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16 Fonts Similar to Bauhaus

2022-07-19T16:55:36+00:00

TL;DR: Learn how Bauhaus typography evolved from a modernist design movement into a recognizable typographic style, which modern fonts capture the Bauhaus look, and when to use them effectively in contemporary design.

What is the Bauhaus font?

The Bauhaus font is not a single, original typeface but a typographic style rooted in the Bauhaus School of Design, founded in Germany in 1919. Rather than producing a definitive font, the school promoted a functional approach to letterforms based on geometry, simplicity, and clarity.

Bauhaus-style typography is defined by clean geometric construction, minimal ornamentation, and consistent strokes. Built from basic shapes such as circles and straight lines, these letterforms feel modern, structured, and highly readable, particularly at display sizes.

Today, designers use Bauhaus-inspired fonts for branding, logos, headlines, and digital interfaces where strong hierarchy and visual impact matter most. In 2026, this visual language continues to influence typography, branding, and digital design. nearly a century after its origins.

The origins of Bauhaus typography

Bauhaus typography began as an experimental idea, not a commercial font.

In 1925, designer Herbert Bayer developed the concept of the Universal typeface while teaching at the Bauhaus school in Germany. His unicase alphabet removed traditional distinctions between uppercase and lowercase letters, favoring pure geometry and functional clarity. Although Universal was never released as a finished font, it became a defining visual expression of Bauhaus design principles.

Bauhaus building in Dessau, Germany. Photo by The New York Times

From concept to commercial type

Bauhaus ideas entered commercial typography decades later.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, designer Joe Taylor created a typeface inspired by Bayer’s work for the Fotostar foundry. This interpretation introduced uppercase characters and more conventional proportions while preserving the geometric spirit of the original concept.

The design was later refined by Ed Benguiat and Victor Caruso at the International Typeface Corporation (ITC), resulting in ITC Bauhaus—a professional, multi-weight type family that helped popularize the Bauhaus look in modern graphic design.

Bauhaus in the digital era

The Bauhaus aesthetic became widely recognizable in the 1990s.

A simplified digital typeface known as Bauhaus 93 spread through desktop publishing software and operating systems. While not historically connected to the Bauhaus school, its accessibility helped establish Bauhaus-style typography as a familiar visual language rather than a single historical font.

In 2026, Bauhaus-style fonts are usually used in web or print design projects, especially for logos, visual identities, and headlines that aim to feel bold, structured, and timeless.

16 high-quality fonts similar to Bauhaus

If you’re searching for fonts similar to Bauhaus, this curated collection has you covered.Featuring up to 16 typefaces that echo this iconic style, you can explore and download all of them through Envato—perfect for your next project or creative experiment.

1. Redtone

Redtone is a contemporary geometric sans-serif font that interprets Bauhaus principles through precision and flexibility rather than nostalgia. Instead of leaning heavily into retro forms, it uses near-perfect circular shapes and carefully controlled proportions to create a system that feels modern and adaptable.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Clarity, structure, and strong on-screen legibility in digital-first design work, especially in:

Tech and SaaS branding, UI systems, apps, and digital products where readability and hierarchy are essential
Minimal or premium brands and packaging built around clean layouts and confident headlines
Architecture and interior design projects that rely on structured visual systems and editorial polish
Editorial and digital layouts, such as online magazines, lookbooks, and portfolios, with a clear hierarchy
Podcast covers and album artwork where typography needs to remain clear at smaller sizes
Lifestyle, streetwear, and urban brands that need a sharp, modern look without losing edge

Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF

2. Bergen Sans

Bergen Sans is a clean, geometric sans-serif that draws on Bauhaus principles while leaning into a more expressive, contemporary tone. Built on circular forms and consistent stroke widths, it balances functional clarity with a bolder visual presence, making it feel confident without slipping into retro pastiche.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Visual impact, bold presence, and expressive typography, particularly for:

High-impact advertising and bold messaging, such as social media campaigns, posters, and digital ads, where type needs to stop the scroll quickly
Streetwear and urban fashion branding, including logos, packaging, and fashion websites that aim to feel modern, confident, and unapologetically bold
Expressive UI and digital products such as music apps, gaming platforms, and experimental digital magazines that rely on strong typographic headlines
Contemporary editorial design, from opinion-led headlines to art magazines and non-fiction book covers that rely on strong hierarchy and visual personality
Creative projects with vibrant color palettes where short, punchy phrases need to feel energetic, dominant, and visually striking

Format: OTF

3. Causten

Causten is a clean geometric sans-serif built around precision, balance, and system consistency. While its structure reflects Bauhaus-inspired geometry, its real strength lies in its calm, reliable performance across large typographic systems. With nine weights and matching obliques, Causten is designed to scale smoothly from headlines to body text without losing clarity or cohesion.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Consistency at scale, strong legibility, and a rational, trustworthy typographic system, with a strong focus on:

Corporate identity and fintech branding, including logos, marketing materials, and formal documentation, where consistency across many touchpoints is critical
Complex design systems for web and mobile, such as dashboards, educational platforms, and data-heavy interfaces that demand clarity and structure
Editorial projects and annual reports, including business magazines, sustainability reports, and corporate publications with a refined, professional tone
Information-driven layouts where multiple weights create a clear hierarchy, from confident headlines to clean, readable body text
Signage and wayfinding systems for museums, airports, and office buildings that rely on clean geometry and distraction-free communication

Format: OTF

4. Elpi

Elpi is a minimalist geometric sans-serif typeface that interprets Bauhaus-inspired forms through a softer, more fluid approach. Rooted in clean geometry and uniform strokes, it strips typography down to its essentials while avoiding the rigidity often associated with strictly rationalist designs. The result is a typeface that feels modern and futuristic, yet approachable rather than cold.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Calm modernity, soft futurism, and clean geometry with a human touch, such as:

Tech startups, digital products, and app interfaces that want a forward-looking aesthetic without feeling harsh or overwhelming
Video game branding, sci-fi or cyber-inspired posters, and speculative design projects that rely on minimal forms rather than visual noise
Consumer electronics and smart gadgets, including packaging and interface design, where clarity and refinement go hand in hand
Contemporary editorial layouts and creative portfolios that need a polished, modern presence with a subtle personality
Lifestyle-driven digital experiences where lighter weights create softness, rhythm, and visual balance

Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF

5. Yampu

Yampu is an expressive geometric display font resembling Bauhaus aesthetics, designed to function as a visual statement rather than a full typographic system. Although it comes in a single weight, its playful construction and strong forms give it a distinctive personality that works best at large sizes, where structure and expression take center stage.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Experimentation, strong visual personality, and typography as a graphic element, with applications including:

Festival posters and cultural event identities, from electronic music to contemporary art and digital exhibitions
Fashion, beauty, and niche cosmetic branding, including unisex perfumes and luxury skincare with an unconventional, design-led edge
Magazine covers and editorial titles where oversized typography drives the visual language
Creative studio and agency logos for teams positioning themselves as bold, conceptual, and forward-thinking
Art-driven visual systems where typography plays an expressive, decorative role rather than a purely functional one

Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF

6. Magnify

Magnify is a geometric sans-serif fontdesigned around clarity, balance, and long-term usability. Shaped by circular forms and precise straight cuts, Magnify draws from Bauhaus principles while maintaining a neutral, contemporary tone that feels professional rather than expressive.

With eight weights and matching obliques, Magnify functions comfortably across a wide range of design contexts, from headlines to extended content.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Timeless minimalism, geometric clarity, and a contemporary corporate feel, such as:

Next-generation corporate branding for consultancies, modern law firms, and technology companies that want to feel established yet current
UX/UI systems and mobile apps where high legibility and simple construction support everything from navigation to long-form content
Editorial layouts for print and digital centered on clean grids, confident hierarchy, and restrained typography
Sustainable and eco-friendly packaging for organic products and natural cosmetics, where clarity and restraint reinforce brand values
Scalable visual identities inspired by classic geometric sans-serifs with a modern, dependable edge

Format: TTF

7. Altone

Altone is a geometric grotesk sans-serif designed for clarity, balance, and refined neutrality.Shaped by fundamental geometric forms and carefully balanced proportions, it aligns with Bauhaus-era construction while maintaining a polished, contemporary tone suited to professional, global-facing design work. Including nine weights and matching obliques, Altone adapts easily across branding systems without calling attention to itself.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Scalability, clarity, and a refined global aesthetic, especially in:

Global corporate branding systems where large families support everything from confident logos to cohesive stationery and websites
Lifestyle and travel-focused apps such as city guides, boutique hotels, and experiential platforms with a clean, aspirational tone
High-end UI and digital interfaces, including productivity tools and fashion-forward e-commerce, that require long-term legibility
Museum and gallery signage where clean geometry keeps information clear, calm, and elegant
Premium, information-heavy environments where consistency and restraint elevate the overall experience

Format: TTF

8. Normal

Normal is a minimalist sans-serif with a distinctly understated character. Drawing on rational proportions and essential forms, it balances geometric precision with subtle personality, creating a typeface that feels intentional, modern, and quietly confident. Available in five weights from ExtraLight to ExtraBold, Normal delivers clarity without visual excess.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Radical minimalism, geometric precision, and quiet luxury, for use in:

High-fashion photography and luxury editorial covers where typography supports imagery without competing for attention
Museum and contemporary art gallery branding, including logos and exhibition materials featuring white space and typographic purity
Architecture and industrial design identities for studios that value structure, proportion, and timeless geometric systems
Minimalist signage and architectural applications, such as engraved wayfinding, where precision and materiality are essential
Clean beauty and science-led cosmetic brands where purity, transparency, and restraint define the visual language

Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF

9. Géorge

Géorge is a contemporary geometric sans-serif that balances architectural structure with approachability. It echoes Bauhaus geometry through precise, well-balanced forms, yet feels firmly grounded in modern digital design rather than a retro revival. Its versatility allows it to perform comfortably in both body text and headlines, making it a flexible choice for structured yet friendly layouts.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Clarity, modernity, and a versatile geometric voice made for digital-first use, particularly for:

User interfaces for apps and web platforms, including music and streaming services that require strong contrast and high legibility on vibrant screens
Contemporary fashion and lifestyle branding that balances minimalism with a chic, approachable edge
Outdoor advertising and digital banners, such as festival promotions or tech campaigns where multiple weights create bold typographic contrast
Digital magazine covers and editorial layouts where large headlines feel clean, structured, and confidently modern
Youth-forward visual identities that communicate freshness and innovation while remaining polished and readable

Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF

10. Autorich Sans

Autorich is an all-caps geometric display typeface that reflects Bauhaus construction while leaning into a more decorative, statement-driven direction. Constructed from circles and straight lines and released in two distinct uppercase letter sets, it is designed for visual impact rather than long-form readability. Its stylized forms and subtle Art Deco influence give Autorich a confident, fashion-forward presence.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Bold personality, bespoke detail, and typography as the visual centerpiece, such as:

Signature logos and wordmarks where distinctive letterforms create instant brand recognition
Luxury and lifestyle branding such as fragrances, contemporary jewelry, and artisanal spirits with a confident, modern edge
Avant-garde editorial design for architecture, design, and culture magazines that treat typography as a graphic statement
High-end events and exclusive experiences, including galas, fashion shows, and premium product launches, where typography signals exclusivity

Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF

11. Pure Mechanic

Pure Mechanic is a geometric sans-serif with a distinctly engineered, industrial character. Defined by strict geometric modules and sharp cuts, it recalls Bauhaus-style construction while pushing the aesthetic toward a more futuristic, mechanical direction. Pure Mechanic has a balance of strength and refinement, which gives the typeface a confident presence that feels technical without becoming overly rigid.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

A futuristic, mechanical aesthetic driven by precision, structure, and technology, particularly for:

Gaming and eSports branding, including team identities, sci-fi interfaces, and digital assets that emphasize speed and competition
Engineering, robotics, and hardware-driven brands such as drone companies, automation startups, and AI or robotics prototypes
High-tech architecture and future-facing infrastructure, from research labs and data centers to speculative design publications
Electric and autonomous automotive design, including digital dashboards, in-car UI systems, and next-generation vehicle campaigns
Technology-forward visual identities where geometric cuts, negative space, and modular systems reinforce precision and control

Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF

12. Regime Grotesk

Regime Grotesk is a bold grotesk sans-serif font defined by discipline, structure, and visual authority. Drawing on Bauhaus geometry and early 20th-century European design traditions, its construction feels controlled and intentional rather than decorative. With four weights, Regime Grotesk delivers a strong, grounded presence that works best when typography needs to carry meaning, tone, and emphasis.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Strong visual authority, historical weight, and a bold grotesk voice rooted in modernist design, with a strong focus on:

Opinion-led editorial and historical publications, including magazines focused on politics, sociology, and cultural analysis, that require typographic gravitas
Film posters, documentary titles, and visual campaigns exploring political tension, social movements, or historical conflict
Streetwear and urban brands using bold typography as a statement rather than decoration
Museum, archive, and institutional branding for exhibitions and cultural spaces that reference specific historical periods
Conceptual visual systems where rigid forms deliver impact, with limited weights reinforcing consistency and control

Format: TTF

13. Jaileq

Jaileq is a bold geometric sans-serif defined by heavy weight, wide proportions, and uncompromising visual strength.This font follows a rigid geometric construction and simplified letter anatomy; it channels Bauhaus-era construction logic into a typeface designed to dominate space rather than blend in. Its thick strokes and controlled negative space ensure clarity even at extreme sizes.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Maximum impact, structural strength, and typography designed to command attention, such as:

Large-scale advertising and billboards where extreme weight and wide forms remain legible from a distance
Construction, engineering, and industrial branding for companies that need to signal durability, power, and technical reliability
Business, finance, and economics magazine covers where oversized headlines must feel authoritative and confident
Sports, fitness, and performance-driven merchandising, including apparel and packaging that rely on bold typographic presence
Brands that lead with strength and stability, using typography that feels grounded, direct, and unapologetically bold

Format: OTF, TTF

14. Oliviar Regular

Another font similar to Bauhaus is Oliviar Regular. This modern, geometric sans-serif that balances precision with visual warmth. Oliviar is defined by clean, simplified forms, softened through generous spacing and calm proportions. Available in seven weights ranging from Thin to Bold, it feels refined and contemporary without becoming cold or overly rigid.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Organic elegance, modern restraint, and warmth, especially in:

Skincare, beauty, and wellness branding, including natural cosmetics, spas, and self-care products focused on purity and calm
Residential interior design and architecture, from Scandinavian-inspired catalogs to studios creating light-filled, contemporary spaces
Lifestyle editorial design for travel, food, and fashion titles where subtle hierarchy and quiet confidence matter
Elegant invitations and high-end events such as modern weddings, gala dinners, and premium social stationery
Creative personal brands that balance warmth, polish, and approachability within a clean visual system

Format: OTF

15. Darbots

Darbots is a modern stencil-style geometric sans-serif that combines industrial structure with refined contemporary design. Shaped by clean geometric forms and precise cuts, it references Bauhaus construction while using stencil details as a deliberate graphic feature rather than a purely functional one. The result is a typeface that feels controlled, intentional, and quietly sophisticated.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

Industrial precision paired with refined minimalism, using stencil details in a modern way, such as:

Luxury industrial branding for design studios, steel furniture, and architectural lighting brands that value craftsmanship and structure
Creative workspace signage and wayfinding for coworking spaces, studios, and workshops where clarity meets a subtle artistic edge
Modern craft and artisanal packaging, from specialty coffee and craft beer to minimalist candles and small-batch products
Architectural and engineering identities where geometric construction and precise cuts signal technical expertise
Brands rooted in making and fabrication that reference production and materiality without feeling utilitarian

Format: OTF, TTF

16. Bahuss

Bahuss is a geometric sans-serif that delivers a bold, high-energy reinterpretation of Bauhaus typography. Built entirely from basic geometric forms and uniform stroke weights, it takes the movement’s functional logic and amplifies it into a far more intense, contemporary expression. The result feels unapologetic and powerful, designed to make typography the focal point rather than a supporting element.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

A high-impact, contemporary take on Bauhaus geometry, especially in:

Electronic music and techno visuals, including festival posters, club flyers, and album covers driven by rhythm and repetition
Extreme sports and motorsport branding for racing teams, gear, and performance-focused labels driven by speed and power
Avant-garde editorial design and independent zines centered on urban culture and experimental ideas
High-impact streetwear graphics, particularly large-scale prints for hoodies and T-shirts, where typography must dominate
Youth-driven visual systems that use aggressive geometry and saturated color for an unapologetic presence

Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF

Bonus: Bauxify

Bauxify is an experimental display typeface that channels the artistic and exploratory side of Bauhaus typography. Designed with expressive intent, it prioritizes bold visual construction over neutrality, resulting in letterforms that feel closer to modern art objects than conventional branding tools. Its heavy, modular forms create a strong graphic presence, making typography the central visual element.

Best fit if you’re designing for…

High-impact applications, experimentation, and typography as an artistic statement, especially in:

Avant-garde logo design where expressive letterforms support art-led and concept-driven identities
Design event posters and visual identities for fairs, biennials, and exhibitions where typography takes center stage
Art and theory book covers focused on design history, visual culture, and artist monographs with strong conceptual weight
Experimental animation and motion graphics that benefit from modular construction and geometric cuts
Conceptual visual systems where typography is meant to be explored, interpreted, and experienced, not just read

Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF

How to choose the right font similar to Bauhaus

Choosing the right Bauhaus-style font isn’t about sticking to a strict visual rulebook. It’s about knowing when geometric clarity and functional form actually add value to your design, and when they don’t.

Before committing to a font, keep these principles in mind:

Match the font to the tone of your project. Clean, neutral families work best for systems and long-form layouts, while bolder, more expressive fonts shine in branding, posters, and headline-driven work.
Test fonts at real usage sizes. Many Bauhaus-style fonts look great at display scale but lose clarity in UI or body text. Always check how they perform where they’ll actually live.
Look beyond a single weight. Larger families give you flexibility across layouts, hierarchy, and responsive designs, especially in complex projects.

All the fonts featured in this guide are high-quality, versatile, and suitable for professional use. Even better, they’re all available with an Envato subscription, giving you unlimited access to fonts, graphics, templates, photos, and access to AI tools to support your workflow from start to finish.

Want to keep exploring strong typographic styles? You might also enjoy these font collections:

Fonts similar to Bauhaus FAQs

Why is Bauhaus popular in design?

Bauhaus is popular because it revolutionized design by prioritizing clarity, function, and simplicity over decoration. Founded in the 1920s in Germany, the movement introduced a geometric, minimal design language that still feels timeless and works just as well in modern branding and digital design.

Is Bauhaus a font?

Bauhaus is a design movement, not a single original font.

While typefaces such as ITC Bauhaus and Bauhaus 93 exist, they are later interpretations inspired by the movement’s geometric principles rather than fonts created by the Bauhaus school itself.

What projects use Bauhaus-style design most often?

Bauhaus-style design is commonly used in branding, logos, and display typography.

It’s especially effective for posters, editorial layouts, signage, packaging, and modern web design where strong structure and visual impact matter.

Is ITC Bauhaus free to use?

ITC Bauhaus is a commercial typeface and requires a license for use.

It’s not free by default, but it can be used legally through licensed platforms or font providers. Envato provides access to Bauhaus-inspired fonts under a commercial license, making them suitable for both personal and professional projects.

Is Bauhaus 93 free to use?

Bauhaus 93 is a commercial typeface and is not free for unrestricted use.

Although it is often preinstalled on some systems or widely distributed online, its usage rights depend on the license under which it was obtained. Designers should always check the font’s licensing terms before using Bauhaus 93 in commercial projects.

Is Bauhaus good for body text?

Bauhaus-style fonts are better suited for headlines than long body text.

Their geometric forms work best at larger sizes, so designers often pair them with neutral sans-serif fonts such as Montserrat, Helvetica, or Open Sans for body copy.

How to quickly nest & unnest clips in Premiere Pro

2023-11-29T14:27:30+00:00

TL:DR: Nesting in Premiere Pro lets you group multiple clips into a single nested sequence so you can move, trim, and apply effects all at once. It’s one of the easiest ways to clean up a messy timeline and improve playback performance. Unnesting gives you the flexibility to go back, access the original clips, and fine-tune individual edits whenever you need. Master both, and your timeline management instantly levels up.

Becoming efficient in Premiere Pro isn’t just a nice bonus; it’s essential. A streamlined workflow saves you time, keeps your edits organized, and helps prevent small mistakes from turning into big headaches later. And a huge part of that efficiency comes down to timeline management.

In this tutorial, we’ll break down two key skills that will instantly clean up your workflow: how to nest clips in Premiere Pro to simplify your timeline, and how to unnest clips when you need to dive back in and fine-tune the details.

What does nesting mean?

Nesting in Premiere Pro is a powerful feature that lets you group multiple clips into a single unit on your timeline. Instead of managing several separate layers, you combine them into one nested sequence, making your edit cleaner and easier to control.

This is especially helpful when working with complex timelines and reducing clutter. Once you nest clips, you can apply effects, transitions, or adjustments to the entire group at once. That means fewer repetitive steps and a much faster workflow.

Additionally, nesting can also improve performance in your project. By consolidating multiple layers into a single sequence, Premiere Pro has fewer active elements to process during playback. The result? Smoother previews and less strain on your system, particularly in effects-heavy projects.

How to nest and unnest in Premiere Pro

Nesting in Premiere Pro helps you join multiple clips together into a single sequence. Instead of shifting, trimming, or applying effects to several individual clips, you can control everything at once, making your timeline cleaner and far easier to manage.

But editing isn’t always linear. Sometimes you need to dive back in and tweak a specific cut, adjust timing, or refine an effect. That’s where knowing how to unnest in Premiere Pro becomes just as important.

Let’s tackle both skills in this tutorial step by step. I’ll demonstrate using two stock video clips from Envato. You can download them here and here as we tidy up the timeline together.

When nesting multiple clips, remember that you can always double-click on the nested sequence to make changes at any time. This allows you to edit the contents of the nested sequence without affecting the original timeline. It’s the best of both worlds: a cleaner workspace on the surface, with full editing flexibility just one double-click away.

