Can you attach your own image to an animated character?

Yes — this is what the item editor is for. You upload the image, tell AnimCreator which body part it belongs to, and it attaches to that part of the character's rig. From then on it isn't a sticker sitting on top of the animation; it's part of the character. A sword mapped to the hand swings with every punch, a hat mapped to the head bobs with every jump, a backpack mapped to the body leans into every run — through every motion you generate, with no extra work per animation.

Which body part should I attach it to?

The attachment point decides how the image behaves, so pick it by how the object would exist in the real world:

  • Hand (held): weapons, tools, coffee cups, phones — anything the character carries. It follows the hand and keeps a natural hold rotation through the motion.
  • Head: hats, helmets, masks, hair — it rides head turns and tilts.
  • Body (worn): shirts, armor, backpacks, logos on the chest — it tracks the torso, and you can control which limbs draw in front of it so an arm can swing across a worn jacket believably.
  • Feet: shoes and boots, following each step.

What kind of image works best?

A PNG with a transparent background, cropped close to the object. Transparency is the one thing that genuinely matters — a white box around your sword will follow the hand too, and not in a good way. Hand-drawn art works great: sketch on paper, photograph or scan it, remove the background with any free background-remover, and upload the result. The stickman's bold-outline style is forgiving, so even rough doodles read as intentional.

Do my uploads stay available for the next project?

Yes. Mapped items are saved to your account and appear in the item picker under ★ My items, right alongside the built-in props. Map your character's signature weapon once and it's one click away in every future animation — which is exactly how you build a recognizable recurring character for a series.

What if I want to draw directly on the animation instead?

That's the second path: the Tools palette, which lets you draw freehand strokes, shapes, and text right on the canvas. The key difference: canvas drawings don't attach to the character's body — they stay where you drew them, which is exactly what you want for speech-bubble doodles, impact stars, arrows, and captions. Each drawing gets its own clip row on the timeline, so an impact flash can exist for six frames and a label can hold for three seconds.

A simple rule for choosing between the two: if the object belongs to the character, map it in the item editor; if the mark belongs to the moment, draw it with Tools and time it on the timeline.

The whole flow in five steps

  1. Save your drawing or image as a PNG with a transparent background.
  2. Open the item editor from the Character panel and upload it.
  3. Pick the body part it belongs to — held, head, worn, or feet.
  4. Equip it from ★ My items and generate any motion; the item follows automatically.
  5. For moment-specific marks (impact stars, captions), use Tools instead and set the clip timing.
SERIES IDEA

A custom held item plus a custom outfit is a character brand. Combine your mapped items with a saved conversation format from the dialogue guide and every episode of your series is recognizable at a glance.