Cinemagraph guide

Help

Short answers to what goes wrong most often.

The frame says the tool needs WebGL 2

The motion is drawn on the GPU with WebGL 2. Update the browser, or try Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. If it still fails, check that hardware acceleration is on in the browser's settings.

Nothing moves

Only painted parts move. A new photo starts with an empty mask, and Clear mask empties it; turn on Show mask to see what is painted.

Check that the button under Playback reads Pause; if it reads Play, the motion is stopped. Raise Amplitude if the motion is too small to see.

Breathe hardly moves the middle of the painted area, and Sway hardly moves paint near the top (side to side) or the left edge (up and down). Plain, even areas show little motion with any effect, because the pixels moved in are the same colour.

The brush does not paint

Wait for the photo to appear; the brush works once it has loaded. Check that Paint, not Erase, is chosen, or press B. A low Opacity builds up slowly: drag over the same place again.

My mask is gone

Opening a new photo starts a fresh, empty mask, and Clear mask wipes it. Reset and resizing the window keep it.

The picture has a blue tint

That is the Show mask tint, a painting aid shown on screen only. Videos, Save frame and Copy leave it out. Turn Show mask off, or press M, to see the picture as it will be saved.

My photo came out smaller

Photos longer than 1920 pixels on a side are shrunk to 1920, or to 1280 on phones and touch screens, to keep the motion smooth. The lines under Image show both sizes. Frames and videos are the smaller size.

The photo did not open

If the tool says That file could not be read as an image, the browser cannot open that file. Save it as a JPEG or PNG and try again.

The motion changes in steps when I drag a slider

Every effect repeats a whole number of times in each loop, so a recorded video loops without a jump. Speeds are rounded to fit, so a speed slider, Loop speed or Video length can change the motion in small steps.

Record video says it is not supported

Recording a canvas depends on the browser. If yours cannot record, the line under the buttons says so. Save a frame instead, or try another current browser.

Copy did nothing

Some browsers do not let a page put a picture on the clipboard, and the tool says Copy failed. Use Save frame instead.

Does it work on a phone or tablet?

Yes. Drag a finger over the photo to paint. Phones and touch screens work on photos up to 1280 pixels on their long side; every effect and export is there.

Is my photo uploaded?

No. The photo, the mask and every video are made on your device and never leave it.

Why is a picture from another tool here?

Pictures you add are kept on this device for every lab tool that takes one, so you need not add them again. Press × on a tile to forget that photo; the lake sample comes back.