How to nest in Premiere Pro (step by step)

Nesting in Premiere Pro is one of those skills that instantly makes you a faster, cleaner editor. You can merge several multimedia clips into a single nested sequence, so you can move, trim, and apply effects without juggling a stack of separate layers.

It’s also a simple way to declutter your Timeline, especially when you’re working with complex sections like montages, multi-layered B-roll, or grouped animations. By nesting clips, you streamline your workflow, stay organized, and make your project much easier to manage as it grows.

1. Choose media to nest

Nesting works with any multimedia in your project’s Timeline. This includes video clips, audio tracks, music, still images, graphics, adjustment layers, and more. If it’s sitting on your timeline, you can nest it. In this example, we’ll combine the two stock video clips mentioned earlier into a single nested sequence.

You can choose media to nest in your Adobe Premiere Pro Timeline. (Stock footage: Envato.)

To get started, make sure both clips are placed on your Premiere Pro Timeline. If you’re new to Premiere Pro, the Timeline is located in the lower center of your workspace, directly beneath the Program Monitor (the video preview panel). This is where all your editing happens: cuts, trims, transitions, and effects.

Once your clips are positioned the way you want them, you’re ready to select and nest them into one clean, organized sequence.

2. Start nesting clips in Premiere Pro

To start nesting clips in Premiere, open the Timeline panel. First, click on the initial multimedia clip you want to include in the nest. Then, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and click the additional clips you’d like to group together. This allows you to select multiple clips at once, whether they’re stacked across tracks or placed side by side.

Hold down Shift and select clips to nest. Then, go to Clip > Nest. (Stock footage: Envato Elements.)

With your clips selected, move to the top menu bar and click Clip. From the dropdown menu, scroll to the bottom and choose Nest. Premiere Pro will prompt you to name your new nested sequence, give it something clear and descriptive (for example, Intro Montage Nest), then click OK.

Now take a look back at your Timeline. Instead of several separate clips, you’ll see a single green clip. That’s your Nested Sequence. Just like that, you’ve grouped multiple elements into one clean, manageable unit, making your timeline instantly more organized.

Nested clips are grouped into a Nested Sequence that appears on your Timeline in bright green.

How to unnest in Premiere Pro

You’ve learned how nesting clips in Premiere Pro can clean up your timeline and simplify complex edits. But what if you need to go back and tweak the individual clips inside that nested sequence? That’s where unnesting comes in, and thankfully, it’s just as straightforward.

If you just created a nested sequence, the quickest way to reverse it is to go to Edit > Undo (or use your keyboard shortcut). That instantly restores your original, separate clips.

However, if some time has passed or you’ve continued editing, unnesting requires a slightly different approach. Let’s work through these steps so you can safely return to your individual clips without disrupting your project structure:

1. Open the nested track

Remember, nested clips in Premiere Pro appear as a single green clip in your Timeline. This green clip represents a nested sequence, essentially a sequence within your main sequence.

To unnest clips in Premiere, double-click on the nested sequence in your Timeline to open it.

To open the nested sequence, simply double-click on the green clip in your Timeline. When you do, Premiere Pro will switch you to a new Timeline tab, labeled with the name you gave the nested sequence when you created it. Inside this tab, you’ll see all the original individual clips exactly as they were before nesting. From here, you can review, adjust, or prepare to fully unnest them back into your main timeline.

2. Move media to the original sequence

On the Nested Sequence tab, you’ll see your individual clips. Again, these can include videos, audio, and more as they were before nesting. In our example, you’ll see both of the video clips, side by side, ready to be edited individually.

Want to fully unnest and work with those clips directly in your main project? All that you have to do is move the clips back to your original sequence. Start by clicking and dragging one of the video clips from the nested timeline. While holding it, drag your cursor up to the original sequence tab (for example, Sequence 01). Hover over it until the tab opens.

Once your original Timeline appears, drag the clip into position and release it where you want it placed.

Drag clips to the tab for your original sequence to remove them from nesting.

You can repeat this process for any remaining clips inside the nested sequence. When all your media has been moved back into the main Timeline, you can safely delete the green Nested Sequence clip.

Clips that you drag to the original sequence are now unnested, just like they were before! (Stock footage: Envato.)

That’s how to unnest in Premiere Pro. When you know how to nest and unnest, you can gain flexibility and control over even the most complex timelines. It’s one of those everyday editing skills that keeps your workflow fast, organized, and fully in your hands.

The best source for Premiere Pro templates (with unlimited downloads)

Envato is the go-to creative library for Adobe Premiere Pro templates. These professionally designed, ready-to-use templates make editing faster, smoother, and far less stressful, whether you’re building a YouTube intro, a social media promo, or a cinematic opener.

With thousands of Premiere Pro projects available, you’ll never start from a blank timeline again. With an Envato subscription, you can grab as many files as you need for your next video project. The entire creative asset library is carefully curated for quality, so you’re working with polished, professional assets that save time and elevate your results.

Envato lets you get unlimited downloads with a flat-rate subscription.

And it doesn’t stop at Premiere Pro templates. Your subscription unlocks millions of creative assets, including stock photos, footage, royalty-free music, sound effects, graphic templates, and more. Everything you need to build a complete, cohesive production under one roof.

Download as many Adobe Premiere Pro templates - and more - for one flat rate thanks to Envato.

If you’re experimenting with generative AI-powered workflows, Envato also offers tools built for modern creators. One standout is VideoGen, an AI video generation tool with smart generation and editing capabilities. It can help speed up content creation, automate certain editing tasks, and streamline early-stage production, especially when you’re producing high volumes of social or marketing content.

You just mastered nesting Clips and unnesting clips in Adobe Premiere Pro

Learning how to unnest in Premiere Pro is just as important as knowing how to nest. Together, these two skills are the secret to keeping your timeline clean, organized, and easy to control. When your project stays tidy, you edit faster, make fewer mistakes, and save yourself serious time in the long run.

Now, it’s your turn to put it into action. It’s time to practice how to nest in Premiere Pro. Open a project that’s starting to feel cluttered and practice how to nest clips in Premiere Pro to simplify your timeline. Then, switch things up and unnest those clips to fine-tune the details.

That hands-on repetition is what locks the skill in, and once you get comfortable with it, nesting and unnesting will become part of your everyday editing workflow.

What does nesting mean in Premiere Pro?

Nesting means grouping multiple clips into one nested sequence. Instead of managing several layers individually, you combine them into a single green clip on your timeline. This makes complex edits easier to control and keeps your timeline organized.

How do I nest clips in Premiere Pro?

Select your clips, then choose Clip → Nest. Hold Shift to select multiple clips in your Timeline, click Clip in the top menu, and choose Nest. Name your nested sequence and click OK. Your selected clips will be combined into a single green nested sequence.

How do I unnest in Premiere Pro?

Open the nested sequence and move clips back to the original timeline. Double-click the green nested sequence, drag the original clips back to your main sequence tab, and place them in your Timeline. Then delete the nested sequence clip.

Can I edit clips inside a nested sequence?

Yes, you can edit nested clips at any time. Double-click the green nested sequence in your Timeline to open it in a new tab. From there, adjust cuts, timing, effects, or transitions without affecting your main sequence layout.

Does nesting improve performance in Premiere Pro?

Yes, nesting can improve playback performance. By consolidating multiple layers into a single nested sequence, Premiere Pro has fewer active elements to process, leading to smoother previews, especially in effects-heavy projects.

15 best stylish cursive fonts

2017-01-20T03:52:20+00:00

TL;DR: Looking for the best cursive fonts to elevate your next design? This curated list highlights 15 stunning options, from elegant calligraphy scripts and tattoo-inspired fonts to fun, retro cursive styles. Whether you want something bold, romantic, or handcrafted, you’ll find a perfect fit for any project, each ready to download instantly from Envato.

Fancy Cursive Fonts

Cursive Tattoo Font

Different Cursive Fonts

Cursive Handwriting Fonts

Pretty Cursive Fonts

Cursive Letters Font

Looking for a stunning cursive script font to bring your next design to life? You’re in the right place. In this handpicked collection, you’ll discover the best and most modern cursive fonts for every kind of creative project, from elegant tattoo cursive styles to sophisticated, modern, and beautifully unique scripts.

Whether your goal is to add a personal touch or create something truly eye-catching, there’s a font here for you. Envato is an all-in-one creative subscription, offering unlimited access to the industry’s broadest range of stock assets (including cursive fonts), plus powerful generative AI tools built on the latest models.

15 best cursive fonts to download now

1. Cursive script font (OTF, TTF)

Looking for an elegant cursive typeface to elevate your brand? This brush script font is a perfect blend of sophistication and authenticity. With its smooth, hand-drawn strokes and natural flow, it delivers a truly handwritten feel that stands out in logos, packaging, and social media graphics alike.

But that’s not all, this download doesn’t just give you stunning cursive letters. You’ll also get a coordinating marker font and a stylish set of swashes to help you add decorative flourishes or frame text beautifully. It’s a versatile choice for designers who want that effortlessly polished, handcrafted look in their work.

This font is a great choice for:

Projects that aim to communicate elegance and sophistication, think wedding invitations, boutique branding, or luxury packaging.
Designs featuring metallic or textured accents, such as gold foil, embossing, or shimmer overlays.
Highlighting key names, titles, or short headlines where you want the typography to command attention.
Pairing with simple, refined serif or sans serif fonts that balance its decorative flair while maintaining a cohesive, high-end look.

Keep an eye out for:

This font works best at larger sizes, where its brushstrokes and curves can shine.
While it scales fairly well, smaller sizes may reduce legibility, especially in print or dense layouts.
Avoid using it for long paragraphs or body copy; instead, reserve it for accent text, logos, or short statements where it can truly stand out.

2. Burnt rose cursive calligraphy fonts (OTF, TTF)

Burnt Rose is a modern, handcrafted calligraphy-inspired font known for creating a timeless yet contemporary aesthetic. Every stroke feels handcrafted, giving your designs a natural, personal touch.

With thoughtfully designed ligatures and stylistic sets, this font offers flexibility for creative customization, whether you’re designing elegant invitations, branding materials, or editorial layouts.

Plus, with full multilingual support, Burnt Rose ensures your message resonates across languages and cultures. It’s truly one of the most versatile and refined cursive typefaces available on Envato.

This font is a great choice for:

Designers who love modern calligraphy styles and want an accessible way to add that handmade, graceful look to their work.
Projects where ligatures and alternates can bring subtle variation and flair, helping you create unique lettering combinations.
Elegant layouts and decorative designs, try pairing Burnt Rose with textured backgrounds, watercolor accents, or delicate graphic elements.

Keep an eye out for:

For best results, keep your text concise. This font shines most in headlines, quotes, or short statements.
When pairing with another font, choose a complementary typeface that supports Burnt Rose’s ornate personality rather than competing with it.
Avoid using it for large blocks of text; instead, use Burnt Rose as an accent font to maintain balance and readability.

3. Drustic dialy script retro cursive font (OTF)

Drustic Dialy Script draws on the nostalgic charm of classic retro lettering, paired with a weathered, handcrafted finish.

The font brings a warm, rustic character that feels familiar, personal, and comfortably vintage. It works beautifully for logos, posters, and packaging designs that want an authentic, old-school look.

In a world of polished digital type, Drustic Dialy stands out with its textured, slightly imperfect strokes. Those subtle imperfections add human flair, making typography feel lively, approachable, and full of character.

This font is a great choice for:

Designers looking to add personality and nostalgia to their work, ideal for branding, labels, and apparel design.
Creating a friendly, inviting aesthetic that feels handwritten and natural while retaining a touch of polish.
Retro-themed projects, like sports designs, vintage product packaging, or signage. It works especially well on baseball-style jerseys or retro logos.
Headline or display use, where the goal is to draw attention and establish a strong visual identity.

Keep an eye out for:

This typeface is excellent for font stacking and creative pairings, especially when aiming for a playful or kitschy layout. Just be mindful not to overcrowd your composition.
For balance, pair Drustic Dialy Script with a clean serif or sans serif font that complements its retro energy without competing for attention.
Due to its textured design, it’s best used sparingly in key focal points rather than long text passages.

4. Brandine cursive handwriting fonts (OTF, TTF)

Brandine adds a touch of delicate femininity and effortless charm to any design. Inspired by thin watercolor brush strokes, this font offers a graceful handwritten flow that feels both soft and refined.

Each character is thoughtfully crafted, complete with elegant ligatures and accented glyphs for multilingual versatility. If you’re working on a wedding invitation, personal brand logo, or editorial spread, Brandine delivers that perfect mix of subtlety and sophistication.

This font is a great choice for:

Titles, names, or headlines that deserve the spotlight, its fine strokes and airy design make it ideal for larger display use.
Pairing with organic or natural design elements like watercolor backgrounds, floral illustrations, or textured paper effects for an artisanal aesthetic.
Designers seeking versatile cursive handwriting fonts that can be styled up for luxury branding or softened for casual, lifestyle-themed visuals.
Elegant compositions that benefit from a balance of modern minimalism and handwritten warmth.

Keep an eye out for:

Brandine’s thin letterforms may lose clarity at smaller sizes, so reserve it for medium to large-scale typography where its details can shine.
Use it strategically; it’s best suited for emphasis rather than long-form text. Pair it with a simple serif or sans serif font to maintain contrast and readability.
When styling, adjust color and texture intentionally; lighter tones give it an airy, romantic feel, while metallic or dark hues can make it appear more formal and high-end.

5. Novitha script different cursive fonts (OTF, TTF)

Novitha Script brings the energy of hand-drawn brush lettering into your digital designs with remarkable texture and authenticity. Each stroke was created with a real brush pen, capturing the organic flow and imperfect beauty of traditional calligraphy.

With a complete character set, numbers, and multilingual support for over 30 languages, this font is both artistic and practical, perfect for designers looking to make a bold yet human impression.

Ideal for logos, apparel designs, and social media graphics, Novitha Script infuses every curve with expressive, handcrafted personality.

This font is a great choice for:

Adding texture and movement to your designs, its dynamic brush strokes make any layout feel more tactile and handcrafted.
Logo and title design, especially for creative brands, T-shirts, and packaging that benefit from a distinctive brush-painted look.
Retro or nostalgic projects, where its expressive flow can be styled to echo vintage signage or classic hand-lettered ads.
Designs that celebrate artistry and individuality, such as personal branding or custom merchandise.

Keep an eye out for:

The fine texture details may be lost at smaller sizes, so use it for headlines or medium-to-large display text.
Because of its expressive and detailed strokes, it’s best used in moderation; short words or phrases will maintain legibility and visual impact.
When pairing, opt for a minimal supporting font that balances the brushy aesthetic without cluttering the design.

6. Start today beautiful cursive fonts (OTF, TTF)

Start Today is the perfect fusion of energy, texture, and elegance. This hand-brushed cursive script offers a bold yet approachable feel, making it ideal for projects that need to balance creativity with personality.

Each letter carries authentic brush textures, visible imperfections, and striking contrast between thick and thin strokes, giving your typography a handcrafted, expressive edge.

This font duo includes a complete character set, alternates, and multilingual support, making it both visually rich and functionally versatile for global use.

This font is a great choice for:

Designers who appreciate visible texture and expressive movement in their typography, every stroke in this script tells a story.
Calligraphy-inspired compositions that use thick and thin contrasts to create rhythm and flow in the text.
Versatile design themes, from rustic, organic projects to refined, minimalist layouts, try pairing it with neutral palettes, earthy textures, or bold black-and-white contrasts.
Motivational quotes, logos, and social media graphics, where personality and flair matter most.

Keep an eye out for:

This font shines at larger display sizes, where its textured details and stroke variations can be fully appreciated.
Be mindful of the contrast between the text and the background; maintaining clarity will help preserve brush detail and ensure legibility.
For best results, avoid overcrowding the composition, let the texture breathe by balancing it with clean negative space or simple graphic elements.

7. Margot & Margery cute cursive font (OTF, TTF)

Margot & Margery captures the joyful spirit of handmade brush lettering with its playful curves and organic flow. Every stroke carries a sense of personality and warmth, making it ideal for projects that need a friendly, handcrafted touch.

This font set includes multiple file formats, along with ligatures and alternate glyphs, giving you flexibility to tailor your design’s look and feel.

Designed for greeting cards, packaging, and creative branding, Margot & Margery brings an instant sense of charm and warmth to your work.

This font is a great choice for:

Projects that celebrate handmade aesthetics, such as craft branding, artisan packaging, or DIY-inspired visuals.
Designs featuring organic or rustic textures, like watercolor overlays, recycled paper backgrounds, or chalkboard effects.
Highlighting key words or short phrases, where the decorative letterforms can really stand out as a focal point.
Playful compositions that balance creativity and warmth, ideal for lifestyle or children’s design projects.

Keep an eye out for:

Because of its decorative and detailed nature, this font performs best at medium to large sizes, where each stroke remains clear.
Avoid long text passages. Margot & Margery work well as accent or display fonts.
When pairing, opt for a clean, neutral typeface (such as a soft sans serif or a minimal serif) to maintain focus on the cursive design and ensure a balanced layout.

8. Honeycomb pretty cursive fonts (OTF, TTF, WOFF, LST, JPG)

Honeycomb brings together elegance and playfulness in a beautifully versatile cursive script. This typeface is full of charm, featuring delicate, looping strokes and a soft, handwritten flow.

What makes this package truly special, though, are the included gold foil patterns, perfect for adding a touch of sophistication or sparkle to your designs. Honeycomb helps you strike that perfect balance between classy and approachable.

This font is a great choice for:

Projects that call for elegance with personality, like event invitations, logos, or luxury packaging.
Designs that let you incorporate the gold foil patterns included in the package, ideal for creating a refined, high-end look.
Casual yet creative layouts, where you can lean into its friendly tone — think journaling graphics, handmade cards, or social media visuals.
Font pairings with clean, neutral sans serifs, which help highlight Honeycomb’s curves without overwhelming the design.

Keep an eye out for:

The thin strokes may lose definition at smaller sizes, so reserve this font for headlines, logos, or accent text where it can shine.
If you scale down, maintain high contrast between text and background to keep the script legible.
Use Honeycomb strategically for emphasis, focus on keywords or titles, and pair it with a solid, easy-to-read typeface for supporting body copy.

9. Aaron script cursive tattoo font (OTF, TTF)

Aaron Script is a stunning calligraphy-inspired cursive font that balances timeless beauty with modern craftsmanship. Its sweeping lines and smooth ligatures make it perfect for everything from wedding stationery to tattoo-inspired designs.

With over 400 glyphs and 190 alternate characters, Aaron Script gives you extensive creative control, allowing you to tailor each word with unique flourishes and stylistic variations. Elegant yet expressive, this font easily transitions from formal applications to more artistic, personalized projects.

This font is a great choice for:

Tattoo-style designs, especially for short quotes, names, or meaningful phrases, its curves and flow are ideal for body art compositions.
Formal invitations, branding, or stationery, where its refined strokes add a touch of luxury and grace.
Typographic posters or logos, where its ornate swashes can be showcased as a central design feature.
Designers looking for a versatile cursive font that can adapt from traditional elegance to bold, decorative flair.

Keep an eye out for:

Because of its intricate letterforms, limit usage to short phrases or titles to maintain legibility and impact.
Use the alternate characters and swashes selectively; they can beautifully frame text, but overusing them can reduce readability.
When styling, ensure ample spacing and contrast, allowing the ornate details to stand out without overwhelming your design.

10. Florence fancy cursive fonts (OTF, TTF, AI, EPS, ASL)

Florence is a luxurious brush script font bursting with handcrafted charm and expressive energy. With its thick, curvy strokes and dynamic texture, it’s designed to make a bold visual impact, ideal for projects that call for confidence and creativity.

This download includes alternate letters, ligatures, and splash elements, giving you even more flexibility to personalize your typography. Perfect for letterheads, apparel graphics, and upscale packaging, Florence elevates designs with bold, artistic flair.

This font is a great choice for:

Bold statement pieces that need presence, its weight and texture make it perfect for headlines, titles, and logo marks.
High-contrast designs, especially where you can play with rich color combinations.
Handcrafted or artistic projects, where its textured brush look complements organic layouts or handmade elements.
Luxury branding or editorial design, where Florence’s curvy letterforms add a refined, contemporary edge.

Keep an eye out for:

While the font scales well, smaller sizes may lose some texture clarity; keep the contrast high for optimal readability.
Florence is best suited for display use;, use it as a focal point for titles, headers, or packaging rather than body copy.
To maintain a polished aesthetic, pair it with minimalist typography or clean layout spacing, allowing the brush details to shine without visual clutter.

11. Adorabelle cursive calligraphy fonts (OTF, TTF)

Adorabelle is the epitome of romantic sophistication. This type of beautifully designed, elegant cursive fonts pairs stunning calligraphic flow with a touch of playful charm, perfect for designs that need to feel both graceful and expressive.

With over 500 glyphs and a wide range of decorative alternates, Adorabelle offers incredible versatility for creating custom, standout typography. A great fit for wedding invitations, branding, and elegant packaging, this font adds instant polish and sophistication.

This font is a great choice for:

Ornate, calligraphy-style compositions, where their luxurious swashes and alternates can elevate a design from simple to stunning.
Wedding stationery, logos, and greeting cards, where decorative flourishes help convey elegance and emotion.
Key phrases, titles, or names that need to draw attention, perfect for typographic centerpieces or romantic themes.
Designers seeking expressive, hand-drawn elegance that still feels modern and adaptable.

Keep an eye out for:

Because of its intricate detailing, Adorabelle works best at larger sizes where its swirls and loops can remain crisp and legible.
Pair it with simple sans serif or serif fonts to provide balance; this helps keep the focus on Adorabelle’s ornate design without overwhelming the viewer.
Avoid using it for large blocks of text; instead, use it strategically for impact on key words or design highlights.

12. La Venice retro cursive font (OTF)

La Venice brings a splash of retro charm and California sunshine to your designs. Inspired by the vibrant hand-painted script signs of the iconic LA boardwalk, this cursive font captures that nostalgic, sun-faded aesthetic with a modern twist.

