Beginner's Guide · ~10 min
2D Game Skeletal Editor — Beginner's Manual
From your first bone to your first exportable animation, complete your first character action in five steps. Start with small, complete exercises, then move on to meshes, weights, and constraints.
Read the screen first
Editor Map
Step 1 · Start with a clean slate
New Project & Cloud
A project is the container for bones, images, animations, and export settings. For practice, start from an empty project.
Enter the workbench
After signing in, open the Project Center workbench and click "New Animation Project".
Create or duplicate
Create an empty project in the workbench, or click "Duplicate as new" in the project list to make a fully independent copy of an existing project before modifying it.
Cloud save & restore
Members can click "Save to Cloud" in the editor toolbar to store project data in the cloud; after signing in on another device, opening the project automatically compares and restores the latest content.
Start with a small exercise
For your first attempt, build only one body, two arm segments, and one image; expand the character afterwards.
Step 2 · Give the character a controllable structure
Build the Skeleton
Bones decide how the character moves. When a parent bone moves, its child bones and attached images follow.
Start from root
Select a bone node in the hierarchy tree, then click "Add" or press N to enter bone creation mode.
Drag out child bones
On the canvas, drag from the end of an existing bone to create a child bone, e.g. body → arm → hand.
Four bone operations
With a bone selected, press Q to move, W to rotate, E to scale, R to skew; the same icons are available on the canvas toolbar.
Know the elements
Elements you can manage in the hierarchy tree: bones, slots, plain images, mesh images, paths, and point elements.
Finish creation
Press Escape or right-click to exit creation mode, then drag the parent bone to verify the hierarchy.
Step 3 · Put visible content onto the skeleton
Import & Bind Images
Images are attachments, and slots are the mount points between images and bones. Once bound, images follow the bones.
Open the import menu
Click "Import" on the toolbar and choose "Import Images"; for characters from PSD, choose "Import PSD File".
Drag onto the target bone
Once an image appears in the asset list, drag it onto the target bone — a slot is created and the binding completes.
Image operations
With an image selected you can move, rotate, and scale it; the image property panel also offers mesh editing, outlining, creating references, and deforming.
Adjust the pose
Use the move, rotate, and scale tools to align the image with its bone.
Adjust draw order
Drag entries in the draw-order section of the hierarchy tree to change how images overlap.
Extra · Multiple looks for one character
Skins & Image Groups
A skin is a set of appearances (image combinations) on the same skeleton. Outfit, color, and weapon swaps are all done with skins.
What a skin is
Skins change neither bones nor animations — they only switch which image each slot displays, perfect for outfit and color variants.
Create & switch skins
Create skins in the skin section of the hierarchy tree; click a skin name to switch instantly and preview it on the canvas.
Quick swap preview
Replace a slot's image under a given skin to change the look; toggle between skins to compare without redoing any animation.
Batch group replacement
Images can be grouped by folder; select a group in the asset panel to batch-replace or batch-bind a whole set of assets at once.
Extra · More natural motion with less manual work
Weights & Constraints
Weights decide how mesh images bend with bones; constraints keep bones following rules automatically, reducing manual keyframing.
Convert image to mesh
In the image property panel, convert a plain image into a mesh image — only meshes can bend with weights.
Paint weights
With the mesh selected, open the weights panel and paint how strongly each vertex follows each bone; higher values mean tighter following.
Auto weights
The weights panel offers "Auto Weights", which assigns influence by vertex-to-bone distance automatically — then fine-tune manually.
Four constraint types
Add constraints in the constraints section of the hierarchy tree: transform (follow a target bone), IK (auto foot/hand placement), path (move along a path), and physics (inertial swing).
Step 4 · Animate with just a few keyframes
Create Animations
An animation is made of tracks and keyframes. Start with frames 0, 15, and 30, watch the motion, then refine.
Switch to animation mode
Click the mode switch or press M; choose idle, run, or create a new animation in the animation list.
Set the starting pose
Place the playhead at frame 0 and adjust the character's stance. With auto-key on, any transform is written to the current frame.
Add variation
Move to frames 15 and 30, adjust the bone poses, then press play to check the motion flows.
Manage multiple animations
Create several animations in the list (e.g. idle, run, attack); each is edited independently without affecting the others.
Multi-track & auto keyframes
Different bones and properties each get their own track for parallel editing; with auto-key on, adjustments generate keyframes at the current frame automatically.
Batch keyframe operations
Marquee-select multiple keyframes to move, copy, or delete them as a group — adjust timing without frame-by-frame work.
Easing & bezier curves
Set easing on selected keyframes; open the curve editor to drag bezier handles and customize acceleration.
Events & audio binding
Set event callbacks on keyframes, and bind audio to an animation for playback tests to check how sound matches the motion.
Step 5 · Deliver your work
Export Assets
Pick the format for the job: JSON/SKEL for engineering delivery, GIF/MP4 for preview and sharing.
Check the current animation
Confirm the animation to export is selected and has at least one valid keyframe.
Choose an export format
Click "Export" and choose JSON, SKEL, GIF, or MP4; JSON/SKEL also pack the atlas, and MP4 offers common frame sizes.
Plan export limits
The free tier includes 10 SPINE data exports per month (JSON only) and 10 GIF/video exports per day with a watermark; members get unlimited exports, binary SKEL, and no watermark.
Check the download
Wait for the success notice, then open the file to confirm its name, format, and preview.
Faster once familiar
Common Shortcuts
Check here first
FAQ
I imported an image but can't see it on the canvas. What now?+
Check in the hierarchy tree whether the image was created, and whether it sits under a slot. Press 1 to show or hide canvas images.
The bone moves but the image doesn't follow. Why?+
Images must live under a slot, and the slot must hang under the target bone. Dragging the image onto the target bone again usually re-establishes the binding.
My animation generates no keyframes. Why?+
Make sure you're in animation mode and the playhead is on an editable frame. After moving bones, check whether a keyframe appears at the current frame in the dope sheet.
GIF or MP4 export comes out empty. What should I check?+
Confirm the current animation has at least one keyframe and a valid range. Exports cancel automatically when there's nothing to play.
How do I recover from a mistake?+
Prefer Ctrl + Z to undo; if you undo too far, Ctrl + Y redoes. Before complex operations, consider saving to local cache first.
Where do I adjust weights?+
First convert the image to a mesh in the image property panel, then open the weights panel: paint manually with the weight brush, or use "Auto Weights" to assign by distance and fine-tune afterwards.
Where do I add constraints?+
In the hierarchy tree's "Constraints" section, click add and choose transform, IK, path, or physics, then pick the target bone or path as prompted.