Creating effect stickers
Here is a detailed breakdown on how to create effect stickers.
Contents
Effect sticker features
Effect stickers are made up of both static sticker images and animated effect images.
- Effect image
- Sticker images
Effect images are played as animations in the chat screen background.
Parts of the image may be hidden by chat balloons and other stickers, so take that into consideration when designing your image.
- You don't have to use the same image for sticker images and effect images.
- Unlike animated stickers, the first frame of the APNG animation will not be used as the static image.
Image size
Effect images must have either a height or width of exactly 480 pixels.
The following restrictions also apply.
- If the width is 480 pixels wide, the height must be at least 320 pixels tall.
- If the height is 480 pixels tall, the width must be at least 200 pixels wide.
- The maximum size is 480 × 480.
Effect images will fill the chat screen as long as the image is not cut off.
- If you wish to entirely fill the chat screen, we recommend the following dimensions.
- For iPhone 6/7/8: 326 × 480
For iPhone 11/XR: 274 × 480 - - Aspect ratios may change depending on the device. Stickers may not cover the entire chat screen on some devices.
- The image above assumes a vertical orientation.
Display position
You can choose from 3 vertical display positions for effect images.
- Top
- Center
- Bottom
Choose a display position that best fits your animation.
For example, if your effect image shows a character hanging down from the top of the screen, choose the Top position.
Frame and loop counts per sticker
- · The maximum playback time for a sticker is 3 seconds. Playback time options are limited to 1, 2, or 3 seconds. Non-whole number playback times, such as 1.5 seconds, aren't supported.
- · The maximum number of loops is 3.
- · PNG frame limits per APNG: Between 5 and 20 frames.
- Note: If 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 won't animate properly and will result in an upload error.
1 second (20 frames) × 3 loops = 3 seconds
3 seconds (20 frames) × 1 loop = 3 seconds
1 second (50 frames) × 1 loop = 1 second (Exceeds maximum frames allowed)
2 seconds (20 frames) × 2 loops = 4 seconds (exceeds 3 second playback time limit)
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.)