The package includes multiple font files and a delightful bonus pack of watercolor flowers, perfect for adding artistic flair to posters, apparel, or branding. From layered, outlined treatments to clean, simple applications, La Venice opens the door to endless creative exploration.

This font is a great choice for:

Retro or vintage-themed projects, especially those inspired by mid-century signage, travel posters, or old-school branding.
Designs that balance playfulness and sophistication, it looks stunning in both its layered decorative version and a simple, solid style.
Creative compositions that mix typography and illustration, especially with the included watercolor flower pack and extra swashes.
Logo design or statement titles, where its distinctive lettering can anchor the entire visual style.

Keep an eye out for:

La Venice’s extras, like swashes and decorative outlines, are designed to take center stage; use them intentionally as focal elements rather than background accents.
For supporting copy, pair with a neutral sans serif or minimalist serif font to keep the attention where it belongs, on La Venice’s expressive letterforms.
As with most decorative display fonts, avoid long blocks of text to preserve readability and maintain visual impact.

13. Keyline script cursive letters font (OTF, TTF)

Keyline Script is a bold, expressive cursive font that combines the confidence of thick marker strokes with the fluidity of hand lettering. Its smooth, rounded edges and substantial weight make it an instant eye-catcher, ideal for designs that need to make a statement.

This package includes a complete character set, glyphs, and full multilingual support, ensuring creative flexibility across different projects and languages. Designed for T-shirts, posters, and packaging, Keyline Script brings personality, clarity, and visual impact to your designs.

This font is a great choice for:

Bold, high-visibility projects like apparel designs, signage, or product packaging that need a strong focal point.
Text effects and stylized typography, such as gold foil, gradient overlays, or layered color treatments, for a modern or retro twist.
Titles and headlines that need to grab attention immediately, the thick brush style ensures your message stands front and center.
Creative compositions that benefit from confident, hand-lettered energy, perfect for branding that wants to feel both bold and approachable.

Keep an eye out for:

Keyline Script pairs beautifully with clean, modern sans serif fonts that provide balance and contrast. This keeps your design cohesive without competing for attention.
While the font scales well, it’s still best used at larger display sizes, where the stroke details and smooth curvature can shine.
Keep the copy concise and focused; using this typeface for short, powerful phrases will maintain both legibility and visual strength.

14. Savo bawdy tattoo cursive fonts (TTF)

Savo Bawdy is a lively, hand-crafted cursive typeface that blends classic tattoo script influences with modern character. With 96 unique glyphs and long, flowing curls, this font delivers a sense of energy and movement that instantly catches the eye.

It’s stylish without feeling stiff, making it perfect for projects that need flair, rhythm, and individuality. From book covers and event posters to digital scrapbooks, Savo Bawdy brings a bold, playful edge to your composition.

This font is a great choice for:

Designers exploring unique tattoo cursive handwritten fonts alternatives, especially those that favor continuous, winding strokes over formal calligraphy styles.
Energetic, upbeat projects, like event branding, party invitations, or motivational quotes, this font radiates positivity and motion.
Display designs where attention-grabbing typography takes center stage, such as headline graphics or signage.
Pairing with playful visuals, like geometric shapes, vibrant colors, or retro-inspired patterns to enhance its dynamic tone.

Keep an eye out for:

For larger passages of text, pair Savo Bawdy with a simple, minimalist complement font, such as a light serif or sans serif, to maintain readability.
Because of its fine details and energetic curls, it’s best suited for medium to large text sizes. If you scale it down, ensure high contrast for clarity.
Use it strategically for short phrases or display headlines, letting its bouncy, handcrafted strokes draw attention where it matters most.

15. Skywave Cute Cursive Font (OTF, TTF, WOFF)

Skywave is a whimsical, wave-inspired cursive font that brings a sense of rhythm and movement to any project. Its flowing, curvy letterforms mimic the motion of ocean waves, giving your typography a natural, fluid energy.

This unique aesthetic makes Skywave perfect for greeting cards, social media graphics, product packaging, or any design that needs a touch of charm and individuality. With formats for both PC and Mac, it’s a versatile choice that looks as beautiful in print as it does on screen.

This font is a great choice for:

Designers seeking a distinctive cursive font with organic, wave-like curves that immediately draw attention.
Projects that celebrate playfulness and creativity, such as invitations, brand marks, or lifestyle graphics.
Pairing with minimalist or complementary fonts, allowing Skywave’s ornate movement to serve as the focal point.
Designs that incorporate fluid or dynamic visuals, like swirls, curls, or wave-inspired graphics that mirror the font’s aesthetic.

Keep an eye out for:

Skywave’s elongated letterforms may take up extra space. Keep layouts flexible, especially when working with longer words or phrases.
The decorative details are best appreciated at medium to large sizes, so use it for headlines, logos, or featured text rather than body copy.
Maintain a strong contrast between text and background to preserve clarity, particularly when using this ornate script at smaller scales.

Envato's newest cursive fonts

Fresh, expressive, and full of personality, these new cursive fonts on Envato are all about authentic handwriting and effortless style. Each one brings a slightly different mood to the table, from relaxed and casual to elegant and romantic, making them easy to work into modern branding, social content, and print designs alike.

Meander is a relaxed handwritten script with an easygoing, friendly charm. Its natural strokes and unforced flow feel warm and approachable, like everyday handwriting at its best. This font is ideal for casual branding, lifestyle posts, invitations, packaging, and social media graphics, especially for projects that want to feel personal, informal, and effortlessly stylish.

Rowan is a natural handwritten script designed to feel human, warm, and genuinely personal. With smooth strokes and a relaxed rhythm, it captures the authenticity of real handwriting while staying clean and highly legible. It works beautifully for quotes, logos, branding, journals, greeting cards, posters, and lifestyle designs, perfect when you want emotion and approachability without sacrificing polish.

Repithalia leans into elegance with a modern handwritten script that features fluid curves and graceful calligraphy-inspired forms. It delivers a refined, handcrafted feel that’s both expressive and versatile across digital and print projects. Ideal for luxury branding, romantic concepts, and sophisticated visual identities, Repithalia adds a timeless handwritten touch that feels artistic without being overdone

Which are the best cursive fonts for your project?

So, which cursive font should you choose for your next design? The answer depends on your project’s tone, audience, and visual goals.

If you’re after elegance and sophistication, fonts like Adorabelle or Burnt Rose are perfect for wedding stationery, branding, or upscale packaging. For something bold and attention-grabbing, try Keyline Script or Florence; they shine in logos, apparel design, and posters.

Meanwhile, La Venice and Drustic Dialy are great picks for retro or nostalgic designs that evoke warmth and personality. If you’re drawn to handcrafted charm, explore Brandine or Margot & Margery for their soft, organic strokes. And for playful or expressive projects, Skywave and Savo Bawdy add just the right dose of movement and creativity.

Want to discover even more beautiful fonts? Browse our extended font collections and typography guides over at Envato Tuts+, where you’ll find even more inspiring script, serif, and display fonts ready to download and make your next project shine. If you’re designing for print, digital, or personal use, there’s a perfect cursive font waiting to bring your vision to life:

What makes a font “cursive”?

Cursive fonts mimic natural handwriting, often featuring connected letters and flowing strokes. They can range from formal calligraphy styles to casual brush scripts.

Which cursive fonts are best for logos or branding?

Fonts like Cursive Script, Florence, and Keyline Script are great for logos because they combine readability with personality.

Can cursive fonts be used for body text?

Generally, cursive fonts work best for headlines or short text. For body copy, pair them with a clean sans serif or serif font to maintain legibility.

What are the most elegant cursive fonts for wedding invitations?

Try Adorabelle, Burnt Rose, or Brandine; these feature graceful strokes perfect for wedding stationery or formal events.

How do I pair cursive fonts effectively?

Combine decorative cursive fonts with neutral typefaces. For example, use Cursive Script for your header and a minimal sans serif like Open Sans for the body text.

How to find a Pantone color in Photoshop in 2026

2023-10-19T22:10:48+00:00

TL;DR: Photoshop no longer includes built-in Pantone libraries, but you still have solid options. In this guide, we break down what changed, how Pantone Connect fits into modern workflows, and which alternative tools are more reliable in 2026, depending on whether you’re working digitally or preparing files for print.

If you’re a graphic designer or someone who works with colors, you’ll still find older tutorials claiming that Photoshop includes built-in Pantone libraries. However, if you’re using the 2025 or 2026 versions, you’ve probably noticed those options are gone.

Before jumping into the available workarounds to match Pantone colors, it’s worth answering a few key questions.

Do designers still use Pantone colors in 2026?

Even though many projects are now fully digital, Pantone still plays a key role whenever color accuracy really matters. High-stakes branding, brand guidelines, and physical printing all rely on a shared color language, and Pantone remains the industry standard for that job.

For many designers, the thought process looks something like this:

You find a color in Photoshop and think, “I love this shade.”
Almost immediately, the next question follows: “What’s the Pantone equivalent?”

That instinct comes from experience. Clients expect consistency across every touchpoint, and many digital-first projects eventually expand into print. To make that possible, designers need to document colors in brand kits and communicate clearly with printers using a system everyone understands.

Does Pantone matter even when colors start digitally?

Yes, absolutely. In real-world workflows, plenty of colors start life as RGB or Hex values. From there, designers look for the closest Pantone match. It’s less about finding a perfect one-to-one conversion and more about translating a color into a reliable, print-ready reference.

☁️Big news: Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year is Cloud Dancer - the first white ever chosen.Soft, weightless, and quietly radical; it’s color as calm, not chaos. pic.twitter.com/fmoOkrlZPL
— Envato (@envato) December 4, 2025

Is Pantone still relevant for digital and print design?

Short answer: yes. While Pantone is less accessible than it used to be (and that’s a common frustration), the underlying need hasn’t gone away. Designers are still regularly searching for things like:

“Closest Pantone to this color”
“Pantone equivalent”
“What Pantone is this color?”

Because in professional design, a word like “red” doesn’t mean much on its own. Reds can lean warm or cool, orange or blue. When you spot the perfect color in nature or on an object, the goal is always the same: capture it accurately so it looks just as good when it’s printed.

How modern design workflows use color systems

In a digital-first 2026 workflow, the direction often goes the other way. It’s now common to start with a Pantone color name, say, Cloud Dancer, and then look up its Hex value for web or UI work.

Sometimes this starts as curiosity. Other times, it’s a professional requirement for a client's brand book or a cross-platform design system. Either way, there are reliable ways to do this without depending on unofficial files or outdated formats, and that’s exactly what we’ll cover next.

Why Pantone colors are no longer built into Photoshop

Until 2022, this workflow was much more straightforward. Finding a Pantone color in Photoshop didn’t require extensions or external tools.

The workflow looked like this:

1. Open Photoshop and double-click the Foreground Color swatch to open the Color Picker.

2. Click Color Libraries on the right-hand side of the Color Picker window.

3. From the Book dropdown menu, you can choose between three groups of Pantone colors, including:

Pantone+ CMYK Coated
Pantone+ CMYK Uncoated
Pantone+ Metallics Coated

And that was it. Simple, fast, and built directly into your workflow. Unfortunately, that setup isn’t available anymore.

What changed with Pantone support in Adobe Photoshop

The short answer is licensing. Following changes to the licensing agreement between Adobe and Pantone, the standard Solid Coated and Solid Uncoated libraries, the ones most designers rely on, were removed from Photoshop.

As a result, in 2026, the Book dropdown no longer includes Pantone color libraries by default. If you’re opening the Color Picker today and wondering whether you’re missing something, you’re not. The options simply aren’t there anymore.

The good news? While the old built-in method is gone, designers haven’t lost the ability to work accurately with Pantone colors. There are still practical, professional ways to get your colors right without adding unnecessary cost or friction to your workflow, and we’ll walk through those next.

How to find a Pantone color in Photoshop using Pantone Connect

Before we dive in, it’s worth setting expectations.

Note (Jan 2026): At the time of writing, the Pantone Connect extension is experiencing widespread technical issues. Many users report encountering internal server errors, blank panels, or failed launches inside Photoshop. While Pantone Connect is still the only official way to access the full Pantone libraries, its current stability is inconsistent.

If you still want to try it, here’s how the process works.

Step 1: Download Pantone Connect and create an account

Head to Adobe Exchange and search for Pantone Connect. From there, click the Free button to add the extension to your Creative Cloud account.

Before installing, it’s a good idea to close all Adobe applications. This helps avoid sync issues and ensures the extension installs correctly.

Step 2: Confirm the extension is installed correctly

Once the extension is added, you should see a confirmation pop-up from Creative Cloud. After that, reopen Photoshop to make the plugin available inside the app.
At this stage, no manual activation is required; if the installation worked, Photoshop should recognize it automatically.

Step 3: Open Pantone Connect inside Photoshop

In Photoshop’s top menu bar, go to Plugins. If everything is set up correctly, you’ll see Pantone Connect listed there.

One important limitation to be aware of:

As of now, many users report that clicking the plugin either opens a blank panel or redirects them to a web browser rather than loading the color tool directly in Photoshop. When that happens, the extension isn’t usable in a real production workflow.

A quick reality check

Software changes fast. It’s entirely possible that Adobe and Pantone roll out fixes or updates after this article is published. If Pantone Connect becomes stable again, we’ll update this section right away.

Until then, most designers are relying on alternative workflows to find Pantone equivalents without breaking momentum, and those options are often faster, more reliable, and easier to maintain.

Pantone Connect mobile app: an alternative workflow

With Photoshop’s built-in Pantone libraries gone and the desktop extension proving unreliable, many designers have settled on a more dependable workaround: the Pantone Connect mobile app.

While it isn’t a perfect replacement for the old in-app workflow, it’s currently one of the most practical ways to accurately identify Pantone colors. It’s quick to use, accessible on mobile, and, crucially, far more stable than the desktop plugin at the moment.

Note: Pantone Connect also offers a separate web-based interface that works in a desktop browser and mirrors many of the mobile app’s features. This is different from the Pantone Color Finder covered later in this guide. Availability and functionality can vary by account and region, so this section focuses on the mobile app, which is currently the most consistent option.

Step-by-step workflow using the mobile app

Step 1: Install the Pantone Connect mobile app

Install the Pantone Connect app on your mobile device and create a free account to get started. You can explore basic features without committing to a paid plan.

Step 2: Open the Pantone app

Once it’s open, from the bottom navigation, go to Colors, then select Extract. This tool lets you sample colors directly from images. It works similarly to sampling colors in Photoshop, but within the Pantone app.

Step 3: Upload your image

You can search for visual references inside the Adobe Stock library or upload your own image by tapping Add Image.

You can upload almost any image: stock photos, mockups, screenshots, or your own artwork — to identify the closest Pantone color.

If you need visual material to test colors, Envato’s AI tools & unlimited creative assets make it easy to generate or download images and use them directly in this step.

Step 4: Sample the image to find the closest Pantone match

Once your image loads, a circular selector appears. Move it across the image to sample specific areas. As you adjust the selector, the app suggests the closest Pantone matches in real time.

For example, sampling the cover of an Envato Instagram post about photography trends may return a suggestion like Pantone 212 C.

Step 5: Adjust the color library and finish selection

Don’t stop at the first result. You can filter which Pantone libraries the app uses, helping you narrow results to colors that make sense for your final output.

To ensure your colors translate correctly into Photoshop or Illustrator, it’s important to filter by the correct library. Open the library settings and select Pantone Matching System (PMS) for Graphics.

Here’s a quick guide on how to choose the right library:

Avoid TCX codes for graphic design. TCX stands for Textile Cotton Edition and is intended for fabric, not paper. Using a TCX color for logos, posters, or print ads can lead to major color shifts when printed. For graphic design and branding work, stick to Pantone Solid Coated or Solid Uncoated, depending on your paper type.

Instead take a look at the Pantone Matching System (PMS) for graphics:

Library	What is it for
Pantone Solid Coated (C)	Best for glossy or coated paper, such as magazines and premium brochures. Colors appear more vibrant and saturated.
Pantone Solid Uncoated (U)	Designed for matte or porous paper, like letterheads or stationery. colors print softer and more muted.
Pantone Color Bridge	Useful for previewing how a Pantone color converts to CMYK for digital printing workflows.

While this mobile-to-desktop workflow isn’t as direct as selecting a Pantone color inside Photoshop like we could back in 2022, it’s currently one of the most reliable ways to integrate Pantone into professional projects, without dealing with plugins that may be unstable.

How to find a Pantone color using the Pantone Color Finder (web)

In 2026, the Pantone Color Finder web tool became one of the most dependable ways to identify Pantone equivalents. It requires a bit more manual judgement and a trained eye, but it’s fast, free to use, and doesn’t rely on plugins or software installations.

This makes it especially useful when you’re working with digital colors and need a reliable reference for print or brand documentation.

Step 1: Open the official Pantone Color Finder

Start by opening the official Pantone Color Finder in your browser. You’ll see a simple search interface that allows you to enter specific color values.

This tool works entirely online, so there’s nothing to install and no Creative Cloud integration to worry about.

Step 2: Enter a Hex or RGB color value

Paste your Hex value into the search bar, for example, a bright green like #9CCE69, and click Search.

This approach is ideal when you’ve spotted a color you like on a website, in a digital mockup, or inside a UI design and want to identify its closest Pantone match.

Step 3: Compare Pantone matches and choose the closest color

The tool returns a list of Pantone colors that closely resemble your Hex value.

Best match first: Pantone highlights its suggested closest match at the top of the results.
Side-by-side comparison: Use the split-color swatches to visually compare your original Hex color with each Pantone option.

Pro tip: Filter the results to Pantone Solid Coated to get the most relevant options for graphic design and print production.

This is the step where experience matters most. Small shifts in warmth or saturation can make a big difference once the color is printed.

Step 4: Apply the Pantone color to your workflow

Once you’ve chosen the closest Pantone match, you can use the Pantone name to build color styles, brand kits, or palettes directly in Photoshop or Illustrator.

From there, it’s easy to maintain consistency across digital layouts, print files, and brand guidelines.

How to choose the right Pantone workflow in 2026

Between these three approaches, the official extension, the mobile app for visual exploration, and the web-based finder for precise matching, you always have a reliable way to work with Pantone colors.

While the changes introduced in 2022 added a few extra steps to the process, they didn’t remove the need for Pantone itself. Instead, they pushed designers toward more flexible workflows that still support accuracy, consistency, and professional handoff.

The key is knowing when to use each method. Use mobile tools to explore and extract inspiration, rely on the web finder when you need precision, and treat plugins as optional rather than essential. With that mindset, working with Pantone in 2026 remains completely manageable, even without the old built-in libraries.

How to find a Pantone color in Photoshop FAQs

Why is Pantone not showing up in Photoshop?

Pantone no longer appears in Photoshop because Adobe removed the standard libraries after licensing changes in late 2022.

As a result, recent versions of Photoshop no longer include the Solid Coated and Solid Uncoated Pantone books by default. Instead, when you open the "Color Libraries" menu in 2026, you will typically only see alternative color systems from other brands.

How do I find Pantone Connect in Photoshop?

You can access Pantone Connect in Photoshop from the Plugins menu at the top. After installing the extension from Adobe Exchange, open Photoshop and go to Plugins > Pantone Connect. If it doesn’t appear, check that you’re signed in to your Creative Cloud account and that the extension is fully installed and up to date. However, the extension can be unstable and may fail to load results.

How do I convert colors to Pantone in Photoshop?

Photoshop no longer converts colors to Pantone directly, so you need an external tool. A visual option is the Pantone Connect mobile app, where you can upload an image or screenshot and use the Extract tool to find the closest Pantone match.

If you already have a Hex or RGB value, the Pantone Color Finder web tool is a precise alternative. Once you have the Pantone name, you can manually apply its values to your creative projects on Photoshop.

Can Photoshop identify Pantone colors automatically?

No, Photoshop can’t automatically identify Pantone colors without Pantone Connect. The Eyedropper tool only reads HSB, Lab, RGB, CMYK, or Hex values. To identify Pantone colors for free, you can use the Pantone Connect mobile app’s Extract feature or the Pantone Color Finder website to match colors visually.

Is Pantone still worth using in 2026?

Yes, Pantone is still widely used for branding and print workflows in 2026. Even though access methods have changed, Pantone remains the shared color language for designers, printers, and manufacturers. It’s especially important for brand guidelines, physical products, and projects that need consistent color reproduction across materials.

What Pantone library should I use for graphic design?

For most graphic design and print projects, Pantone Solid Coated is the safest choice. It’s designed for coated paper and provides the most accurate, widely supported reference for logos, marketing materials, and brand assets. Use Solid Uncoated only when you know the final output will be printed on uncoated or matte paper.

The different types of serif fonts with serif font examples

2021-07-25T04:38:05+00:00

TL;DR: Serif fonts are typefaces that feature small decorative strokes or “serifs” at the ends of letters, giving text a more classic, readable look. The main types of serif fonts include Old Style, Transitional, Didone, and Slab Serif, each with distinct structures and moods. Modern design also features hybrid serifs that mix traditional elegance with contemporary flair.

Serif fonts come in many shapes and personalities, from elegant Didones to sturdy Slab Serifs, and knowing the difference can transform how you approach typography. In this tutorial, we’ll break down the main types of serif typefaces, explore what makes each unique, and show real-world examples of how designers use them to shape mood and readability.

You’ll also discover how to spot the subtle details, such as bracketed curves or angular terminals that define each style, plus where to find and download modern serif fonts to bring fresh character to your next design project.

This modern serif font is available for download on Envato.

What is a serif font?

So, what exactly is a serif font? Let’s start with the basics. A serif refers to the small decorative line or stroke that extends from the ends of a letter’s main strokes. These subtle details give typefaces a more traditional, structured, and readable feel, especially in print.

For example, Times New Roman is a serif typeface. Notice how each letter features small finishing strokes at its edges; that’s the serif in action. In contrast, Helvetica is a sans-serif typeface, meaning “without serif.” Its clean, straight letter endings give it a more modern, minimal look.

Times New Roman is a serif typeface, and Helvetica is a sans serif typeface.

