Export in the right format for where you’ll use it.
The Export panel turns a project into an image, video, GIF, PDF, PPT, SVG, Lottie, or HTML file. Choose a format tab and click the button at the bottom, and the file downloads.
Export to a file
Open the project you want to export in the editor. To export just the current scene, first select that scene in the Scenes list.
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Open the Export panel
Click the Menu button, shaped like the SSHOW logo, at the top left of the editor. In the menu that opens, click Export. Or press ⌘⇧E. The Export panel opens. Press the same keys again to close it.
Clicking Export in the Menu opens the Export panel, with eight format tabs along the top. Video: Clicking the SSHOW logo at the top left opens the menu, and clicking Export opens the Export panel with eight format tabs along the top. -
Choose a format tab
Click a format in the tabs at the top of the panel. Each tab shows only the options that format needs. To find the right format, see the table in Which format to use.
Each tab you click switches the options and the summary line at the top to that format. Video: In the Export panel, clicking the Video, PDF, and HTML tabs in turn switches the summary line at the top and the options below to each format. -
Check what’s included
Image and SVG export only the objects you’ve selected, or the current scene if nothing is selected. The Scope row shows ‘Selection’ or ‘Scene’. For video and GIF, choose All scenes or Current scene under Range.
Selecting the circle changes Scope from ‘Scene’ to ‘Selection’, and only the circle stays in the preview. Video: With the Image tab open, clicking the circle on the canvas changes Scope from ‘Scene’ to ‘Selection’, and only the circle stays in the preview. -
Check the file name
The Filename field holds the project name. If you export only the current scene, it holds the scene name, and for a single object, that object’s name. To change it, type a new name. The extension is added automatically.
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Click the export button
Click the button at the bottom of the panel. It carries the format’s name, like Export PDF, and on the Image tab it’s Export. When the file is ready, it downloads. On the web, it goes to your browser’s downloads folder. In the desktop app, a window opens asking where to save it.
Clicking Export PDF briefly changes the button to ‘Exporting...’, and the PDF file downloads. Video: On the PDF tab, clicking Export PDF briefly changes the button to ‘Exporting...’, and a PDF file appears in the browser’s download list. -
Wait for a video or GIF
For video and GIF, the progress bar shows the time remaining, like ‘Rendering · Scene 2/3 · ~12s left’. Until it finishes, the rest of the editor doesn’t respond to clicks. To stop, click Cancel.
Clicking Export Video fills the progress bar, and ‘Export complete’ shows when it’s done. Video: Clicking Export Video fills the progress bar from ‘Preparing encoder...’ to ‘Rendering · Scene 2/3 · ~2s left’, and ‘Export complete’ shows when it finishes.
On the web, video and GIF exports stop if the tab is hidden
Video and GIF exports draw each frame on screen, one at a time, and browsers stop drawing in tabs you can’t see. Keep this tab in front until the export finishes. The desktop app keeps going even when its window is covered, and keeps the screen from turning off in the meantime.
Which format to use
| Format tab | Use it when | What’s included |
|---|---|---|
| Image | You need a thumbnail, a single picture, or one object | One image of the current scene or your selection (PNG, JPG, WebP) |
| Video | You’re posting to social media, playing it on a screen, or moving it to a video editing app | Scenes and transitions, plus timeline motion and sound (MP4) |
| GIF | You’re adding it where video is hard to use, like messengers and documents | The same motion as the video, no sound |
| You’re printing it or handing it out as a document | One page per scene, no motion | |
| PPT | You’re opening it in PowerPoint or Keynote, or editing it further there | One slide per scene, with scene notes as speaker notes |
| SVG | It must stay sharp when enlarged, like a logo or icon | One vector image of the current scene or your selection |
| Lottie | You’re adding a vector animation to a website or app | The current scene’s timeline (.json) |
| HTML | You’re handing over one file that opens with just a browser | One screen per scene, no motion |
What you set for each format
You can export with the default values as they are. The Video, GIF, PDF, PPT, and Lottie tabs show how much goes in and at what size in the summary line at the top, so check it before you click.
Video, GIF, PDF, and PPT leave out hidden scenes in the Scenes list. HTML leaves them out only in image mode. To hide a scene, see Work with scenes.
Image
Turns the current scene or your selection into one PNG, JPG, or WebP image. The preview at the top of the panel is the image you’ll get, and the line just above the button shows its size in pixels.
- Scale factorGoes from 0.5x to 8x. If the size goes over your graphics card’s limit, the size line says ‘over the … px limit’, and you can’t click Export.
- Image qualityShows only for JPG and WebP. The default is 92%.
- Transparent backgroundShows only for PNG and WebP. With it on, even the whole scene comes out without the scene’s background, and empty areas are transparent. JPG fills empty areas with white.
Video
Plays the scenes in order, as in the viewer, and makes them into an MP4 video. Transitions between scenes, each scene’s timeline, and the sound of video and audio objects all go in. Scenes without a transition switch instantly in the video too. To turn one on, see Your first transition.
- Scene rangeAll scenes includes every scene that isn’t hidden, and Current scene includes only the scene that’s open now.
- Still scenes (s)How long a scene with no animation stays on screen. The default is 3 seconds, and it shows only when there are such scenes. A scene with a timeline plays for the timeline’s length, or only its work area if you set one (Stops and the work area).
- Stop points (s)How long to hold at each stop on the timeline. The default is 1.5 seconds, and 0 means no hold. It shows only when there are stops.
- Scale and qualityThe defaults are 1x and Medium. The higher you set them, the bigger the file.
- Frame rateThe FPS field sets how many frames go into each second. The default is 30, and if you include a scene with a timeline, it starts at that scene’s frame rate (usually 60).
