Cells

The Cells panel is the drawing library behind a Raster or Drawing layer: every cell lives once, and you expose it on whatever frames need it, so editing a drawing updates every frame that uses it.

On a Raster layer, or a Drawing layer (the one the Layers panel labels Vector), the Cells panel lists that layer's stored cells as thumbnails. A cell is not tied to a single frame: you expose it on as many frames as you like, and editing it once updates every frame that references it.

Select the layer whose cells you want and open Window ▸ Cells, off by default. Any other layer type shows only a hint to select a raster or drawing layer.

Raster cells vs drawing content#

A Raster layer keeps a reusable cell library (painted bitmaps, each with a stable id) plus a map from frame to cell. New Cell mints a blank cell without touching whatever is already exposed elsewhere.

A Drawing layer's cells are its own vector content: each cell is a group of shapes tagged with a permanent cell id. New Cell inserts an empty marker at the next open frame and moves the playhead there. It does nothing if that frame would fall past the end of the project.

Exposing a cell#

Cells are drag sources only: the panel never exposes a cell just because you clicked it, so scrubbing the timeline can never silently swap what a frame shows. Drag a tile onto the Timeline row of the layer it belongs to: the target frame tints green if it is free to take the cell, red if it already owns a cell keyframe there. Drops are refused on an occupied frame, never overwritten.

Clicking a raster cell only picks it for reference. Clicking a drawing cell also jumps the playhead to that cell's first frame.

Tile states#

• Exposed here: the tile owns a keyframe on the current frame, solid blue fill with a light border.
• Visible now: the tile is being held over from an earlier exposure, a darker blue.
• Picked: you have clicked it in the panel, an amber ring, with no effect on what is actually showing on the frame.

View options#

The hamburger menu switches between grid and list layouts, sets thumbnail size to Small, Medium or Large, toggles the cell-name caption and the xN exposure-count badge, and swaps the thumbnail backdrop between a transparent checker and solid white. Every one of these settings is remembered between sessions.

Edit once, updates everywhere#

Because a cell is content stored once and merely referenced by every frame that exposes it, drawing or painting on it from any exposed frame changes it everywhere else it appears. That is the whole point of a hold. If you want a variation instead of a change, duplicate the cell first.