When comparing the two, serif fonts often feel classic, elegant, and literary, while sans serif fonts lean modern, sleek, and digital-friendly. Both have their place, but understanding what makes a serif font distinct helps you choose the right tone and texture for your design.

But not all serif fonts look the same. They come in a wide range of shapes, weights, and personalities, from bold slab serifs with strong geometric forms to delicate hairline serifs that feel refined and elegant. You’ll even find handwritten serif styles that blend calligraphic charm with classic structure.

Still, the basic distinction remains one of the most universal ways to classify type: a font is usually either serif or sans serif. Occasionally, you’ll see script fonts described as a “third category,” but even then, they often carry characteristics that fit into the serif or sans serif families. Understanding this simple division is the first step to navigating the rich world of typography.

What is type classification?

So, what are the different types of serif fonts? To answer that, we first need to understand type classification, a system for grouping fonts based on their shared visual characteristics and historical origins.

These classifications help designers recognize subtle differences in letterform shapes, stroke contrast, and proportions. While many of today’s fonts blur the lines between categories, most still draw inspiration from traditional type design eras, each with its own personality and purpose.

Type classification isn’t just academic; it’s practical. Knowing whether a font belongs to the Old Style, Transitional, or Modern family, for example, can help you choose the right tone for your project, whether you’re designing a classic print layout or a clean digital interface.

Want to dive deeper? Check out this free course on Envato Tuts+ for a complete breakdown of type classifications, covering both serif and sans serif fonts, with plenty of real-world examples to help you spot the differences.

Why does it matter?

Why learn about the different types of serif typefaces? Isn’t choosing a font just about what looks good? Well, as any seasoned designer will tell you, it’s a bit more nuanced than that.

Understanding type classification and characteristics gives you the tools to make intentional design choices. When you can recognize a font’s structure, its contrast, proportions, and details, you’re not guessing anymore. You’re selecting type with purpose.

Knowing how to identify a font’s traits also helps you choose the right typeface faster. Instead of scrolling endlessly or relying solely on instinct, you can start with a clear visual direction that supports your concept and brand tone.

Typography isn’t just decoration; it’s communication. The fonts you choose set mood, tell stories, and shape perception. Recognizing those subtle differences is what transforms a good layout into one that feels cohesive, expressive, and uniquely yours.

The different types of serif fonts

Serif fonts aren’t all built the same. In fact, designers often group them into four main categories: Old Style, Transitional, Didone, and Slab Serif. Each one carries its own history, structure, and personality.

An example of old style, transitional, Didone, and slab serif fonts.

Serif type	Description	Example
Old Style	These are the classics. Old-style serif fonts feature gentle curves, moderate contrast between thick and thin strokes, and a warm, hand-drawn feel rooted in Renaissance calligraphy.	Garamond or Bembo
Transitional	Transitional serifs bridge traditional and modern design, with sharper edges and more defined contrast. They feel balanced, readable, and timeless.	Times New Roman
Didone	Didone typefaces feature high contrast, thin hairlines, and thick verticals, giving them a polished, elegant look. They shine in fashion editorials, luxury branding, and sophisticated layouts.	Didot and Bodoni
Slab Serif	Chunky, bold, and geometric; have thick, block-like serifs with little to no stroke contrast. They’re strong, modern, and perfect for headlines or posters that need impact.	Rockwell or Clarendon

Many modern serif fonts "break the rules" and take plenty of creative inspiration from multiple sources and aesthetics.

But here’s the fun part: not every serif fits neatly into these boxes. Many modern typefaces mix influences, borrowing structure from one category and character from another. That’s part of what makes typography so creative.

As the old saying goes, know the rules so you can break them well. Once you understand how serifs work, you’ll start to spot hybrids everywhere, fonts that bend tradition to create something entirely new.

Before we dive too deep, let’s pause and explore some of the key types of serif fonts every designer should know.

Old-style serif fonts

Old-style serif fonts have a timeless, hand-drawn charm rooted in traditional calligraphy. Their letterforms feel warm and organic, often featuring gentle curves and soft transitions between thick and thin strokes.

You can spot their calligraphic influence in the subtle angles and flowing details, especially in the lowercase “d” or “e”.

Take Garamond, for example. It’s one of the best-known Old-style typefaces, with diagonally stressed strokes that echo the natural rhythm of handwriting. This diagonal stress is a key feature that sets Old Style apart from the later, more upright Transitional serifs.

Here’s an example that captures that same Old-style spirit, refined, readable, and full of quiet elegance.

Download this elegant old-style serif font on Envato.

If you’d like to explore further, check out our curated collection of Old-Style serif fonts, a showcase of classic and contemporary designs inspired by centuries of typographic craftsmanship:

36 Stunning Old Style Fonts (Old Style Typeface Examples to Download)

Daisy E.

02 Feb 2024

Transitional serif fonts

Transitional serif fonts bridge the gap between the warm, calligraphic curves of Old Style typefaces and the sharper, more refined forms of Modern serifs, such as Didones.

They’re the sweet spot of classic readability and contemporary precision, which is why you’ve likely seen them everywhere.

Familiar favorites such as Baskerville, Times New Roman, and Georgia all belong to this category. Transitional serifs typically feature stronger contrast between thick and thin strokes than Old Style fonts, yet they retain a sense of balance and warmth.

Notice how their serifs still taper gracefully, giving the letters a polished, approachable feel.

Transitional serif fonts are popular choices in business, academia, and more.

These fonts are highly versatile, perfect for everything from editorial layouts and websites to brand identities that need a touch of sophistication.

Discover even more transitional serif fonts in this curated Envato collection. There’s plenty of inspiration to explore and download for your next design project:

36 Best Transitional Typefaces (Fonts to Download)

Daisy E.

25 Sep 2023

Didone serif fonts

Didone serif fonts are where elegance meets precision. Known for their dramatic contrast between thick and thin strokes, these typefaces feel sleek, modern, and undeniably stylish.

The term “Didone” comes from the great typefounders Didot and Bodoni, whose designs defined this refined aesthetic.

You’ll notice the difference right away: thin, hairline serifs paired with strong vertical strokes that create striking visual tension.

Take a look at the uppercase “N” in many Didone fonts; the verticals are bold and structured, while the horizontal strokes are delicate and razor-thin. It’s that contrast that gives Didones their signature sophistication.

This beautifully designed Didone serif font is an elegant choice. It also includes some curly modern alternates.

This beautifully designed Didone-inspired font captures that same timeless balance, crisp, elegant, and ideal for editorial headlines, luxury branding, or high-end packaging. Some even include modern, curly alternates for a touch of flourish and personality.

Explore this stunning collection of Didone serif fonts on Envato to find your next statement typeface. Whether you’re creating a magazine layout or an elegant logo, Didones always bring a sense of refinement to the page:

39 Best Modern Didone Typefaces (Fonts Similar to Bodoni & Didot)

Daisy E.

28 Apr 2023

Slab serif fonts

Slab serif fonts look exactly how they sound: bold, blocky, and built to stand out. Unlike Old Style or Didone typefaces, slab serifs have little to no stroke contrast. Instead, their lines remain thick and consistent, giving them a sturdy, architectural feel.

These fonts are a favorite in modern design for a reason. Their bold shapes and solid serifs make them perfect for headlines, titles, logos, and branding that need to make an impact.

Slab serifs can feel industrial and powerful, yet surprisingly versatile, working just as well in minimalist layouts as in retro or editorial settings.

This slab serif font is chunky, bold, and great for points of emphasis.

Take this example: a chunky, confident slab serif font that’s made for emphasis. Its strong geometry and clean lines instantly command attention without sacrificing readability.

Explore even more slab serif fonts in this curated Envato collection. Whether you’re designing posters, packaging, or a bold visual identity, slab serifs add structure, weight, and unmistakable personality to your typography:

34 Best Slab Serif Fonts (Ready to Download Now)

Daisy E.

25 Jan 2023

Other serif terms

Now that we’ve explored the main types of serif fonts, it’s time to appreciate the rule-breakers, the typefaces that don’t quite fit into any one category but still borrow inspiration from classic serif design. These are the fonts that bend the rules beautifully, blending tradition with creative experimentation.

Take this decorative display serif, for example. It has the defining serif details, but with a twist, ornamental shapes, dramatic curves, and expressive flourishes that make it feel almost magical.

These creative outliers often live in branding, editorial spreads, or poster design, where personality and storytelling matter most.

This decorative display serif font has serifs, but doesn't neatly fit into our categories.

This decorative display serif font proves that typography doesn’t have to follow strict definitions to be effective. Sometimes, it’s the unexpected mix of style and character that makes a design truly stand out.

1. Hairline serif

The term hairline serif refers to the thickness of the serif itself. In this case, “hairline” means extremely thin, often just a delicate finishing stroke at the end of a letterform. These fine details give the typeface a light, elegant feel.

You’ll most commonly see hairline serifs in fonts inspired by the Didone classification. Because Didone typefaces are known for their dramatic contrast, the thin serifs work alongside thick vertical strokes to create a refined, high-fashion aesthetic.

Take this example below. The serifs are subtle and precise, but they play a crucial role in shaping the font’s overall personality, adding sophistication without overpowering the letterforms.

This elegant serif font has very thin serifs, or hairline serifs.

2. Wedge serif

Wedge serifs are pretty much what they sound like. Instead of ending abruptly or staying uniform, the serif tapers into a wedge-like shape, gradually narrowing as it extends from the letterform. This creates a sharp, sculpted look that feels both elegant and intentional.

The example below shows an exaggerated wedge serif, where the serifs almost resemble small triangles. Not all wedge serifs are this dramatic, but keeping that taper in mind makes them easier to spot.

They’re especially common in high-contrast typefaces, where the sharp serifs enhance the font’s refined, editorial feel.

This ultra-high-contrast typeface is an elegant wedge serif font.

This ultra-high-contrast serif font is a strong example of wedge serifs in action, combining crisp edges with a striking sense of sophistication, ideal for fashion layouts, luxury branding, or statement typography.

3. Condensed serif font

You may also see the term condensed used when describing serif fonts, but it’s worth noting that condensed isn’t exclusive to serifs. It can apply to any typeface, serif or sans serif, that’s designed with narrower letterforms and increased height.

In a condensed serif font, this reduced width becomes a defining visual feature. The letters feel taller, tighter, and more vertical, which makes these fonts especially useful when space is limited or when you want to create a strong, dramatic presence, think headlines, posters, or editorial layouts.

Take a look at the example below. Its slim proportions and extended height give it a distinctive rhythm, proving that condensed fonts aren’t just practical, they can be highly expressive too.

This condensed serif font has a smaller width and greater height.

This condensed serif font uses reduced width and added height to create a bold, space-efficient design, perfect for eye-catching typography that still feels refined.

4. Rounded serif font

Let’s also take a look at rounded serif fonts, a style that instantly adds warmth and personality. As the name suggests, the defining feature is the rounded edge of the serif, which softens the letterforms and gives the typeface a more playful, approachable feel.

You’ll often see rounded serifs associated with retro-inspired designs, especially those drawing from the 1960s and 1970s. That era embraced bold shapes, friendly curves, and expressive typography, and rounded serifs fit right in.

In the example below, the serifs are clearly present, but instead of sharp or tapered ends, they finish with smooth, curved edges. That single detail has a big impact on the overall aesthetic, shifting the mood from formal to fun, nostalgic, or even whimsical.

Note the rounded serifs in this rounded serif font. It really affects the overall aesthetic.

This rounded serif font features soft, curved serifs that give it a distinctive personality, making it a great choice for branding, posters, packaging, or any design that wants to feel inviting and full of character.

5. Mixed and modern serif fonts

As mentioned earlier, fonts don’t have to fit neatly into predefined categories, especially in modern type design. Today’s designers regularly blend influences, combine contrasting traits, and experiment with form.

In fact, when a particular look gains momentum, it can even spark an entirely new typographic trend.

This is where mixed and modern serif fonts shine. They still qualify as serif typefaces, thanks to their visible serifs, but those details may be subtle, unconventional, or combined with elements borrowed from other styles.

You might see clean, sans-serif-like proportions paired with expressive serifs, or classic structures reimagined with bold, contemporary twists.

Take the example below. It doesn’t fit neatly into just one category, yet its serifs play a crucial role in shaping the font’s identity. The result is a typeface that feels fresh, versatile, and visually engaging, perfect for modern branding, editorial design, or digital-first projects.

This modern serif font incorporates many visually engaging design elements.

This modern serif font blends multiple design influences, proving that understanding the rules of typography makes it easier and more effective to break them.

Handwriting fonts can also include serifs, and when they do, the results can be wonderfully unexpected. These typefaces blend the organic flow of hand-drawn lettering with structured serif details, creating designs that feel expressive, playful, and full of personality.

Take this example. It’s clearly a handwritten-style font, but notice the chunky, decorative serifs anchoring each letter. Those details add weight and visual interest, even though the font doesn’t fit neatly into traditional serif categories. Instead, it lives firmly in the realm of decorative display typography.

This handwritten serif font incorporates fun, decorative elements into its design.

This handwritten serif font combines fun, illustrative elements with bold serifs, making it a great choice for posters, packaging, branding, or any project that benefits from a more human, character-driven look.

On the other hand, some fonts blend influences across multiple categories, and that’s where things get especially interesting.

Take a look at this elegant serif font. With its sweeping curves and graceful swirls, it feels almost as if classic calligraphy and serif typography have been thoughtfully combined.

The result is a typeface that balances structure with fluidity. While the serifs ground the design, the calligraphic flourishes add movement, softness, and visual drama. It doesn’t fit neatly into a single classification, and that’s exactly what makes it compelling.

There are swirls and calligraphic elements incorporated into this modern serif font.

This modern serif font incorporates swirling, calligraphic elements, making it a beautiful choice for editorial layouts, invitations, luxury branding, or any project that calls for elegance with a creative edge.

Serifs don’t have to follow strict rules, and sometimes, breaking them is where the magic happens. Take this nautical-inspired example. Instead of sharp or tapered ends, the serifs wave and curve, instantly evoking the motion of the sea.

There’s even a hint of retro tattoo art in the styling, giving the typeface a bold, illustrative personality.

Despite its decorative flair, it’s still very much a serif font. Those stylized endings remain an essential part of each letterform, proving that serifs can be both functional and expressive.

This nautical serif font has decorative serifs that match the sea-inspired theme.

This nautical serif font uses decorative, wave-like serifs to reinforce its sea-inspired theme, making it a standout choice for posters, branding, packaging, or any design that calls for character and storytelling.

Here’s another example that draws from multiple typographic traditions. This vintage serif font draws on Blackletter design, lending it an ornate, old-world character full of intricate details. The letterforms feel expressive and decorative, almost handcrafted, which adds to their historical charm.

Look a little closer, though, and you’ll spot the serifs themselves, subtly shaped with a slight wedge-like taper. That detail grounds the font in serif territory, even as it borrows stylistic flourishes from elsewhere.

This vintage serif font has mixed visual inspiration.

This vintage serif font blends Blackletter-inspired ornamentation with classic serif structure, making it a strong choice for heritage branding, editorial headlines, or designs that call for richness and visual storytelling.

More inspiring serif font examples

By now, it’s probably clear just how diverse and expressive serif fonts can be. From classic and elegant to bold, decorative, and experimental, there’s no shortage of styles to explore.

Which serif aesthetics speak to you most: timeless tradition, modern minimalism, or something delightfully unexpected?

If typography is your thing, it’s worth exploring Envato. With a single subscription, you get unlimited access to thousands of professionally designed fonts, all ready for commercial use. It’s an easy way to experiment, refine your style, and find the perfect serif font for every project, without limits.

Check out some of the newest and best serif fonts on Envato. They are all included for one low price.

Take a look at this curated sample of some of the best serif fonts in the Envato library. Whether you’re drawn to bold, confident serifs, elegant, editorial styles, or a quirky handwritten serif with personality, there’s something here for every creative direction.

Enjoy the inspiration, explore the details, and feel free to download the fonts that speak to your next project.

1. Fulgate thin serif font

Fulgate is a refined thin serif font with a light, elegant presence that feels modern and intentional. One of its standout features is the selective use of serifs;, some letterforms include delicate finishing strokes, while others remain clean and minimal. This subtle contrast adds visual interest without overwhelming the design.

Because of its slender weight and graceful structure, Fulgate works best in larger display settings, such as headlines, editorial layouts, or sophisticated branding. It’s an excellent choice when you want typography that feels understated, stylish, and quietly confident.

2. Calfine bold wedge serif font

Calfine is a bold, wedge serif font designed to stand out. With its chunky letterforms and strong, tapered serifs, it delivers a highly graphic look that’s hard to ignore. This is the kind of typeface that immediately commands attention.

Its confident weight and sculpted details make Calfine ideal for display use, think posters, logos, packaging, or striking editorial headlines. If you’re looking for a serif font that makes a memorable visual statement, this one brings plenty of personality and impact to the table.

3. Tizart handwriting serif font

Tizart is a handwriting-style font that brings a relaxed, human touch, while still incorporating serif details. Unlike wedge or tapered serifs, the strokes here maintain a consistent line width, giving the font a cohesive, balanced feel.

The handwritten structure softens the overall look, making Tizart feel welcoming and informal, yet the added serifs give it a sense of structure that elevates it beyond a typical script or casual font.

It’s a great option for branding, packaging, quotes, or creative projects that need warmth without losing clarity.

4. Phoenix Ayash Bold Serif Font

Phoenix Ayash is a bold serif font with undeniable charm. Its sweeping curves, twists, and decorative details give it a magical, almost storybook-like quality, full of character and visual flair. This is the kind of typeface that feels expressive from the very first letter.

Despite its ornate design, Phoenix Ayash remains readable and balanced, making it a strong choice for display typography. Try it in headlines, branding, posters, or creative projects where you want your words to feel dramatic, playful, and full of personality.

Download it and experiment with your own text to see the magic unfold.

5. Howli Playful Serif Font

Howli is a playful serif font with loads of personality. Its variable baseline creates a bouncy, whimsical rhythm that instantly feels fun and expressive. That subtle up-and-down movement gives the letters a hand-crafted energy that stands out at a glance.

Look a little closer, and you’ll spot the serifs themselves, soft, rounded details that reinforce the font’s friendly, approachable vibe. Howli really shines when you experiment with it, so try pairing it with bold colors, textures, or layered effects for eye-catching headlines, posters, or creative branding projects.

Which are your favorite serif fonts?

So, which serif fonts stand out to you most? With so many incredible styles available, building a diverse serif font collection is one of the smartest moves you can make as a designer. From polished, professional layouts to playful, informal projects, serif fonts can adapt to almost any creative role.

If you’re on the hunt for fresh typography, Envato is a great place to start. With one simple subscription, you get unlimited access to thousands of fonts, including every kind of serif, from classic and elegant to bold, decorative, and experimental. It’s an easy way to discover new favorites and keep your designs feeling fresh.

And if you’re craving even more inspiration, be sure to explore other font collections on Envato Tuts+. There’s always something new to spark your next idea.

Types of serif fonts FAQs

What is the main difference between serif and sans-serif fonts?

Serif fonts have small strokes (serifs) at the ends of each letter, while sans serif fonts don’t. Serifs create a traditional, printed feel and are considered more readable in long text, while sans serifs offer a clean, modern look ideal for screens.

Which serif font types are best for body text?

Old Style and Transitional serif fonts (like Garamond or Times New Roman) are ideal for paragraphs and books because their moderate contrast and warm shapes make reading comfortable at smaller sizes.

Where are Didone serif fonts commonly used?

Didones (like Bodoni or Didot) are popular in fashion, luxury branding, and editorial design for their high contrast and elegant, dramatic forms.

What’s the difference between Slab Serif and Old Style fonts?

Slab Serifs are blockier and more geometric, with little contrast, giving a bold, modern look. Old Styles, in contrast, have soft, hand-drawn curves inspired by Renaissance calligraphy.

Can serif fonts be used in digital design?

Yes, modern serif fonts with clean structures and balanced proportions perform well on screens, especially for headings or branding where elegance and personality matter.

30 Best PowerPoint Pitch Deck Templates PPT: For Business Plan Presentations

2016-04-27T13:30:07+00:00

Do you need to raise money for your business idea? Is an investor meeting fast approaching? If so, is your business slide deck in order?

PowerPoint pitch deck templates help you drive your ideas to get investors on board.

The Minimal Pitch Deck PPT Presentation is available on Envato Elements.

Investors have high expectations. To get the funding you’re seeking, your presentation PPT deck needs to impress them!

Learn all about the best PowerPoint (PPT) PowerPoint pitch deck templates. All available on Envato Elements.

New PowerPoint Pitch Deck Templates (From Envato Elements - For 2024)

It’s challenging to craft a compelling investor pitch PowerPoint template. You need a narrative that resonates with slides designs that engage and don’t overwhelm.

Your PPT deck must: showcase your team, the problem and your innovative solution. It must include your business plan and financial evidence for investors to know.

Here's a handful of the best new PowerPoint business plan pitch deck templates. These are trending on Envato Elements:

1. Startup Pitch Deck Template for PowerPoint

Create a business plan deck that will wow your investors. Try the Startup Pitch Deck Template for PowerPoint!

First, let's look at this investor presentation template for PowerPoint that has all the elements a winning pitch needs. Its premium look and design are perfect for professionals and entrepreneurs. The business plan PPT template's features speak for themselves:

Google Slides and PPTX files
30 total slides
fully editable elements
documentation file

2. Pitch Deck - Business Plan Template for PowerPoint

Check out this PowerPoint pitch deck template. These creative slides designs are ready to customize for your business pitch presentation. You'll find many professional PPT slides, graphs, charts, tables, and diagrams. As for its features:

over 100 unique slides
full HD resolution
16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
free updates and support

Use this great business pitch presentation example. Chowcase how your ideas are ready for success.

3. Fintech - Startup Pitch Deck Template PPT Presentation

Use this Fintech Startup presentation template for your startup company presentation. These slide designs have unique designs styles. They also use stand out colors and modern gradients. The pitch deck template PPT download includes:

40 unique slides
16:9 slide format
7 pre-made color variations
free fonts

Impress investors with a revenue business model slide pitch deck.

