Frames and free elements

A frame is a node with its own size, content and timeline: a video, a poster, a screen. Frames can nest: draw one inside another with the Frame tool and it keeps its own fill and clips what is inside it.

A free element is a shape, text, image or SVG placed directly on the canvas. It is saved as an element, never as a frame, so duplicating or copy-pasting it keeps its drawing and size. Technically a free element is a chromeless frame (ADR 0011).

Moving things

• Drag an element out of a frame into another frame or onto the canvas.
• Drag a generated image or video from its node into a frame.
• Delete or Backspace on a free shape removes it entirely; no empty frame is left behind.
• Paste an element into several selected frames at once.
• Hold Cmd/Ctrl while resizing a frame to leave its layers at their size and place.
• New layers are pinned left and top, so resizing a frame keeps their size and distance from the edges.
• Resize to fit (⌥⇧⌘R) fits a frame to its contents.

Selecting

• Right-click on stacked layers lists them so you can pick the one underneath.
• Hold Cmd/Ctrl and drag across a frame to select elements inside groups, not the groups.
• Cmd+F finds any node by name, text or prompt.

Frames rest on their first moment on the canvas, so pasted designs and drawn shapes are always visible.