How to animate text in 5 simple steps

Our digital lives don’t stand still, so why should your text? 

Animating text can profoundly improve the way your audience interacts with your content. It’s a simple creative initiative that can emphasize your brand message or enhance the user experience.

The dynamic allure of motion and interactivity, as analysis on video marketing trends shows, is that an overwhelming 81% of businesses now recognize video as a crucial element in their marketing strategies. 

As a content type, it’s almost unmatched in its capacity to capture and engage audiences. 

Google has pioneered the use of text animation. Image source: Behance

This evolution in content consumption is forcing marketing teams to rethink the content we create and how we present it. Animating text isn't just a stylistic choice; it's a strategic one. At its core, the process is about enhancing message clarity, viewer retention, and overall engagement.

So, by bringing typography to life, we’re now not only able to capture the fleeting attention of our audience but elevate the user experience.

As we get started in our step-by-step guide to your first text animation, remember that this isn't just about keeping pace with digital trends—it's about setting them. So, let's embrace the motion, make a mark with our messages, and get "Move-ing" to animate our way to more compelling and memorable content.

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Best practices for animating text

Before diving into our 5-step tutorial, it's helpful to understand the considerations behind animating text. The purpose of your animation should guide its style.

Focus the user's attention to a point, or add a layer of storytelling to your design.

Always keep in mind:

Readability

At the heart of any animation type lies its message. Complex animations may captivate at first glance, but they should never compromise the clarity of your content.

Prioritize simplicity and timing to ensure your words remain the story's heroes. Subtle movements, such as gentle fades or slight directional shifts, can highlight your message without overshadowing it.

This text animation for Spotify Charts, directed by Jay Brown + Gabe Bornstein, illustrates the power and dynamism of text animation to tell stories and grab attention. Image source: Behance

Brand alignment

Each custom animation you craft should reflect your brand's essence. A luxury brand might opt for smooth, elegant transitions, while a tech startup could embrace bold, snappy effects.

Image source: Invision

Performance

Optimize your animated texts to ensure they load swiftly, especially on mobile devices. Thanks to short attention spans, competition for views is fierce.

Employing lightweight animation techniques and testing across various devices will help maintain a seamless user experience.

Accessibility

Designing with inclusivity in mind is non-negotiable. Not all users can interact with your content in the same way, so consider alternatives for those with disabilities.

Let’s start our practical tutorial so you can put these tips into practice.

Create your Curve file

Let's begin by crafting a text-based design within Linearity Curve. Consider this the foundation of your animation storyboard.

Create your Curve design file, and once you're happy with your text design you want to create variations of your initial design, each reflecting a stage in the animation process. Imagine actions like moving the text down the canvas or applying a blur effect, which will be reversed or clarified in subsequent frames. This pre-visualization is akin to drafting a mini storyboard.

To do this, we need to work with Duplicate Artboards. Select the Artboard with your design on it, right-click to open the context menu, and select Duplicate. This creates a copy of your duplicated Artboard that will be inserted on its right side.

Replicate your original design across six Artboards. Introduce slight modifications on each Artboard, progressively building towards your final animation goal. Think about it like you’re planning out a storyboard.

For example, start with simple text in the first frame, introduce blurred motion in the second, and gradually achieve clarity and final placement in subsequent frames. It should all culminate in a detailed final scene with all your elements in the desired position.

Before save your design it's important to ensure that each layer and distinct element has a unique, recognizable name before importing, so that you can easily locate the correct element when making adjustments in Linearity Move.

Once everything is nicely named and organized, simply save your work and your file will automatically upload to your Linearity cloud server, making it easy to access in your Linearity Move interface.

Import your Curve file into Linearity Move

Launch Linearity Move and log in. If you're new, sign up to get started.

From the Homescreen Gallery, choose the .curve file you created earlier. To learn more about how to use Linearity to improve your workflow by watching Linearity's Maddy Zoli explain the simple workflow process between Curve and Move. 

In the Import Panel, you'll see a thumbnail of each Artboard in your .curve file. Drag and drop your desired Artboards onto the Scene Builder line, a designated workspace for organizing and manipulating scenes.

You can set the Scene Length to 5 seconds, then click Import to add it to your project.

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Animate in seconds: use the power of Auto Animate

After importing, explore the Timeline section to understand the sequencing and timing of your animation. The Timeline provides a structured layout of your project, listing all Layers, including text and images.

Click the Play button at the top center of the Timeline to play your animation and see the magic of Auto Animate in action. Watch as Linearity's groundbreaking Auto Animate feature automatically stitches your Artboards together. It applies all sorts of animation filters and presets to create seamless transitions between scenes and brings your text animation to life. 

Adjust and improve your text animation

Now, it's time to refine your animation’s Transitions from one scene to the next for a more polished result.

Let’s make the action even more dynamic. You’ll adjust the animations to make each letter slide into the frame in sequence, staggering their animation starting points.

To do this, locate and click the Animate button. This toggles your workspace between Animation and Design Modes.

In your Layers menu, select the text group, which will initiate a dropdown menu where the individual letters of your text group are organized. Select the first letter, in this case, the letter B. This will highlight the Keyframe of that letter in the Timeline of the animation sequence. Leave that as it is.

Select the next letter, in this case, the letter O, and shorten the time between Keyframes by dragging the first Keyframe the right, being careful not to drag the whole animation stack while you’re at it. Repeat this action with each letter in your Layers menu, ensuring that each keyframe pair starts slightly after the next, and doesn't overlap.

Review and export

The final step in your text animation project involves reviewing your work and then exporting the finished animation.

Play back the animation from start to finish. Watch closely for the synchronization between text animations. Pay attention to the transitions, especially how the text layers interact.

Adjust and shuffle where necessary so that the text fades in and scales up at precise moments—we’re going for subtle interactions, so be careful to keep things fine and detailed. We don't want crazy twists and turns or explosions. We just want simple, elegant transitions for this animation. 

Once you're happy with the final review, export your animation.

Navigate to the File menu and select Export, or simply click on the Export button in the Top Toolbar. Choose the appropriate file format and settings that best suit your project's needs and publishing platforms.

And that’s it, your first text animation is now ready to be shared with the world. Have a look below to see how it turned out. And make sure to share your work with us, we’d love to see how you’ve used Linearity Move to power your design process. 

Ready to bring your content to life?

Animated text is more than a design trend. It's your brand’s storytelling tool.

Applying text animations will significantly enhance your design's impact. By following our 5 steps and considering the key principles of effective animation, you'll be well on your way to creating deeply engaging kinetic typography your audience will love.

Through thoughtful consideration of readability and brand alignment, you’re inviting your customers into a world where text comes alive.

Are you ready to take the next step in your design journey with Linearity Move? Make the ordinary extraordinary. Turn static text into lively animations that tell a story worth remembering. Sign up for free below, and let your creativity break boundaries.

Bring motion in-house

Animate marketing assets in seconds with Linearity Move.

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Frequently asked questions