4. Startup Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Are you preparing a business pitch deck for an investor? This startup pitch PowerPoint template is one of the best choices. It comes packed with all the slides a startup business plan PPT presentation needs:

200 total slides
HD quality
dark and light versions
over 4000 vector icons

5. Farand - Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Use this great startup presentation template for your next pitch. It's a great PowerPoint pitch deck template. The PPT deck includes:

40 Master Slide layouts
resizable and editable graphics
content placeholders
mockup devices

Trust in this investor pitch PowerPoint template!

6. Maven - Pitch Deck Template for PowerPoint

Maven is an elegant and modern creative business slide deck. Is perfect for agencies and other projects. Choose the layout that works best for your business proposal deck.

See what you'll get in this complete business pitch PowerPoint template:

100 gorgeous layouts
based on Master Slides
16:9 aspect ratio

7. Corporate Infographic Business Plan Template for PowerPoint

Try this business pitch presentation template if you want to impress your audience. This pitch deck template comes with detailed infographics to put a powerful business plan deck together.

This business plan template for PowerPoint includes:

1000+ slides
dark and light versions
animated slides
over 1000 vector icons

Customize this download for your business model slides.

8. MakeIT - Business Plan PPT Template

Use the MakeIT template for both business presentations as well as to make pitch decks. The template is very customizable and features a modern and versatile design. It includes:

150 unique slides
5 pre-made color variations
handcrafted infographics
editable and resizable graphics

This business plan PPT template is suitable for IT startups and IT companies.

9. Sales Pitch Deck Template for PPT

This premium business pitch presentation template is great for sales and pitch presentations. Its modern and clean design makes it a versatile option. It works for an elevator pitch PowerPoint presentation. Also use it for a pitch deck with a pitch deck revenue model slide. On top of that, the template includes:

65 slides
seven color options
4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios
help file

10. Union - Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

This is one of the best business plan templates for PPT. It's a top-notch business proposal pitch deck template that has what you need to create a powerful and winning presentation. This template comes with:

50 unique and professional slides
2 theme variations
vector shape illustrations
easy-to-edit graphs, charts, tables, diagrams

11. Business Overview - Business Plan Template for PPT

This premium template has a classic and versatile look. It comes with image placeholders to quickly customize your content. A great option for an investor pitch PowerPoint template. It has:

30 unique slides
HD resolution
elegant slide transitions
infographics and graphs

Use this PowerPoint pitch deck template to showcase what your business is all about.

12. Subtle - PowerPoint Pitch Deck Template

Subtle is a unique and beautifully design pitch template ideal to put together and elevator pitch PowerPoint. It comes with:

36 fully editable slides
16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
easy customization options
Google Fonts used

It's a great option for creative industries looking for investment to take their business to the next level.

13. Pitch Werk - Elegant PowerPoint Pitch Template Deck

You can create your professional slide deck quickly thanks to this easy-to-use PowerPoint template. Every object in this presentation design is fully editable in PowerPoint. Check out some of its highlights:

more 100 unique slides
HD resolution
5 pre-made color schemes
PDF documentation included

14. Tsaly - PowerPoint Pitch Deck Template

Tsaly is a modern startup PowerPoint template with a contemporary design. It's made for a digital startup that’s got one both feet in the future. There’s a compelling mix of simplicity and high end design. This pitch PowerPoint template is packed with:

36 slides
drag-and-drop editing
media placeholders
documentation file

15. Jozeka - Investor Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Are you pitching a fresh business plan and need a business model slides template? This PowerPoint slide deck is designed to appeal to investors. It features:

60 slides with a polished design that’s contemporary, colorful, and clean
light and dark variations
RGB color moders
hundreds of icons and polished data visualizations

16. Startup Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

With all the features in this template, you’ll have your PowerPoint pitch deck ready in no time:

30 slides designs and many layout options
dark and light color theme variations
vector shape illustrations
icon variations

With this flexible design you can craft a presentation that hits all the key points. Showcase your business plan presentation. Illustrate how your company offers solutions to complex problems. Present exactly the data that'll secure venture capital.

17. Up! - Pitch Deck and Business Plan Template for PPT

If you're looking for a modern business pitch presentation template for your company, Up! is the right choice. Its high contrast color palette along with its subtle gradient applications makes it look almost futuristic. The features only add to its allure:

35 total slides
media placeholders
resizable and editable graphics
free web fonts

18. Business Proposal Presentation PowerPoint Template

This business pitch presentation template is ideal to tell your company story. This classic proposal deck keeps things simple and to the point with its "to the point" layout. Its highlights include:

15 total slides
16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
based on Master Slides for easy editing
documentation included

19. PLUSS - Elevator Pitch Deck Template for PowerPoint

This is a pitch PowerPoint presentation template bundle that includes:

three sets of PPT designs and 32 slides
16:9 landscape slide forma
fully customizable elements
Google Fonts used

If you need a number of style and presentation options, with high quality design, and minimal aesthetic, then this bundle is a great deal.

20. Startia - Business Pitch Presentation Example

Startia is an excellent proposal deck template for startups and companies looking to grow. Wow investors with a fresh business plan deck that has everything you need, like:

30 slide designs
16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
drag-and-drop editing
free web fonts

Highlight the market you’re targeting and pitch your business concept to potential investors.

21. StartUp Business Plan PPT Template

This startup pitch deck template for PowerPoint offers a quick and stunning way to show off your ideas. Inspired in a 2009 pitch deck classic, this business pitch presentation template has:

Keynote, Google Slides, and PowerPoint files
fully editable elements
functional and modern design
documentation

22. Lanzo - PowerPoint Pitch Deck Template

If you need a creative deck to feature your new startup to investors, Lanzo is a stunning business presentation template design. It's got:

36 slides
16:9 widescreen slide format
drag-and-drop editing
proper documentation

This startup presentation template also has inventive design features like high contrast data charts.

23. Quint Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

You can't help but to feel a sense of trust as your browse through Quint's slides. This is a clean slide deck template, with a unique color palette. This premium business plan deck includes:

30 unique slide designs
content placeholders
resizable vector elements
free fonts

24. Business Plan Template for PowerPoint Presentations

This modern business plan template for PowerPoint is versatile. Use it for many types of businesses that are reaching out to potential investors. This investor presentation template set has:

more than 30 slides
16:9 aspect ratio
high-quality resolution
device mockups

25. Pitch Deck Ready Business Plan Template for PPT

One of my favorite features in this pitch deck template for PowerPoint is its unique geometric slide layouts. It includes:

150 total slides
full HD resolution
5 color pre-made schemes
content placeholders

This template will increase your chances of investment and support.

26. Pitchmo - Creative Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Pitchmo offers a unique set of ideas to approach pitch deck template design. Plus, it comes with amazing features, such as:

PPT and PPTX files
more than 30 unique slides
based on Master Slides
free support

You'll also get access to a huge library of icons that help you highlight your information. Update them easily to create a sense of visual interest in your next pitch deck presentation.

27. Business Pro - Business Plan Template for PPT

Looking for different pitch deck templates? Why don't you try a minimal and aesthetic approach to the business model slide template?

This unique PPT deck will surprise your audience. You'll get:

over 150 total slides
5 pre-made color variations
pixel-perfect illustrations
resizable and editable graphics

28. Pro Business Pitch Presentation Example Template

The pitch deck proposal template hits all the stops when it comes to presenting a tight business proposal. It can be used in many industries to create a beautiful pitch deck and it comes with:

150 total slides
handcrafted infographics
drag-and-drop editing
documentation file

This is a premium template with a well though out color palette and structure.

29. Marketing Business Plan Template for PowerPoint

Already mapping out that marketing plan for your startup? This premium elevator pitch PowerPoint template offers all the best tools to display data. The startup presentation template includes:

36 slide designs
light and dark color schemes
fully editable infographics and maps
vector icons and elements

30. Scofe - Business Model Slide Pitch Deck

Last but not least, check out this business pitch PowerPoint template. It's a minimal business slide deck with 45 creative slides. This business model slide pitch deck download also features:

16:9 widescreen ratio
handcrafted infographics
gallery and portfolio slides
resizable and editable graphics
700+ pixel-perfect icons

How to Make Startup PPT Pitch Deck Template Customizations Quickly

Premium PowerPoint pitch deck templates make startup PPT presentations easier. The best of these templates includes powerful placeholders that enable almost instant customization.

When you’re creating your pitch deck, it’s important to use visual aids to get your message across.

Show off wordy slide after wordy slide and you’ll lose the audience in no time. But by using visuals, you keep them engaged and focused on you.

1. Customize Charts

Tools like charts, maps, and mockups help you do just that.

Let’s begin by looking at a chart from Pitch Werk, a business plan PPT deck from Envato Elements.

Charts in PowerPoint work by linking directly to an embedded version of Excel. That's Microsoft’s spreadsheet software.

Right click on a chart and choose Edit Data to start customizing it.

To edit a chart like this, right-click on one of the columns and select Edit Data. An Excel window will pop up, and you can make edits to the chart labels and data. As you type in new values, the chart will adjust to match.

2. Customize Maps

Maps are another great technique to show your geographic presence.

Let’s say you want to showcase your business operations across the United States. You could make a list, but those are dull. Instead, try a color-coded map. Add color fill to states where you've got offices.

To customize a map, simply right-click on a state. Then, click Format Shape in the drop-down. A sidebar will open over on the right side of your screen. Click Fill, then Solid Fill, and select a color from the chooser. Just like that, you can build a beautiful custom map.

Customize a map by filling in a single state with a color on the Format Shape menu.

3. Customize Device Mockups

Device mockups are another professional tool to use in business plan presentations.

They’re meant to demo your app or website by showing how it looks on a real device. Suppose you've got a mobile website that’s key to your pitch.

The first step is to capture a screenshot on a mobile device, then transfer it to your computer. Once you’ve done that, the process is very simple. Simply click inside the image placeholder, browse to the screenshot, and click to insert it. Just like that, the image will drop onto the phone screen. It looks real and takes only seconds!

Customize a device mockup by adding your screenshot to the device.

Remember, the best pitch deck templates are incredibly easy to customize and offer stunning features just like these. It’s up to your sense of creativity to bring them to life. All the tools you’ll need lie right at your fingertips.

5 Quick Pitch Deck (Startup Business Plan) Presentation Tips

Great startups, and exciting small business ideas don’t magically get funded. You've got to get out there and work hard for every dollar of investing you bring in. It’s challenging to get funding at any stage of your company.

1. Include Only What Investors Are Looking For

Investors have a never-ending stream of pitches they review on an ongoing basis. There’s an expected framework to professional and effective pitch decks, which you need to work within.

For most early-stage startups or innovative small businesses, just 10 to 15 slides is on target, but ten or less is better. You want to keep your presentation concise: more like a 10 to 15 minute short, than a feature-length movie.

You need a great business startup presentation PPT to impress investors.

Here are a few quick-fire, pitch deck tips to keep your business presentation on point—including exactly what investors want to see.

2. Design Simple and Direct Pitch Deck Slides

Keep in mind that you don’t want to include much more than those ten or so slides in your initial pitch. The more information you try to pack into your pitch, the quicker it becomes confusing for investors.

Simple (easy to use) pitch deck PowerPoint template slide designs.

Move your key data points to early in your deck, so you can grab attention quickly. Avoid trying to hit every nuance of your company's expected positioning.

A great presentation focuses on the message you’re giving. Great design and visuals need to complement your message.

Consider using a PowerPoint business pitch template. It should have easy-to-use pitch deck slides already included. Here are three templates designed for presenting your business plan to investors:

Pitch Werk - Simple PowerPoint Pitch Deck Template. If you need a simple and modern pitch deck template, this set of over 100 slide designs is a great choice. Whether you want to make a new business plan proposal or investor pitch deck.
Business Plan PowerPoint Infographics. This is an attractive pitch PPT template with a modern design and all the slide layout choices a compelling pitch deck needs. With it you can create a perfect pitch backed by a great design.
Vinue Business Plan. This is a versatile business plan template for PowerPoint that can be used for many business types looking to get investor funding. Learn how to customize this PowerPoint template, so you’re able to quickly prep your deck.

3. Deliver Your Message and Startup Story

What’s that key problem that you’re solving? What’s the competitive advantage that allows you to take advantage and move quickly? What’s the innovative way you’re doing this that'll disrupt the market?

Present the opportunity your company represents to investors.

Your pitch deck should be an overall narrative that communicates your startup’s story. User stories of how your company solves a problem for its target market are great.

Capture your audience's attention, then keep them engaged with narrative and visuals. Image source: Envato Elements

Hit your big points in a clear way and avoid too much detail. You don’t need to overshare.

You can include appendixes if you deliver your deck out as a PDF. Your presentation is where you paint the big picture and spice it with just enough detail to pique interest.

Bottom line, don’t forget to ask for the money. Be really clear and specific about your ask and how you plan to use the funds.

Learn more about how to craft a compelling narrative and persuade with your PowerPoint presentation:

How to Make a Persuasive PowerPoint Presentation (With Powerful Tips + Video)

Celine (CX) Roque

14 Nov 2022

4. Focus on Company Growth

It's often said that investors focus on growth. Basically, you're trying to create a "fear of missing out." Showcase the side of your company that anyone would want to invest in.

That's why it helps to include a growth slide, particularly one with a chart and graph. Focus on a key metrics like new subscriptions or active users increment.

A growth slide like this one from Pitch Werk PPT deck can help you show opportunity.

5. Make an Ask at the End

The format of a pitch deck presentation implies you're going to make an "ask" of the audience. Make sure that slide gives the audience an option to jump on board with your company.

Examples of "asks" that you might make at the end of a pitch deck presentation include:

apply to open positions within your company as you search for talent to take things to the next level
investment to get the critical funding it takes to keep your company running and growing
introductions to others who can help you achieve your growth goals

5 Top Pitch Deck PowerPoint PPT Design Trends for 2024

If you want to make sure your pitch deck stands out, it has to be professional and modern. Keep the latest design trends in mind.

We've got the top 5 pitch deck PowerPoint trends for you to use.

1. Contrasting Colors

Color plays an important role in any design. This year, combine two contrasting colors for the most impact. Take cues from this Simple Presentation template. It combines yellow and black to make your information stand out.

This simple presentation template helps you get the job done fast without missing any details.

2. Slides Don’t Have to Be White

The use of background images with color overlays or full colored backgrounds is trending. This trend is sure to make your pitch deck stand out and make it look more on brand.

Venture offers a unique design with its colorful backgrounds and unique patterns.

3. Consider Space On Your Data Slides

Key information must stand out. Follow this PowerPoint design trend. Leave plenty of space around your charts, graphs, and infographics. This will make it easier for your audience to remember key points and important information.

This Pitch Deck PowerPoint template makes great use of white space in its slides.

This pitch deck PowerPoint template offers clean and sober layouts for a more subtle look.

4. More Than One Font or Font Weight

A cool trend that’s popping up in PowerPoint design is the use of two contrasting fonts.

For example, choose a serif font paired with a sans serif font. If you’re not sure what fonts go well together, consider experimenting with regular and bold font weight to add contrast.

5. Get Creative With Shapes

Shapes are a great way to spice up the plain white background of any slide layout. But you don’t have to limit yourself to squares and circles. Experiment with other shape types as well as the position of the shape.

The Getta PowerPoint template does an excellent job of using shapes creatively.

Getta PowerPoint Template challenges conventional layouts with its diagonal motif.

Important PowerPoint Slides Every Pitch Deck (Business Plan Presentation) Needs

Building a business plan presentation? There are a few slides that you should always include. Each one's designed to help you communicate crucial details to potential investors. These really set the stage for your pitch and guide you to success.

A strong intro. Any successful business proposal presentation has to start off by introducing your company and your team. In doing so, your audience can place faces with names and make an instant personal connection.
Outline your goals. If you’re asking for funding, chances are you’ve got a big idea. This business plan PPT slide puts that idea front and center: it's a statement of exactly what you aim to accomplish.
Highlight plans. Once you’ve stated your ideas and goals, it’s time to detail how you’ll accomplish them. This slide should include your core competencies, elements of your team that set your firm apart. Also focus on specific actions you plan to take to reach the objective.
The revenue model. Any investor expects a healthy return. Here, you detail your path to profit. Be specific and honest and highlight both monetary totals and timelines.
The funding pitch. Last but not least comes the reason for the business plan presentation. Here's where you outline your funding needs and make the crucial ask from investors. Again, focus on detailed plans for use of the money, and revisit earlier discussions about forecasted returns.

Sound overwhelming? It doesn’t have to be, thanks to amazing pitch deck templates from Envato Elements. These business pitch templates come with these slides—and countless others—ready for you to use.

They’re professionally designed, so you can be sure to get top quality throughout. All you've got to do is drop in your own content!

Let’s take a closer look at Redeem, a pitch deck presentation from Envato Elements.

The Intro Slide

As you can see, this business plan PPT has an intro slide built in. You don’t have to worry about building slides from scratch, thanks to powerful templates like this.

Redeem has the perfect intro slide to introduce your team and focus.

The intro sets the stage for the entire presentation. Break free of being simply another pitch deck. Establish strong personal relationships with your audience. If they connect with the people behind your idea, they’re more likely to invest in it.

To add an image, you can simply select the Replace Image Here box, and drop in your own photo.

To change the text, triple-click on a line and type over it. It’s that easy!

Building the intro slide only takes seconds with a premium business plan PowerPoint template.

The Growth & Revenue Slide

The best business plan templates for PPT include charts and graphs built in. These are especially useful when you need to share a lot of data in a clear and concise way.

Let’s look at the Revenue slide, which can be used to outline your financial growth strategy.

A graph can show your evolving growth over time.

The centerpiece of the slide is the colorful bar graph. Some business model slides templates include detailed charts that can be edited with PowerPoint’s embedded Excel editor. You can click and drag on the bars to precisely scale them.

Be sure to swap out the legends and axis labels to fit your needs. And then tie everything together with a strong description. Using a chart like this is far more engaging than merely talking about numbers.

Fill in your data so your audience can easily see the growth of your venture.

The Investment Ask Slide

Finally, we come to the true reason for a business plan presentation: the funding ask. This is the moment that counts, and that pays. Here, you ask investors to trust in your vision with their dollars.

In this section, we'll use a pricing table for a fundraising ask.

This slide is structured as a pricing table. But it’s also perfect for pitching a two-phase venture capital effort.

Begin by adding a title and subtitle over on the right. Continue by labeling the two boxes with the names and timelines of your fundraising rounds. Substitute funding targets for the prices and wrap up by highlighting planned uses for the money.

A modified pricing slide is perfect for our investment round.

These slides vividly show the value of using professional pitch deck templates. You've got more time to focus on your ideas, as you leave arduous slide design work to the experts!

Apply these tips and tricks to create complete pitch deck slides. Work with premium slides for pitch decks to close your next investment deal.

Find More Professional Pitch Deck Templates

Now you know the most important slides every pitch deck needs. Let's look at some of our best business plan templates for PPT, Keynote and Google Slides:

Common PowerPoint Pitch Deck Questions Answered (FAQ)

Making the best pitch PowerPoint presentation can be stressful, especially if you're just starting in this area. But don't worry, I'm here to help you with some of the most frequently asked questions:

1. What Types of Presentations Are There?

Before you even start working in PowerPoint, define what type of presentation you'll deliver. There are many types, and each will give you a different result. Here are the most common:

Persuasive. Presentations that are designed to change the mind of the audience or impart your perspective.
Decision-driven. Often found in the corporate world, these presentations provide a recommendation or path forward.
Introductory. An introductory presentation is the first point of contact. It basically showcases your business and work to potential clientele.
Informative (educational). With no ulterior motive, informative presentations are about showing knowledge or new ideas to an audience.

2. What Mistakes Should I Avoid When Making My Pitch Deck?

Doing a pitch presentation isn't as easy as it might sound. The top mistakes you should avoid are:

Using animation effects on the slides. They tend to slow your presentation and distract your audience. Plus, most transition effects don't look professional so it's best to avoid them.
Doing a long pitch. On average, we've got an attention span of less than 20 minutes on a task we're not motivated to complete. Keep this in mind for your presentation. If you stick to 20 minutes, it forces you to make your message more concise and you'll keep your audience engaged.
Having a weak conclusion. If you want your presentation to stick, don't go for a simple ending. By giving the notion you're wrapping up your presentation, only to conclude with an amazing fact, your message will stick better.

3. How Can I Make Slide Layouts in PowerPoint?

Technically, a layout is the combination and arrangement of the objects on a slide. In practice, the layout is a one-click starting point for your presentation and a real time-saver. That's why it's important to know how to create your own layouts and not limit yourself to the ones included in PowerPoint.

Learn all about it here:

25 Best PowerPoint Slide Designs (Best Designs for PPT in 2025) + Video

Andrew Childress

25 Oct 2022

4. What's the Right Size for My PPT Slides?

When you're projecting your finished presentation, you may find the slides appear cut off on the edges or boxed in on the screen. To prevent this, consider the size and aspect ratio of your presentation.

The first step is to figure out in what device your presentation is most likely to appear on:

laptop screens
conference room projectors
iPads and tablets
widescreen or large format displays

Each display has a different aspect ratio that describes the width versus height of the screen. The same presentation will appear differently on each device because the aspect ratio varies. Check more about this topic here:

What Are the Right Dimensions (Size) for Your PowerPoint PPT Slides? (+ Video)

Andrew Childress

21 Sep 2023

5. How Can I Work With Others in PowerPoint?

If you're working on a pitch deck presentation, chances are it's a team effort. So, you need to make a collaborative presentation. This way, all the members can work on it at the same time.

Thankfully, Microsoft PowerPoint has added many collaborative, online features in its recent versions. It's very easy to learn how to share a pitch PowerPoint here:

How to Collaborate as a Team on PowerPoint (PPT) Presentations (+Video)

Andrew Childress

21 Feb 2022

Learn More About How to Make Great Investor Pitch Deck Presentations

When you're building a business plan in PowerPoint, there are tons of tools available. Using a business pitch template is a surefire step to save time and focus on the content.