- Audio settingsSets whether to include sound. These settings show only when there’s an object that makes sound, and Audio quality starts at 128 kbps.
- Transparent backgroundMakes a WebM file with a transparent background, without sound. It doesn’t look transparent in Safari and some video editing apps.
GIF
Makes an animated GIF without sound, in the same order and with the same motion as the video. Range, Still scenes (s), and Stop points (s) work the same as for video.
- Scale and colorsThese set the file size. The defaults are 1x and 256, and FPS is 20. If the file is large, first lower Scale to 0.5x.
- Dither methodOrdered doesn’t shimmer as frames change, Diffusion gives the smoothest gradients, and Off makes the smallest file.
- Loop countChoose from Infinite, Play once, 2×, 3×, or 5×.
- Transparent backgroundGIF has no partial transparency, so pixels that are more than half transparent become fully transparent.
Makes one scene-sized page for each scene that isn’t hidden. Motion isn’t included, and each page looks just as you designed it.
- Image modeThe default. Each page holds the scene as an image, so it looks exactly like the screen, but you can’t select or search the text. Set Scale (2x by default) and Quality.
- Vector modeDraws shapes as vectors and text as outlines, so it stays sharp when enlarged. The text isn’t searchable, and effects that PDF can’t draw go in as images.
PPT
Makes a .pptx file with one slide for each scene that isn’t hidden. Each scene’s notes go into its slide’s speaker notes.
- Image modeThe default. Each slide holds the scene as one image, so it looks exactly like the screen but can’t be edited.
- Vector modeRebuilds shapes, text, images, and tables as PowerPoint objects and embeds the fonts. You can keep editing in PowerPoint, and effects it can’t draw go in as images.
- Title and authorThese go into the file’s properties. Title gets the project name from when you first opened the panel, and it doesn’t change if you rename the project later. Check it before you export.
SVG
Makes one vector image that stays sharp when enlarged. With nothing selected, it includes the current scene; with one object selected, that object; and with several, your selection. The Scope row shows ‘Scene’, ‘Selection’, or ‘Selection (3)’, for example.
- Left outThe scene’s background color, glass, noise, inner shadow, and video
- Circles and ellipsesFor now, they’re saved as rectangles. Export images with circles as PNG or PDF.
Lottie
Turns the current scene’s timeline into a vector animation (.json) that plays on the web and in apps. Shapes, paths, images, frames, and tables go in with their motion, but transitions between scenes don’t. A scene without a timeline becomes a still, one-frame file.
- Frame rateThe FPS field starts at the frame rate set on the scene’s timeline, or 60 if there isn’t one.
- Left outText, video, audio, dynamic fills, most effects, Distort, skew, 3D, and the scene’s background color
HTML
Puts every scene into one HTML file that opens in a browser. Scenes appear just as you designed them, and motion and transitions don’t play. Whoever gets the file moves between scenes with → and ←.
- Vector modeThe default. It rebuilds objects as web page elements, so text can be selected, and the fonts you used go into the file. Dynamic fills, Distort, line heads and trim, glass, and noise are left out.
- Image modePuts one image in for each scene. Scale goes from 1x to 4x.
- Layout optionsFit scales the scene up or down to fit the window. Fluid fills the window, and pinned objects reposition themselves. Fixed keeps the scene’s pixel size, so the edges get cut off in a small window.
- Navigation and autoplayWith Navigation on (the default), previous and next buttons and the scene number appear at the bottom of the screen. With Autoplay on, scenes advance after each Interval (1–30 seconds), and after the last scene, playback returns to the first.
- Hidden scenesVector mode also includes scenes that are hidden right now. To leave them out, export in image mode.
When exporting doesn’t work
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Do scenes cut instantly in the video instead of sliding?
A scene without a transition switches instantly in the video, just as it does when you play it. Select the scene you’re leaving in the Scenes list, and click the curve-shaped button, the first in the button row at the top right. In the Motion - Transition panel, click Easing or Spring, click Apply, and then export again. -
Is the background white even with Transparent on?
Switching the format to JPG hides Transparent and turns it off, so empty areas fill with white. Choose PNG or WebP, then turn Transparent on again. -
Can’t click the export button?
This happens when the size line on the Image tab says ‘over the … px limit’, or the Video tab shows ‘this browser can’t encode it’. Lower Scale or FPS. -
Does the video stop before it’s finished?
If you see ‘The browser could not finish encoding this video’, lower FPS or Scale and export again. On the web, keep the tab in front until it finishes. -
Is the GIF file too big?
A GIF starts out at full scene size, so the file gets big easily. Lower Scale to 0.5x, and if it’s still big, lower Colors and FPS. -
Can’t edit the text in PowerPoint?
Image, the PPT tab’s default mode, puts one image on each slide. Switch Mode to Vector and export again. -
Did hidden scenes end up in the HTML?
HTML’s vector mode also includes scenes that are hidden right now. Switch Mode to Image and export.
Original files, links, and speaker notes
Keep the .sshow original too. Bringing an exported file back in with Import doesn’t restore the original project as it was. Download the original you’ll keep editing with Save a Copy in the Menu. See Save and undo.
To send a link instead of a file. To let people play it right in their browser, use Share with a link. Transitions and interactions work just as they do in the viewer.
To bring your script along too. A script you write in scene notes goes into the PPT’s speaker notes, and variables in the notes change to their current values. To write notes, see Search and notes.
Shortcuts on this page
| Open or close the Export panel | ⌘⇧E |
|---|---|
| Save a copy (download .sshow) | ⌘⇧S |
Updated 10/14/2026 · The videos on this page were recorded in the current editor.