conversation, such as objects and scenery.
  • · Stickers that have poor visibility, such as pictures that are too long or full-length illustrations of tall characters.
  • · Sets that significantly lack variety, such as stickers made up purely of pale colors or strings of numbers.
  • · Content that offends public order and morality, is suggestive of under-age drinking or smoking, contain sexual or violent imagery, or may fuel nationalism.

Other Notes

  • · Paid animated stickers should not be used for advertisement purposes. Accordingly, animated sticker graphics, titles, and text cannot act as advertisements (including announcing sales or release dates) or feature superfluous or unnecessary corporate logos.
  • · Requiring a user's personal information or ID in order to purchase animated stickers is strictly forbidden.
    Content that mentions any internet service, messenger app, or similar services, or consists of any characters related to such services may not be sold in the Creators Market.
  • · For more details, please see the sticker review guidelines.