There are also helpful resources to learn from pitch deck pros, right here on Tuts+. I recommend checking out our guide. How to Make Great Pitch Decks (Startup Presentation Guide) is a comprehensive resource.

Check out the resources below for more articles and tips to build your best pitch deck yet:

Download Our Free PDF eBook on Making Great Presentations

We've got the perfect complement to a professional PowerPoint template. This will help you learn how to write, design, and deliver great presentations.

Download The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations for FREE. Just subscribe to the Tuts+ Business newsletter. Get your ideas formed into a powerful presentation that'll move your audience.

Best PowerPoint Pitch Deck Templates on Envato Elements (With Unlimited Use)

You can find hundreds of the best PowerPoint pitch deck templates on Envato Elements. Premium pitch deck PowerPoint templates from Envato Elements are designed for business plan presentations.

Need the best pitch deck template for PowerPoint that you can customize quickly? We've got the best ones to work with in this article.

PowerPoint Pitch Decks

Browse through thousands of pitch deck templates for PPT on Envato Elements.

These business model slide pitch decks for PowerPoint have unique designs choose from. You can use them to showcase the concepts in your PowerPoint pitch deck with pre-built slides for your:

business plan
product vision
business model
market size
infographics

A PowerPoint pitch deck template will save you hours of design work. Add your business ideas and key data to these business plan PPT slides. Prep your business pitch template, and get ready to win over investors!

Subscribe to Envato Elements and download as many premium PPT pitch decks as you want. All for one low monthly price!

Not only that, but you get access to thousands of premium creative assets. Find logo templates, graphics, royalty-free music, and more!

Plus, now Envato Elements has introduced an AI-powered search feature! This new tool allows you to input a description of your project to effortlessly locate the finest human-crafted resources.

Start experimenting with this enhanced search tool! Discover the ideal pitch deck PowerPoint templates for your business plan presentations.

Grab the Best Pitch Deck Template for PowerPoint Today!

Put one of the designs above to use now. Or check out the wide variety of PowerPoint slide deck templates available for sale on Envato Elements. We've got the best PPT decks and business plan PPT templates and innovative new pitch deck designs to choose from.

Grab a quality business plan template for PowerPoint today. Learn how to customize it quickly, and use it to help secure the investor funding you need for your startup or small business!

Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Lex Soto, Brenda Barron, Maria Villanueva and Dacia Egurrola. Maria is the Associate Editor of the Tuts+ Design channel. Brenda is a freelance instructor for Envato Tuts+. Lex and Dacia are staff writers for Envato Tuts+.

HTML5 Canvas Optimization: A Practical Example

2014-01-20T02:09:19+00:00

If you've been doing JavaScript development long enough, you've most likely crashed your browser a few times. The problem usually turns out to be some JavaScript bug, like an endless while loop; if not, the next suspect is page transformations or animations - the kind that involve adding and removing elements from the webpage or animating CSS style properties. This tutorial focuses on optimising animations produced using JS and the HTML5 <canvas> element.

This tutorial starts and ends with what the HTML5 animation widget you see below:

We will take it with us on a journey, exploring the different emerging canvas optimization tips and techniques and applying them to the widget's JavaScript source code. The goal is to improve on the widget's execution speed and end up with a smoother, more fluid animation widget, powered by leaner, more efficient JavaScript.

The source download contains the HTML and JavaScript from each step in the tutorial, so you can follow along from any point.

Let's take the first step.

Step 1: Play the Movie Trailer

The widget above is based on the movie trailer for Sintel, a 3D animated movie by the Blender Foundation. It's built using two of HTML5's most popular additions: the <canvas> and <video> elements.

The <video> loads and plays the Sintel video file, while the <canvas> generates its own animation sequence by taking snapshots of the playing video and blending it with text and other graphics. When you click to play the video, the canvas springs to life with a dark background that's a larger black and white copy of the playing video. Smaller, colored screen-shots of the video are copied to the scene, and glide across it as part of a film roll illustration.

In the top left corner, we have the title and a few lines of descriptive text that fade in and out as the animation plays. The script's performance speed and related metrics are included as part of the animation, in the small black box at the bottom left corner with a graph and vivid text. We'll be looking at this particular item in more detail later.

Finally, there's a large rotating blade that flies across the scene at the beginning of the animation, whose graphic is loaded from an external PNG image file.

Step 2: View the Source

The source code contains the usual mix of HTML, CSS and Javascript. The HTML is sparse: just the <canvas> and <video> tags, enclosed in a container <div>:

<div id="animationWidget" >
	<canvas width="368" height="208" id="mainCanvas" ></canvas>	
	<video width="184" height="104" id="video" autobuffer="autobuffer" controls="controls" poster="poster.jpg" >
		<source src="sintel.mp4" type="video/mp4" ></source>
		<source src="sintel.webm" type="video/webm" ></source>
	</video>
</div>

The container <div> is given an ID (animationWidget), which acts as a hook for all the CSS rules applied to it and its contents (below).

 
#animationWidget{
	border:1px #222 solid;
	position:relative;
	width: 570px;
	height: 220px;
}
#animationWidget canvas{
	border:1px #222 solid;
	position:absolute;
	top:5px;
	left:5px;			
}
#animationWidget video{
	position:absolute;
	top:110px;
	left:380px;		
}

While HTML and CSS are the marinated spices and seasoning, its the JavaScript that's the meat of the widget.

At the top, we have the main objects that will be used often through the script, including references to the canvas element and its 2D context.
The init() function is called whenever the video starts playing, and sets up all the objects used in the script.
The sampleVideo() function captures the current frame of the playing video, while setBlade() loads an external image required by the animation.
The pace and contents of the canvas animation are controlled by the main() function, which is like the script's heartbeat. Run at regular intervals once the video starts playing, it paints each frame of the animation by first clearing the canvas, then calling each one of the script's five drawing functions:
- drawBackground()
- drawFilm()
- drawTitle()
- drawDescription()
- drawStats()

As the the names suggest, each drawing function is responsible for drawing an item in the animation scene. Structuring the code this way improves flexibility and makes future maintenance easier.

The full script is shown below. Take a moment to assess it, and see if you can spot any changes you would make to speed it up.

(function(){
	if( !document.createElement("canvas").getContext ){ return; } //the canvas tag isn't supported
	
	var mainCanvas = document.getElementById("mainCanvas"); // points to the HTML canvas element above
	var mainContext = mainCanvas.getContext('2d'); //the drawing context of the canvas element
	var video = document.getElementById("video"); // points to the HTML video element
	var frameDuration = 33; // the animation's speed in milliseconds
	video.addEventListener( 'play', init ); // The init() function is called whenever the user presses play & the video starts/continues playing
	video.addEventListener( 'ended', function(){ drawStats(true); } ); //drawStats() is called one last time when the video end, to sum up all the statistics 		
	
	var videoSamples; // this is an array of images, used to store all the snapshots of the playing video taken over time. These images are used to create the 'film reel'
	var backgrounds; // this is an array of images, used to store all the snapshots of the playing video taken over time. These images are used as the canvas background
	var blade; //An canvas element to store the image copied from blade.png 
	var bladeSrc = 'blade.png'; //path to the blade's image source file
	
	var lastPaintCount = 0; // stores the last value of mozPaintCount sampled
	var paintCountLog = []; // an array containing all measured values of mozPaintCount over time
	var speedLog = []; // an array containing all the execution speeds of main(), measured in milliseconds
	var fpsLog = []; // an array containing the calculated frames per secong (fps) of the script, measured by counting the calls made to main() per second
	var frameCount = 0; // counts the number of times main() is executed per second.
	var frameStartTime = 0; // the last time main() was called
	
	// Called when the video starts playing. Sets up all the javascript objects required to generate the canvas animation and measure perfomance
	function init(){ 
		if( video.currentTime > 1 ){ return; }		

		bladeSrc = new Image();
		bladeSrc.src = "blade.png";
		bladeSrc.onload = setBlade;
		
		backgrounds = [];			
		videoSamples = [];
		fpsLog = [];
		paintCountLog = [];	
		if( window.mozPaintCount ){ lastPaintCount = window.mozPaintCount; }
		speedLog = [];
		frameCount = 0;	
		frameStartTime = 0;
		main(); 
		setTimeout( getStats, 1000 );
	}
	
	// As the scripts main function, it controls the pace of the animation
	function main(){	
		setTimeout( main, frameDuration );
		if( video.paused || video.ended ){ return; }
		
		var now = new Date().getTime(); 
		if( frameStartTime ){ 
			speedLog.push( now - frameStartTime );
		}
		frameStartTime = now;
		if( video.readyState < 2 ){ return; }
		
		frameCount++;
		mainCanvas.width = mainCanvas.width; //clear the canvas
		drawBackground(); 
		drawFilm();
		drawDescription();
		drawStats();
		drawBlade();
		drawTitle();
	}
	
	// This function is called every second, and it calculates and stores the current frame rate
	function getStats(){
		if( video.readyState >= 2 ){
			if( window.mozPaintCount ){ //this property is specific to firefox, and tracks how many times the browser has rendered the window since the document was loaded
				paintCountLog.push( window.mozPaintCount - lastPaintCount );
				lastPaintCount = window.mozPaintCount;
			}			
			
			fpsLog.push(frameCount);
			frameCount = 0;	
		}
		setTimeout( getStats, 1000 );
	}
	
	// create blade, the ofscreen canavs that will contain the spining animation of the image copied from blade.png
	function setBlade(){
		blade = document.createElement("canvas");
		blade.width = 400;
		blade.height = 400;			
		blade.angle = 0;
		blade.x = -blade.height * 0.5;
		blade.y = mainCanvas.height/2 - blade.height/2; 
	}
			
	// Creates and returns a new image that contains a snapshot of the currently playing video.
	function sampleVideo(){
		var newCanvas = document.createElement("canvas");
		newCanvas.width = video.width;
		newCanvas.height = video.height; 
		newCanvas.getContext("2d").drawImage( video, 0, 0, video.width, video.height );
		return newCanvas;	
	}
	
	// renders the dark background for the whole canvas element. The background features a greyscale sample of the video and a gradient overlay
	function drawBackground(){
		var newCanvas = document.createElement("canvas");
		var newContext = newCanvas.getContext("2d");
		newCanvas.width = mainCanvas.width;
		newCanvas.height = mainCanvas.height; 
		newContext.drawImage(  video, 0, video.height * 0.1, video.width, video.height * 0.5, 0, 0, mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height  );
			
		var imageData, data;
		try{
			imageData = newContext.getImageData( 0, 0, mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height );
			data = imageData.data;
		} catch(error){ // CORS error (eg when viewed from a local file). Create a solid fill background instead
			newContext.fillStyle = "yellow";
			newContext.fillRect( 0, 0, mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height );
			imageData = mainContext.createImageData( mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height );
			data = imageData.data;
		}
		
		//loop through each pixel, turning its color into a shade of grey
		for( var i = 0; i < data.length; i += 4 ){
			var red = data[i]; 
			var green = data[i + 1]; 
			var blue = data[i + 2]; 
			var grey = Math.max( red, green, blue );
			
			data[i] =  grey;
			data[i+1] = grey;
			data[i+2] = grey;
		}
		newContext.putImageData( imageData, 0, 0 );
		
		//add the gradient overlay
		var gradient = newContext.createLinearGradient( mainCanvas.width/2, 0, mainCanvas.width/2, mainCanvas.height );
		gradient.addColorStop( 0, '#000' );
		gradient.addColorStop( 0.2, '#000' );
		gradient.addColorStop( 1, "rgba(0,0,0,0.5)" );
		newContext.fillStyle = gradient;
		newContext.fillRect( 0, 0, mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height );
		
		mainContext.save();
		mainContext.drawImage( newCanvas, 0, 0, mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height );
		
		mainContext.restore();
	}
	
	// renders the 'film reel' animation that scrolls across the canvas
	function drawFilm(){
		var sampleWidth = 116; // the width of a sampled video frame, when painted on the canvas as part of a 'film reel'
		var sampleHeight = 80; // the height of a sampled video frame, when painted on the canvas as part of a 'film reel'
		var filmSpeed = 20; // determines how fast the 'film reel' scrolls across the generated canvas animation.
		var filmTop = 120; //the y co-ordinate of the 'film reel' animation
		var filmAngle = -10 * Math.PI / 180; //the slant of the 'film reel'
		var filmRight = ( videoSamples.length > 0 )? videoSamples[0].x + videoSamples.length * sampleWidth : mainCanvas.width; //the right edge of the 'film reel' in pixels, relative to the canvas		
		
		//here, we check if the first frame of the 'film reel' has scrolled out of view 
		if( videoSamples.length > 0 ){
			var bottomLeftX = videoSamples[0].x + sampleWidth;
			var bottomLeftY = filmTop + sampleHeight;
			bottomLeftX = Math.floor( Math.cos(filmAngle) * bottomLeftX - Math.sin(filmAngle) * bottomLeftY ); // the final display position after rotation
			
			if( bottomLeftX < 0 ){ //the frame is offscreen, remove it's refference from the film array
				videoSamples.shift();			
			}			
		}			
		
		// add new frames to the reel as required
		while( filmRight <= mainCanvas.width ){
			var newFrame = {};
			newFrame.x = filmRight;
			newFrame.canvas = sampleVideo();
			videoSamples.push(newFrame);			
			filmRight += sampleWidth;			
		}
		
		// create the gradient fill for the reel
		var gradient = mainContext.createLinearGradient( 0, 0, mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height );
		gradient.addColorStop( 0, '#0D0D0D' );
		gradient.addColorStop( 0.25, '#300A02' );
		gradient.addColorStop( 0.5, '#AF5A00' );
		gradient.addColorStop( 0.75, '#300A02' );
		gradient.addColorStop( 1, '#0D0D0D' );			
			
		mainContext.save();
		mainContext.globalAlpha = 0.9;
		mainContext.fillStyle = gradient;			
		mainContext.rotate(filmAngle);
		
		// loops through all items of film array, using the stored co-ordinate values of each to draw part of the 'film reel'
		for( var i in videoSamples ){
			var sample = videoSamples[i];				
			var punchX, punchY, punchWidth = 4, punchHeight = 6, punchInterval = 11.5;
			
			//draws the main rectangular box of the sample
			mainContext.beginPath();
			mainContext.moveTo( sample.x, filmTop );
			mainContext.lineTo( sample.x + sampleWidth, filmTop );
			mainContext.lineTo( sample.x + sampleWidth, filmTop + sampleHeight );
			mainContext.lineTo( sample.x, filmTop + sampleHeight );
			mainContext.closePath();				
			
			//adds the small holes lining the top and bottom edges of the 'fim reel'
			for( var j = 0; j < 10; j++ ){
				punchX = sample.x + ( j * punchInterval ) + 5;
				punchY = filmTop + 4;
				mainContext.moveTo( punchX, punchY + punchHeight );
				mainContext.lineTo( punchX + punchWidth, punchY + punchHeight );
				mainContext.lineTo( punchX + punchWidth, punchY );				
				mainContext.lineTo( punchX, punchY );
				mainContext.closePath();
				punchX = sample.x + ( j * punchInterval ) + 5;
				punchY = filmTop + 70;
				mainContext.moveTo( punchX, punchY + punchHeight );
				mainContext.lineTo( punchX + punchWidth, punchY + punchHeight );
				mainContext.lineTo( punchX + punchWidth, punchY );				
				mainContext.lineTo( punchX, punchY );
				mainContext.closePath();
			} 
			mainContext.fill();			
		}		
		
		//loop through all items of videoSamples array, update the x co-ordinate values of each item, and draw its stored image onto the canvas
		mainContext.globalCompositeOperation = 'lighter';
		for( var i in videoSamples ){
			var sample = videoSamples[i];
			sample.x -= filmSpeed;	
			mainContext.drawImage( sample.canvas, sample.x + 5, filmTop + 10, 110, 62 );			
		}
		
		mainContext.restore();			
	}
	
	// renders the canvas title
	function drawTitle(){
		mainContext.save();
		mainContext.fillStyle = 'black';
		mainContext.fillRect( 0, 0, 368, 25 ); 
		mainContext.fillStyle = 'white';
		mainContext.font = "bold 21px Georgia";
		mainContext.fillText( "SINTEL", 10, 20 );	
		mainContext.restore();
	}
	
	// renders all the text appearing at the top left corner of the canvas
	function drawDescription(){		
		var text = []; //stores all text items, to be displayed over time. the video is 60 seconds, and each will be visible for 10 seconds.
		text[0] = "Sintel is an independently produced short film, initiated by the Blender Foundation.";
		text[1] = "For over a year an international team of 3D animators and artists worked in the studio of the Amsterdam Blender Institute on the computer-animated short 'Sintel'.";
		text[2] = "It is an epic short film that takes place in a fantasy world, where a girl befriends a baby dragon.";
		text[3] = "After the little dragon is taken from her violently, she undertakes a long journey that leads her to a dramatic confrontation.";
		text[4] = "The script was inspired by a number of story suggestions by Martin Lodewijk around a Cinderella character (Cinder in Dutch is 'Sintel'). ";
		text[5] = "Screenwriter Esther Wouda then worked with director Colin Levy to create a script with multiple layers, with strong characterization and dramatic impact as central goals.";			
		text = text[Math.floor( video.currentTime / 10 )]; //use the videos current time to determine which text item to display.  
		
		mainContext.save();
		var alpha = 1 - ( video.currentTime % 10 ) / 10;
		mainContext.globalAlpha = ( alpha < 5 )? alpha : 1;
		mainContext.fillStyle = '#fff';
		mainContext.font = "normal 12px Georgia";
		
		//break the text up into several lines as required, and write each line on the canvas
		text = text.split(' ');
		var colWidth = mainCanvas.width * .75;
		var line = '';
		var y = 40;
		for(var i in text ){
			line += text[i] + ' ';
			if( mainContext.measureText(line).width > colWidth ){
				mainContext.fillText( line, 10, y ); 
				line = '';
				y += 12;				
			}			
		}
		mainContext.fillText( line, 10, y ); 
		
		mainContext.restore();
	}
	
	//updates the bottom-right potion of the canvas with the latest perfomance statistics
	function drawStats( average ){			
		var x = 245.5, y = 130.5, graphScale = 0.25;
		
		mainContext.save();
		mainContext.font = "normal 10px monospace";
		mainContext.textAlign = 'left';
		mainContext.textBaseLine = 'top';
		mainContext.fillStyle = 'black';
		mainContext.fillRect( x, y, 120, 75 );			
		
		//draw the x and y axis lines of the graph
		y += 30;	
		x += 10;			
		mainContext.beginPath();
		mainContext.strokeStyle = '#888';
		mainContext.lineWidth = 1.5;
		mainContext.moveTo( x, y );
		mainContext.lineTo( x + 100, y );
		mainContext.stroke();
		mainContext.moveTo( x, y );
		mainContext.lineTo( x, y - 25 );
		mainContext.stroke();			
		
		// draw the last 50 speedLog entries on the graph
		mainContext.strokeStyle = '#00ffff';
		mainContext.fillStyle = '#00ffff';
		mainContext.lineWidth = 0.3;
		var imax = speedLog.length;
		var i = ( speedLog.length > 50 )? speedLog.length - 50 : 0
		mainContext.beginPath();				
		for( var j = 0; i < imax; i++, j += 2 ){				
			mainContext.moveTo( x + j, y );
			mainContext.lineTo( x + j, y - speedLog[i] * graphScale );		
			mainContext.stroke();
		}
		
		// the red line, marking the desired maximum rendering time
		mainContext.beginPath();
		mainContext.strokeStyle = '#FF0000';
		mainContext.lineWidth = 1;
		var target = y - frameDuration * graphScale;				
		mainContext.moveTo( x, target );
		mainContext.lineTo( x + 100, target );		
		mainContext.stroke();
		
		// current/average speedLog items
		y += 12;
		if( average ){
			var speed = 0;
			for( i in speedLog ){ speed += speedLog[i]; }
			speed = Math.floor( speed / speedLog.length * 10) / 10;
		}else {
			speed = speedLog[speedLog.length-1];
		}
		mainContext.fillText( 'Render Time: ' + speed, x, y );
		
		// canvas fps
		mainContext.fillStyle = '#00ff00';
		y += 12;
		if( average ){
			fps = 0;
			for( i in fpsLog ){ fps += fpsLog[i]; }
			fps = Math.floor( fps / fpsLog.length * 10) / 10;
		}else {
			fps = fpsLog[fpsLog.length-1];
		}
		mainContext.fillText( ' Canvas FPS: ' + fps, x, y );
		
		// browser frames per second (fps), using window.mozPaintCount (firefox only)
		if( window.mozPaintCount ){ 	
			y += 12;
			if( average ){
				fps = 0;
				for( i in paintCountLog ){ fps += paintCountLog[i]; }
				fps = Math.floor( fps / paintCountLog.length * 10) / 10;
			}else {	
				fps = paintCountLog[paintCountLog.length-1];	
			}
			mainContext.fillText( 'Browser FPS: ' + fps, x, y );
		}
		
		mainContext.restore();
	}
	
	//draw the spining blade that appears in the begining of the animation	
	function drawBlade(){ 
		if( !blade || blade.x > mainCanvas.width ){ return; }
		blade.x += 2.5;
		blade.angle = ( blade.angle - 45 ) % 360;
		
		//update blade, an ofscreen canvas containing the blade's image
		var angle = blade.angle * Math.PI / 180;			
		var bladeContext = blade.getContext('2d');
		blade.width = blade.width; //clear the canvas
		bladeContext.save(); 
		bladeContext.translate( 200, 200 ); 
		bladeContext.rotate(angle); 
		bladeContext.drawImage( bladeSrc, -bladeSrc.width/2, -bladeSrc.height/2 );
		bladeContext.restore();
		
		mainContext.save(); 
		mainContext.globalAlpha = 0.95;
		mainContext.drawImage( blade, blade.x, blade.y + Math.sin(angle) * 50 ); 
		mainContext.restore();
	}	
})();

Step 3: Code Optimization: Know the Rules

The first rule of code performance optimization is: Don't.

The point of this rule is to discourage optimization for optimization's sake, since the process comes at a price.

A highly optimized script will be easier for the browser to parse and process, but usually with a burden for humans who will find it harder to follow and maintain. Whenever you do decide that some optimization is necessary, set some goals beforehand so that you don't get carried away by the process and overdo it.

The goal in optimizing this widget will be to have the main() function run in less than 33 milliseconds as it's supposed to, which will match the frame rate of the playing video files (sintel.mp4 and sintel.webm). These files were encoded at a playback speed of 30fps (thirty frames per second), which translates to about 0.33 seconds or 33 milliseconds per frame ( 1 second ÷ 30 frames ).

Since JavaScript draws a new animation frame to the canvas every time the main() function is called, the goal of our optimization process will be to make this function take 33 milliseconds or less each time it runs. This function repeatedly calls itself using a setTimeout() Javascript timer as shown below.

 
var frameDuration = 33; // set the animation's target speed in milliseconds	
function main(){
	if( video.paused || video.ended ){ return false; }			
	setTimeout( main, frameDuration );

The second rule: Don't yet.

This rule stresses the point that optimization should always be done at the end of the development process when you've already fleshed out some complete, working code. The optimization police will let us go on this one, since the widget's script is a perfect example of complete, working program that's ready for the process.

The third rule: Don't yet, and profile first.

This rule is about understanding your program in terms of runtime performance. Profiling helps you know rather than guess which functions or areas of the script take up the most time or are used most often, so that you can focus on those in the optimization process. It is critical enough to make leading browsers ship with inbuilt JavaScript profilers, or have extensions that provide this service.

I ran the widget under the profiler in Firebug, and below is a screenshot of the results.

Step 4: Set Some Performance Metrics

As you ran the widget, I'm sure you found all the Sintel stuff okay, and were absolutely blown away by the item on the lower right corner of the canvas, the one with a beautiful graph and shiny text.

It's not just a pretty face; that box also delivers some real-time performance statistics on the running program. Its actually a simple, bare-bones Javascript profiler. That's right! Yo, I heard you like profiling, so I put a profiler in your movie, so that you can profile it while you watch.

The graph tracks the Render Time, calculated by measuring how long each run of main() takes in milliseconds. Since this is the function that draws each frame of the animation, it's effectively the animation's frame rate. Each vertical blue line on the graph illustrates the time taken by one frame. The red horizontal line is the target speed, which we set at 33ms to match the video file frame rates. Just below the graph, the speed of the last call to main() is given in milliseconds.

The profiler is also a handy browser rendering speed test. At the moment, the average render time in Firefox is 55ms, 90ms in IE 9, 41ms in Chrome, 148ms in Opera and 63ms in Safari. All the browsers were running on Windows XP, except for IE 9 which was profiled on Windows Vista.

The next metric below that is Canvas FPS (canvas frames per second), obtained by counting how many times main() is called per second. The profiler displays the latest Canvas FPS rate when the video is still playing, and when it ends it shows the average speed of all calls to main().

The last metric is Browser FPS, which measures how many the browser repaints the current window every second. This one is only available if you view the widget in Firefox, as it depends on a feature currently only available in that browser called window.mozPaintCount., a JavaScript property that keeps track of how many times the browser window has been repainted since the webpage first loaded.

The repaints usually occur when an event or action that changes the look of a page occurs, like when you scroll down the page or mouse-over a link. It's effectively the browser's real frame rate, which is determined by how busy the current webpage is.

To gauge what effect the un-optimized canvas animation had on mozPaintCount, I removed the canvas tag and all the JavaScript, so as to track the browser frame rate when playing just the video. My tests were done in Firebug's console, using the function below:

	var lastPaintCount = window.mozPaintCount;
	setInterval( function(){
		console.log( window.mozPaintCount - lastPaintCount );
		lastPaintCount = window.mozPaintCount;
	}, 1000);

The results: The browser frame rate was between 30 and 32 FPS when the video was playing, and dropped to 0-1 FPS when the video ended. This means that Firefox was adjusting its window repaint frequency to match that of the playing video, encoded at 30fps. When the test was run with the un-optimized canvas animation and video playing together, it slowed down to 16fps, as the browser was now struggling to run all the JavaScript and still repaint its window on time, making both the video playback and canvas animations sluggish.

We'll now start tweaking our program, and as we do so, we'll keep track of the Render Time, Canvas FPS and Browser FPS to measure the effects of our changes.

Step 5: Use `requestAnimationFrame()`

The last two JavaScript snippets above make use of the setTimeout() and setInterval() timer functions. To use these functions, you specify a time interval in milliseconds and the callback function you want executed after the time elapses. The difference between the two is that setTimeout() will call your function just once, while setInterval() calls it repeatedly.

While these functions have always been indispensable tools in the JavaScript animator's kit, they do have a few flaws:

First, the time interval set is not always reliable. If the program is still in the middle of executing something else when the interval elapses, the callback function will be executed later than originally set, once the browser is no longer busy. In the main() function, we set the interval to 33 milliseconds - but as the profiler reveals, the function is actually called every 148 milliseconds in Opera.

Second, there's an issue with browser repaints. If we had a callback function that generated 20 animation frames per second while the browser repainted its window only 12 times a second, 8 calls to that function will be wasted as the user will never get to see the results.

Finally, the browser has no way of knowing that the function being called is animating elements in the document. This means that if those elements scroll out of view, or the user clicks on another tab, the callback will still get executed repeatedly, wasting CPU cycles.

Using requestAnimationFrame() solves most of these problems, and it can be used instead of the timer functions in HTML5 animations. Instead of specifying a time interval, requestAnimationFrame() synchronizes the function calls with browser window repaints. This results in more fluid, consistent animation as no frames are dropped, and the browser can make further internal optimizations knowing an animation is in progress.

To replace setTimeout() with requestAnimationFrame in our widget, we first add the following line at the top of our script:

requestAnimationFrame = window.requestAnimationFrame || 
						window.mozRequestAnimationFrame || 
						window.webkitRequestAnimationFrame || 
						window.msRequestAnimationFrame || 
						setTimeout;

As the specification is still quite new, some browsers or browser versions have their own experimental implementations, this line makes sure that the function name points to the right method if it is available, and falls back to setTimeout() if not. Then in the main() function, we change this line:

1
2	setTimeout( main, frameDuration );

...to:

1	requestAnimationFrame( main, canvas );

The first parameter takes the callback function, which in this case is the main() function. The second parameter is optional, and specifies the DOM element that contains the animation. It is supposed to be used by to compute additional optimizations.

Note that the getStats() function also uses a setTimeout(), but we leave that one in place since this particular function has nothing to do with animating the scene. requestAnimationFrame() was created specifically for animations, so if your callback function is not doing animation, you can still use setTimeout() or setInterval().

Step 6: Use the Page Visibility API

In the last step we made requestAnimationFrame power the canvas animation, and now we have a new problem. If we start running the widget, then minimize the browser window or switch to a new tab, the widget's window repaint rate throttles down to save power. This also slows down the canvas animation since it is now synchronized with the repaint rate - which would be perfect if the video did not keep playing on to the end.

We need a way to detect when the page is not being viewed so that we can pause the playing video; this is where the Page Visibility API comes to the rescue.

The API contains a set of properties, functions and events we can use to detect if a webpage is in view or hidden. We can then add code that adjusts our program's behavior accordingly. We will make use of this API to pause the widget's playing video whenever the page is inactive.

We start by adding a new event listener to our script:

1
2	document.addEventListener( 'visibilitychange', onVisibilityChange, false);

Next comes the event handler function:

 
// Adjusts the program behavior, based on whether the webpage is active or hidden
function onVisibilityChange() {
	if( document.hidden && !video.paused ){  
		video.pause();  
	}else  if( video.paused ){  
		video.play();  
	}  
}

Step 7: For Custom Shapes, Draw the Whole Path At Once

Paths are used to create and draw custom shapes and outlines on the <canvas> element, which will at all times have one active path.

A path holds a list of sub-paths, and each sub-path is made up of canvas co-ordinate points linked together by either a line or a curve. All the path making and drawing functions are properties of the canvas's context object, and can be classified into two groups.

There are the subpath-making functions, used to define a subpath and include lineTo(), quadraticCurveTo(), bezierCurveTo(), and arc(). Then we have stroke() and fill(), the path/subpath drawing functions. Using stroke() will produce an outline, while fill() generates a shape filled by either a color, gradient or pattern.

When drawing shapes and outline on the canvas, it is more efficient to create the whole path first, then just stroke() or fill() it once, rather than defining and drawing each supbath at a time. Taking the profiler's graph described in Step 4 as an example, each single vertical blue line is a subpath, while all of them together make up the whole current path.

The stroke() method is currently being called within a loop that defines each subpath:

 
	mainContext.beginPath();				
	for( var j = 0; i < imax; i++, j += 2 ){				
		mainContext.moveTo( x + j, y ); // define the subpaths starting point
		mainContext.lineTo( x + j, y - speedLog[i] * graphScale );	// set the subpath as a line, and define its endpoint	
		mainContext.stroke(); // draw the subpath to the canvas
	}

This graph can be drawn much more efficiently by first defining all the subpaths, then just drawing the whole current path at once, as shown below.

 
	mainContext.beginPath();				
	for( var j = 0; i < imax; i++, j += 2 ){				
		mainContext.moveTo( x + j, y ); // define the subpaths starting point
		mainContext.lineTo( x + j, y - speedLog[i] * graphScale );	// set the subpath as a line, and define its endpoint
	}	
	mainContext.stroke(); // draw the whole current path to the mainCanvas.

Step 8: Use an Off-Screen Canvas To Build the Scene

This optimization technique is related to the one in the previous step, in that they are both based on the same principle of minimizing webpage repaints.

Whenever something happens that changes a document's look or content, the browser has to schedule a repaint operation soon after that to update the interface. Repaints can be an expensive operation in terms of CPU cycles and power, especially for dense pages with a lot of elements and animation going on. If you are building up a complex animation scene by adding up many items one at a time to the <canvas>, every new addition may just trigger a whole repaint.

It is better and much faster to build the scene on an off screen (in memory) <canvas>, and once done, paint the whole scene just once to the onscreen, visible <canvas>.

Just below the code that gets reference to the widget's <canvas> and its context, we'll add five new lines that create an off-screen canvas DOM object and match its dimensions with that of the original, visible <canvas>.

 
	var mainCanvas = document.getElementById("mainCanvas"); // points to the on-screen, original HTML canvas element
	var mainContext = mainCanvas.getContext('2d'); // the drawing context of the on-screen canvas element 
	var osCanvas = document.createElement("canvas"); // creates a new off-screen canvas element
	var osContext = osCanvas.getContext('2d'); //the drawing context of the off-screen canvas element
	osCanvas.width = mainCanvas.width; // match the off-screen canvas dimensions with that of #mainCanvas
	osCanvas.height = mainCanvas.height;

We'll then do as search and replace in all the drawing functions for all references to "mainCanvas" and change that to "osCanvas". References to "mainContext" will be replaced with "osContext". Everything will now be drawn to the new off-screen canvas, instead of the original <canvas>.

Finally, we add one more line to main() that paints what's currently on the off-screen <canvas> into our original <canvas>.

 
// As the scripts main function, it controls the pace of the animation
function main(){
	requestAnimationFrame( main, mainCanvas );
	if( video.paused || video.currentTime > 59  ){ return; }
	
	var now = new Date().getTime(); 
	if( frameStartTime ){ 
		speedLog.push( now - frameStartTime );
	}
	frameStartTime = now;
	if( video.readyState < 2 ){ return; }
	
	frameCount++;
	osCanvas.width = osCanvas.width; //clear the offscreen canvas
	drawBackground(); 
	drawFilm();
	drawDescription();
	drawStats();
	drawBlade();
	drawTitle();
	mainContext.drawImage( osCanvas, 0, 0 ); // copy the off-screen canvas graphics to the on-screen canvas
}

Step 9: Cache Paths As Bitmap Images Whenever Possible

For many kinds of graphics, using drawImage() will be much faster than constructing the same image on canvas using paths. If you find that a large potion of your script is spent repeatedly drawing the same shapes and outlines over and over again, you may save the browser some work by caching the resulting graphic as a bitmap image, then painting it just once to the canvas whenever required using drawImage().

There are two ways of doing this.

The first is by creating an external image file as a JPG, GIF or PNG image, then loading it dynamically using JavaScript and copying it to your canvas. The one drawback of this method is the extra files your program will have to download from the network, but depending on the type of graphic or what your application does, this could actually be a good solution. The animation widget uses this method to load the spinning blade graphic, which would have been impossible to recreate using just the canvas path drawing functions.

The second method involves just drawing the graphic once to an off-screen canvas rather than loading an external image. We will use this method to cache the title of the animation widget. We first create a variable to reference the new off-screen canvas element to be created. Its default value is set to false, so that we can tell whether or not an image cache has been created, and saved once the script starts running:

1
2	var titleCache = false; // points to an off-screen canvas used to cache the animation scene's title

We then edit the drawTitle() function to first check whether the titleCache canvas image has been created. If it hasn't, it creates an off-screen image and stores a reference to it in titleCache:

 
// renders the canvas title
function drawTitle(){
	if( titleCache == false ){ // create and save the title image
		titleCache = document.createElement('canvas');
		titleCache.width = osCanvas.width;
		titleCache.height = 25;
		
		var context = titleCache.getContext('2d');			
		context.fillStyle = 'black';
		context.fillRect( 0, 0, 368, 25 ); 
		context.fillStyle = 'white';
		context.font = "bold 21px Georgia";
		context.fillText( "SINTEL", 10, 20 );		
	}

	osContext.drawImage( titleCache, 0, 0 ); 
}

Step 10: Clear the Canvas With `clearRect()`

The first step in drawing a new animation frame is to clear the canvas of the current one. This can be done by either resetting the width of the canvas element, or using the clearRect() function.

Resetting the width has a side effect of also clearing the current canvas context back to its default state, which can slow things down. Using clearRect() is always the faster and better way to clear the canvas.

In the main() function, we'll change this:

1
2	osCanvas.width = osCanvas.width; //clear the off-screen canvas

...to this:

1
2	osContext.clearRect( 0, 0, osCanvas.width, osCanvas.height ); //clear the offscreen canvas

Step 11: Implement Layers

If you've worked with image or video editing software like Gimp or Photoshop before, then you're already familiar with the concept of layers, where an image is composed by stacking many images on top of one another, and each can be selected and edited separately.

Applied to a canvas animation scene, each layer will be a separate canvas element, placed on top of each other using CSS to create the illusion of a single element. As an optimization technique, it works best when there is a clear distinction between foreground and background elements of a scene, with most of the action taking place in the foreground. The background can then be drawn on a canvas element that does not change much between animation frames, and the foreground on another more dynamic canvas element above it. This way, the whole scene doesn't have to be redrawn again for each animation frame.

Unfortunately, the animation widget is a good example of a scene where we cannot usefully apply this technique, since both the foreground and background elements are highly animated.

Step 12: Update Only The Changing Areas of an Animation Scene

This is another optimization technique that depends heavily on the animation's scene composition. It can be used when the scene animation is concentrated around a particular rectangular region on the canvas. We could then clear and redraw just redraw that region.

For example, the Sintel title remains unchanged throughout most of the animation, so we could leave that area intact when clearing the canvas for the next animation frame.

To implement this technique, we replace the line that calls the title drawing function in main() with the following block:

 
	if( titleCache == false ){ // If titleCache is false, the animation's title hasn't been drawn yet
		drawTitle(); // we draw the title. This function will now be called just once, when the program starts
		osContext.rect( 0, 25, osCanvas.width, osCanvas.height ); // this creates a path covering the area outside by the title
		osContext.clip(); // we use the path to create a clipping region, that ignores the title's region
	}

Step 13: Minimize Sub-Pixel Rendering

Sub-pixel rendering or anti-aliasing happens when the browser automatically applies graphic effects to remove jagged edges. It results in smoother looking images and animations, and is automatically activated whenever you specify fractional co-ordinates rather than whole number when drawing to the canvas.

Right now there is no standard on exactly how it should be done, so subpixel rendering is a bit inconsistent across browsers in terms of the rendered output. It also slows down rendering speeds as the browser has to do some calculations to generate the effect. As canvas anti-aliasing cannot be directly turned off, the only way to get around it is by always using whole numbers in your drawing co-ordinates.

We will use Math.floor() to ensure whole numbers in our script whenever applicable. For example, the following line in drawFilm():

1
2	punchX = sample.x + ( j * punchInterval ) + 5; // the x co-ordinate

...is rewritten as:

1
2	punchX = Math.floor ( sample.x + ( j * punchInterval ) ) + 5; // the x co-ordinate

Step 14: Measure the Results

We've looked at quite a few canvas animation optimization techniques, and it now time to review the results.

This table shows the before and after average Render Times and Canvas FPS. We can see some significant improvements across all the browsers, though it's only Chrome that really comes close to achieving our original goal of a maximum 33ms Render Time. This means there is still much work to be done to get that target.

We could proceed by applying more general JavaScript optimization techniques, and if that still fails, maybe consider toning down the animation by removing some bells and whistles. But we won't be looking at any of those other techniques today, as the focus here was on optimizations for <canvas> animation.

The Canvas API is still quite new and growing every day, so keep experimenting, testing, exploring and sharing. Thanks for reading the tutorial.

How to correct lens distortion in DaVinci Resolve Studio

2024-06-15T00:58:34+00:00

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to correct lens distortion in DaVinci Resolve Studio. This helps you salvage distorted video footage and make it perfect for use. And it only takes a few clicks.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to correct lens distortion in DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.

Picture the scene: you’ve captured video footage out in the field. You’re excited to get to work editing it into an amazing final project. But when you open up your videos in DaVinci Resolve Studio, there’s a problem. Lens distortion has crept in, and the scene doesn’t appear true to life. Can your video be saved? Yes! Let’s learn how to fix lens distortion in DaVinci Resolve Studio.

What is lens distortion? (and why should I remove it?)

Lens distortion is a visual defect that cameras capture. In short, it means that straight lines seem curved. It’s most common with wide-angle photography, and it appears by design when you use a fish-eye lens. Unintended distortion is easy to correct in DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.

Why remove lens distortion? Consider this:

You’ll make videos seem truer to life. Lens distortion makes scenes appear far different from real life. With a quick correction, you’ll portray scenes the way they really looked.
You’ll keep key details in focus. Lens distortion tends to hide critical visual details. Fix it to ensure your audiences are seeing scenes just as you envision them.
Your videos will look more professional. Lens distortion corrections are an element of professional editors’ workflow. Skip this step, and viewers will take notice. Always make sure you’re cleaning up lens distortion as a part of your editing workflow.

The advantages are clear. Now, let’s learn how to correct lens distortion in DaVinci Resolve Studio, step by step.

How to correct lens distortion in DaVinci Resolve Studio step by step

It’s easy to correct lens distortion with DaVinci Resolve Studio. We’ll demonstrate it with this stock video clip. This is fisheye footage where distortion might have been intended, but it's great for demonstrating the power of correction. Download it from Envato Elements if you’d like to follow along.

1. Add a video clip to the timeline

The first step in correcting lens distortion is to add a clip to your DaVinci Resolve Studio Timeline. The Timeline is the panel covering the lower half of Resolve Studio’s screen. It’s where you arrange and organize all multimedia in your project.

Launch DaVinci Resolve Studio, then open the Cut tab. Your screen should look like this.

With Resolve Studio open, make sure that you’re working on the Cut tab. You can access it on the toolbar that runs across the very bottom of Resolve Studio.

On the Cut tab, click the Media Pool button in the upper left corner. Imported project videos will show in the Master preview area.

Drag a clip from the Media Pool onto the Timeline. You’ll see it appear in the preview section.

To add a clip to the Timeline, click and drag on its thumbnail. Move it onto the Timeline, and then drop it into place.

2. Open the Inspector panel

The correction tools for lens distortion in DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 are found on the Inspector panel. Think of the Inspector as the one-stop location for editing video properties. With it, you can make a variety of adjustments and tweaks.

Select your Timeline clip, and then click Inspector in the upper right corner of Resolve Studio 19.

To open the Inspector, be sure your clip is selected in the Timeline. Then, look in the upper right corner of Resolve Studio 19. Click on the Inspector button. You’ll see the Inspector sidebar menu open on the right side of your screen. When it opens, be sure to click on the Video tab at the top.

3. Activate the lens correction tools

On the Inspector > Video sidebar, look at the options listed. You’ll see Transform, Cropping, Dynamic Zoom, and more. Down at the bottom, find Lens Correction. This is where you’ll correct lens distortion.

Click on the radio button to activate the Lens Correction tool. You’ll see it turn red, and a dropdown will open. Thanks to AI tools in Resolve Studio 19, the app can correct lens distortion automatically.

Click Analyze to automatically correct lens distortion.

To do that, click Analyze, and watch what happens. Resolve will flatten out the video, removing lens distortion! No manual editing is required. Notice that the footage now takes on a more natural look.

4. Optional: Make adjustments for the perfect results

As you saw, Resolve Studio 19 will automatically choose the right settings to fix lens distortion. But you don’t have to use them—you can make adjustments to the chosen settings if you want.

Use the Distortion slider to refine your lens distortion corrections.

Simply click and pull on the Distortion slider to amplify or reduce the effects. As you work, you’ll see the changes on the video preview in Resolve.

Learn more great tips and tricks for DaVinci Resolve

Correcting lens distortion is a great skill in DaVinci Resolve Studio, but it’s only one of countless things the app is capable of. If you’re ready to upgrade your skills, you’ve come to the right place. Here on Envato Tuts+, we have many helpful tutorials just for you.

Here are some favorites to help you level up your skills quickly:

Correct lens distortion in DaVinci Resolve today

In this tutorial, you learned how to correct lens distortion in DaVinci Resolve Studio 19. Lens distortion is an unfortunate yet common part of video production. It often finds its way into the footage that you capture.

But luckily, the fix is both quick and easy. Using the powerful Lens Correction tool, you can rapidly remove lens distortion from all of your video clips. It only takes a few clicks.

A history of animation: from hand-drawn to digital techniques

2024-08-13T11:36:31+00:00

Animation has evolved from simple hand-drawn pictures to amazing digital creations. This journey reflects not only technological advancements but also the creativity of countless artists who have shaped animation. From early 20th-century sketches to today’s incredible CGI, animation continues to push the boundaries of visual storytelling, making it a beloved artform worldwide.

Steamboat Willie (1928), the ground breaking animated short film directed by Walt Disney, introducing the world to the iconic character Mickey Mouse. (Image credit: Walt Disney Studios).

This article is for beginners who want to learn about the history of animation. Whether you’re an aspiring animator, a film student, or just a fan, we’ll take you through important moments, key figures, and major techniques in animation. You’ll discover early optical devices, the golden age of hand-drawn cartoons, the rise of TV animation, and the digital changes that have shaped the industry.

We’ll also introduce some of the most famous animators and their works. Join us on this exciting journey through time to discover how animation evolved from simple drawings to a powerhouse of entertainment and artistic expression.

Jump to content in this section:

1. The early days of animation (1830s-1920s)

Pioneers and innovations

Magic lanterns and early optical devices

The journey of animation begins with early optical devices that created the illusion of motion. One of the first devices was the magic lantern, invented in the 17th century, which used a light source and hand-painted glass slides to project images.

Other devices like the zoetrope and the phenakistoscope followed. These devices used spinning disks or cylinders with sequential images, creating the appearance of motion when viewed through slits.

Émile Reynaud

Fantasmagorie (1908), a pioneering animated short film by Émile Cohl, celebrated as one of the first examples of traditional hand-drawn animation. (Image credit: Gaumont Film Company).

Émile Reynaud, a French inventor, made significant contributions to early animation with his invention of the praxinoscope in 1877. The praxinoscope improved upon the zoetrope by using mirrors to reflect the images, providing a clearer and brighter display. Reynaud also created the Théâtre Optique in 1892, which projected hand-painted images on a screen, predating modern film projection.

Thomas Edison and W.K.L. Dickson

Thomas A. Edison, W.K.L. Dickson, and others.

In the late 19th century, Thomas Edison and his assistant, W.K.L. Dickson, developed the kinetoscope, a device for viewing moving pictures. Although it was not a projector, the kinetoscope allowed individuals to view films through a peephole. This invention was a precursor to the development of the motion picture industry and laid the groundwork for future animation techniques.

The silent film era

Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay, an American cartoonist and animator, is often considered one of the pioneers of animation. His 1914 film, "Gertie the Dinosaur," is one of the earliest examples of character animation. McCay’s meticulous hand-drawn frames brought Gertie to life, showcasing the potential of animation to tell engaging stories.

J. Stuart Blackton

Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906), an early animated short by J. Stuart Blackton, recognized as one of the first films to use stop-motion and hand-drawn animation techniques.

J. Stuart Blackton, another key figure in early animation, created "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" in 1906. This short film featured chalk drawings that seemed to come to life, using stop-motion techniques. Blackton’s work demonstrated the possibilities of combining drawn images with film, influencing future animators.

James Stuart Blackton and the Vitagraph Company

J. Stuart Blackton in 1912.

James Stuart Blackton, co-founder of the Vitagraph Company, produced several early animated films that experimented with the medium. His contributions helped establish animation as a viable form of entertainment and set the stage for future developments in the industry.

2. The golden age of animation (1928-1960)

Rise of the major studios

Walt Disney

Walt Disney Studio, representing decades of magical storytelling and beloved animated classics. (Image credit: Walt Disney Studios).

The Golden Age of Animation is often associated with the rise of Walt Disney and his creation of Mickey Mouse. In 1928, Disney released "Steamboat Willie," the first synchronized sound cartoon, introducing audiences to the iconic Mickey Mouse. This film marked the beginning of Disney’s dominance in the animation industry.

Disney’s studio went on to create a series of successful animated shorts and, in 1937, released the first full-length animated feature, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." This film was a massive success and demonstrated the potential of animation as a storytelling medium.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros, a legacy of ground breaking animation and films. (Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Warner Bros. became another significant player in animation during this era. They created beloved characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. The "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" series were known for their witty humour, memorable characters, and innovative animation techniques.

Animators like Tex Avery and Chuck Jones contributed to Warner Bros.’ unique and enduring style.

Fleischer Studios

Boop-oop-a-doop! Betty Boop and friends, iconic characters created by Max Fleischer, charming audiences with their timeless appeal. (Image credit: Fleischer Studios).

Fleischer Studios, founded by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, also made significant contributions during the Golden Age. They introduced characters like Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor.

The studio was known for its inventive animation techniques, such as the rotoscope, which allowed for more realistic movement by tracing live-action footage. Fleischer Studios’ work was marked by its surreal and often risqué humour, distinguishing it from its competitors.

Technological advancements

Introduction of cel animation

Animation cel from Disney’s "The Jungle Book" (1967). (Image credit: Walt Disney Studios).

One of the most important advancements during this period was the introduction of cel animation in the 1910s, which became more widely adopted in the 1920s and 1930s. This technique involved drawing characters on transparent celluloid sheets (cels) and layering them over static backgrounds. This innovation allowed for more efficient and detailed animation, as animators could reuse backgrounds and only redraw moving parts.

Use of sound in animation

Steamboat Willie (1928), the ground breaking animated short film directed by Walt Disney, introducing the world to the iconic character Mickey Mouse. (Image credit: Walt Disney Studios).

The integration of sound revolutionized animation. "Steamboat Willie" (1928) was ground breaking for its use of synchronized sound, which added a new dimension to animated films. Soundtracks, dialogue, and sound effects became integral parts of the storytelling process, enhancing the overall experience.

Technicolor and its role in animation

Flowers and Trees (1932), a groundbreaking animated short film by Walt Disney, celebrated as the first commercially released film produced in full Technicolor. (Image credit: Walt Disney Studios)

The introduction of Technicolor brought vibrant color to animated films. Disney’s "Flowers and Trees" (1932) was the first animated short to use three-strip Technicolor, setting a new standard for animated films. Color became a crucial element in animation, allowing for more expressive and visually appealing stories.

3. The television era (1950s-1980s)

Shift from theaters to TV

Rise of television and its impact on animation

In the 1950s, the advent of television revolutionized the entertainment industry, including animation. With more households acquiring TV sets, there was a significant demand for new content. This shift provided animators with a new platform to reach audiences directly in their homes, leading to the creation of many iconic animated TV shows.

Hanna-Barbera Productions

The Flintstones, a beloved animated sitcom created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, depicting the comical prehistoric adventures of Fred Flintstone and his family. (Image credit: Hanna-Barbera Productions).

One of the most influential studios during this era was Hanna-Barbera Productions, founded by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in 1957. The studio pioneered a technique called "limited animation," which reduced the number of frames per second to cut costs while maintaining engaging storytelling.

Hanna-Barbera created many beloved TV shows, including "The Flintstones" (1960), which was the first prime-time animated series, "The Jetsons", and "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!".

Saturday morning cartoons

The Bugs Bunny Show, a classic animated television series featuring the wisecracking Bugs Bunny and his Looney Tunes friends. (Image credit: Warner Bros. Television).

The concept of Saturday morning cartoons became a cultural phenomenon in the 1960s and 1970s. Networks dedicated Saturday mornings to children’s programming, which included a line up of animated shows.

This period saw the introduction of numerous popular series such as "The Bugs Bunny Show", "Jonny Quest", and "Super Friends". These shows not only entertained but also became an integral part of many children’s routines.

Animation techniques for TV

The Jetsons, a futuristic animated sitcom following the high-tech adventures of George Jetson and his space-age family. (Image credit: Hanna-Barbera Productions).

Limited animation to reduce costs

To meet the high demand for content and reduce production costs, studios like Hanna-Barbera employed limited animation techniques. This method involved using fewer drawings per second and reusing backgrounds and animation cycles.

While this approach sacrificed some fluidity, it allowed for the efficient production of TV shows, making animation more accessible and sustainable for television.

Introduction of simpler, more stylized characters

Television animation during this era also saw the introduction of simpler and more stylized characters. These designs were easier and faster to animate, which was essential for meeting tight production schedules.

Characters like Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, and Scooby-Doo became iconic, with their distinctive, easily recognizable designs contributing to their lasting popularity.

4. The advent of computer animation (1960s-1990s)

Early computer animation

Catalog (1961), an experimental animated short film by John Whitney, showcasing innovative computer-generated imagery and abstract visual art.

Experiments with computer graphics in the 1960s and 70s

The roots of computer animation can be traced back to the 1960s and 1970s when early experiments with computer graphics began. Researchers and computer scientists explored the potential of computers to generate images and animations. Notable projects from this period include the 1961 film "A Computer Animated Hand" by Edward E. Zajac at Bell Labs, which demonstrated the potential of digital imagery.

John Whitney

John Whitney, often considered the father of computer animation, made significant contributions during this era. In the 1960s, he used mechanical analog computers to create abstract films, such as "Catalog" (1961). Whitney’s work showcased the artistic possibilities of computer-generated images and inspired future developments in the field.

The digital revolution

Toy Story (1995), a revolutionary animated film by Pixar Animation Studios, introducing audiences to the secret life of toys with ground breaking CGI animation. (Image credit: Pixar Animation Studios)

Pixar and “Toy Story”

The digital revolution in animation began to take shape in the 1980s and 1990s. One of the most significant milestones was the founding of Pixar Animation Studios in 1986.

Pixar, initially a division of Lucasfilm, became an independent company under the leadership of Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull, and John Lasseter. In 1995, Pixar released "Toy Story," the first fully computer-animated feature film. "Toy Story" was a ground breaking success, both commercially and critically, proving that computer animation could produce engaging, high-quality films.

Development of CGI and its integration with traditional animation

The 1990s saw the increasing integration of computer-generated imagery (CGI) with traditional animation. Disney’s "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) and "Aladdin" (1992) used CGI for specific scenes, enhancing the visual depth and complexity of the films. This hybrid approach demonstrated the potential for blending traditional and digital techniques to create visually stunning animations.

DreamWorks animation

DreamWorks Animation, founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, also played a significant role in advancing computer animation. The studio’s 2001 film "Shrek" was a major success, winning the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. DreamWorks continued to produce successful CGI films, contributing to the growing dominance of computer animation in the industry.

Hybrid techniques

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), a groundbreaking film by Robert Zemeckis, blending live-action and animation. (Image credit: Touchstone Pictures)

Combination of live-action and CGI

The combination of live-action and CGI became increasingly popular in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Films like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988) and "Jurassic Park" (1993) used CGI to create realistic and fantastical elements within live-action settings.

Motion capture technology

Motion capture technology, which records the movement of live actors to create realistic animations, gained prominence in the 2000s. Films like "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (2001-2003) and "Avatar" (2009) used motion capture to bring characters to life with unprecedented realism.

5. The modern era of animation (1990s-present)

Diverse styles and global influence

Japanese Anime

Dragon Ball, the iconic anime series created by Akira Toriyama, following the adventurous journey of Goku as he seeks the mystical Dragon Balls. (Image credit: Toei Animation).

Japanese anime has become a global phenomenon, influencing and inspiring animators worldwide. Shows like "Dragon Ball" and "Naruto" introduced audiences to a unique art style and storytelling approach. Anime’s popularity has grown significantly, captivating international audiences and expanding the boundaries of animated storytelling.

Studio Ghibli

Spirited Away (2001), a mesmerizing animated film by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, telling the enchanting story of a young girl who enters a magical world of spirits. (Image credit: Studio Ghibli).

Studio Ghibli, one of the most influential animation studios in the world, was founded in 1985 by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, along with producer Toshio Suzuki. It is renowned for its distinctive artistic style, characterized by detailed hand-drawn animation, lush backgrounds, and expressive character designs.

Its films such as "Spirited Away" (2001), "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988) and "Princess Mononoke" (1997) have garnered a global fanbase and critical acclaim, inspiring countless animators and filmmakers. The studio’s approach to animation, prioritizing artistic integrity and emotional depth, has set a high standard in the industry.

Rise of independent and experimental animation

Persepolis (2007), a poignant animated film by Marjane Satrapi, depicting her autobiographical account of growing up during and after the Iranian Revolution. (Image credit: Sony Pictures Classics).

The modern era has seen a surge in independent and experimental animation. Digital tools have made it easier for individual artists and small studios to create high-quality animations without the backing of major studios. Films like "Persepolis" (2007) and "Loving Vincent" (2017) showcase the creative potential of independent animation, exploring unique visual styles and complex narratives.

Diverse animation styles

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), a visually stunning stop-motion animated film by Laika, following the epic journey of a young boy named Kubo in a magical ancient Japan. (Image credit: Laika Studios).

Modern animation encompasses a wide range of styles, from traditional hand-drawn techniques to stop-motion and CGI. Studios like Laika, known for films like "Coraline" (2009) and "Kubo and the Two Strings" (2016), have pushed the boundaries of stop-motion animation.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), a ground breaking animated film by Sony Pictures, exploring the multiverse with stunning visuals and diverse Spider-People. (Image credit: Sony Pictures Animation).

Meanwhile, digital tools have allowed for the creation of visually stunning films like "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" (2018), which blends traditional comic book aesthetics with cutting-edge CGI.

Streaming and digital platforms

BoJack Horseman, an acclaimed animated series by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. (Image credit: Netflix)

Impact of streaming platforms

The rise of streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube has transformed the animation industry. These platforms provide animators with new opportunities to reach global audiences and experiment with different formats. Original animated series like "BoJack Horseman" (2014-2020) and "The Dragon Prince" (2018-present) have found success on streaming services, showcasing the versatility and creativity of modern animation.

Conclusion

Batman: The Animated Series, a critically acclaimed show created by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, known for its dark, stylish animation and complex storytelling. (Image credit: Warner Bros. Animation).

Animation has evolved from simple hand-drawn illustrations to complex digital creations, shaped studios like Disney and Pixar. Each era brought innovations, from the Golden Age’s iconic characters to the TV era’s beloved shows and the digital revolution’s ground breaking films.

Today, animation thrives with diverse styles, global influences, and new technologies. Creators like Studio Ghibli continue to inspire with their timeless storytelling and as the industry grows, animation remains a powerful form of artistic expression, inspiring audiences worldwide.

How to create ads and promos for social media on CapCut

2024-06-26T09:23:23+00:00

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create ads and promos for social media on CapCut. In a few quick steps, you’ll learn the basic workflow for creating ad campaigns. You’ll be producing promos quicker than ever. And you’ll be able to reach a broader audience and inspire them to take action. Let's go!

Getting started with CapCut ads: Exploring the benefits

If you’re not familiar with CapCut, no worries. It’s a newer entrant into the crowded video editing space. Why does CapCut stand out? Largely because it’s mobile-focused. It’s a mobile app that you can download on your Apple or Android device. Plus, there are desktop versions for seamless editing.

CapCut ads like this help you promote your business on your favorite social media channels.

With CapCut, you can create amazing ads and promos on any topic with ease. The benefits are many:

The interface is intuitive and easy to use. CapCut is made for video editors of all skill levels. In other words, you don’t have to be an expert! The interface is clearly designed and simple to navigate. With your touchscreen device, you can easily browse effects, make edits, and more.
You’ll enjoy seamless social media integration. CapCut was created by ByteDance. Who are they? Odds are, you know their popular social media video app, TikTok. With CapCut, you can directly share your ads and promos right to TikTok. Direct sharing also works for Instagram, Facebook, and more. Plus, download your finished product for total freedom.
Mobile means portable. CapCut goes on your phone, and your phone can go in your pocket. I love this because it’s ready for you when creative inspiration strikes. When an idea for an ad or promo hits, you can get to work right away.
The price is right: free! I mentioned already that CapCut is free. But it bears repeating. You can produce fully-featured promo videos completely free of charge. Additional effects and features are available with a Pro upgraded version.

As you can see, CapCut is a good choice for rapid ad and promo design. Without further delay, let’s get to work learning how to use it.

How to create ads and promos with CapCut, step by step

We’ll be using CapCut to create a sample promo video. As you read through the steps, you’ll see a stock video clip in use. It comes from Envato Elements. If you’d like to download the video, you can do so here right away.

I’ll be using CapCut on an iPhone running iOS 17. If you’re using CapCut on a different platform, you might experience a slightly different workflow.

1. Launch CapCut and create a project

Get started by opening CapCut on your device. When you do, you’ll be on the main screen. Five menu options can be found at the bottom. In order, they’re Edit, Templates, Library, Inbox, and Me. To create a promo video in CapCut, tap on the Edit button.

Go to the Edit tab, then choose New project by tapping on the blue box.

When you do, you’ll be in the Project section of CapCut. It’s here that you can browse videos you’ve created in the past. And you can create a brand-new production. Let’s make a new one for our promo video.

Tap on the blue New project icon at the top of your screen. You’re on your way to amazing promo videos in CapCut.

When you choose New project, your device’s Camera Roll will launch. This is where your device stores videos and other multimedia. You may have videos saved or downloaded from other sources. Or, you might have recorded them right on your device. Either way, CapCut lets you browse to them.

When you select New project, you can browse to videos and photos on your device. Tap their thumbnails and choose Add to import them.

At the top, you can choose what folder you want to import videos from. Below, you’ll see thumbnails showing each video in your chosen location. You can also tap on the Photos button if you want to use still images. Although CapCut is a video editor, it’s perfectly capable of working with still images, too. In fact, this is often useful for promotional slideshows and more.

Choose one or more videos or photos by tapping on their thumbnails. When you do, the Add button in the lower right corner will illuminate in blue. Tapping Add causes CapCut to import your chosen multimedia. Keep in mind: it may take a few moments if you’re using a lot of files, or have longer videos.

3. Apply text overlays

When you import your videos and images, you’ll find yourself on the main Edit panel in CapCut. At the top is the video preview area. It’s here that you’ll see edits and changes appear in real time.

Below the preview is the Timeline. Here, you can reorder and rearrange your media clips. And at the bottom is the menu toolbar. It’s there that you’ll access the editing and effects that CapCut is well known for.

An absolutely integral part of a good promo video is text. Having supporting text makes your offer crystal-clear. It lets you produce accessible ads that are still impactful, even without sound.

To add text to your CapCut ad, find the Text button on the menu bar. Tap Text and you’ll see the menu options change. You’ll see Add text, Auto captions, Stickers, and more. For truly custom text overlays, click Add text.

Using the Text menu, you can add and customize a variety of cool text effects - right on your videos.

Once you choose Add text, a text box will appear right on your video. You can replace the contents with your own words, just by typing them in. Once you’ve typed something, tap on the small keyboard icon on the right. This hides the keys and opens up a world of effects and options.

For example, you can choose a new custom font! Or, you can launch the Styles tab and add cool text effects. You can add shadows, make your text glow, and so much more. Spend some time exploring these options. There’s no right or wrong way to blend them together. The key is to always ensure your video remains visible, and the text stays readable.

When you’re finished, tap on the Checkmark icon and return to the main menu using the arrows on the bottom left corner of your CapCut screen.

4. Don’t forget the music

Never underestimate the value of music in a video. That’s never more true than with promo videos for social media. Choose an engaging soundtrack, and you’ll inspire viewers to take action. Don’t rely on visuals alone to grab their attention. Music can help you do exactly that.

Back on the main CapCut menu, find and select the Audio button. Once again, the menu bar transforms into a series of options. This time, they’re focused on audio. To quickly add music, tap Sounds. The Sounds panel opens with an array of choices.

On the Audio > Sounds panel, you’ll find several great ways to add music to your social media promo videos in CapCut.

On the All tab, you can log into your TikTok account to unlock TikTok sounds. Or, you can tap the Folder icon. These options actually allow you to import music that you might have saved. It’s perfect if you want to use your own music or sound effects that you recorded.

CapCut also includes a large library of music that you can use in your videos. Find it by going to the Commercial tab at the top of the Sounds panel. Scroll through the available options.

Tapping a song selects it and plays a preview. Find one you like? Click the blue + icon on the right. CapCut will add the song to your Timeline.

5. Explore animations and other cool effects

Back on the Edit panel once more, spend some time exploring other options in CapCut. In seconds, you’ve built out the framework for a winning ad promo for social media! You’ve added text, music, and video. Often, that’s all you will need. But it’s not all that CapCut can do.

Scroll through the menu bar at the bottom. For example, tap on the Effects button to open it up. With the Video effects, you can transform the visual look of your promo video.

Using Effects, Stickers, Filters, and other edits is a sure way to make your social media promo video stand out. You’ll find them all in CapCut.

Remember: you need a social media video that stands out right away. Attention spans are short, and competition is fierce. Adding eye-catching effects like flickers and ripples helps you grab - and retain - audience attention.

CapCut also offers Stickers and Filters. These are extra visual transformations that you can add. As one example, you can place emojis right onto your videos. And you can apply tints and shades like sepia for timeless retro vibes.

Once again - CapCut leaves the creative control in your hands. You can go as far as your creative vision will take you! It’s how to win customers using a social media promo video in 2024.

You’ve made your first social media promo video on CapCut. Now, all that’s left is to share it! The best videos aren’t worth much if no one sees them.

To share your ad video, tap the Share icon. You’ll find it in the very upper right corner of your CapCut screen. When you select Share, CapCut will export your video. This may take a minute or two.

Tap Share. Your video will be saved - and you can instantly share it across all of your favorite social media platforms.

When it finishes, you’ll have a saved video file right on your device. But you will also see sharing options right inside CapCut. At the touch of a button, you can share directly to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more.

It’s just another way that CapCut streamlines the once-daunting process of creating ads and promos for social media.

Above, you experienced the process of creating ads and promos with CapCut. It’s but one of many things the app can do. And when you use it to create ads and promos, it pays to embrace the latest trends in social media marketing. That way, you’re setting the stage for your own success.

To help you upgrade your skills rapidly, turn to the tutorials below. From the Envato Tuts+ library, these are top guides for 2024 and beyond:

In this tutorial, I showed you the steps for creating promo and ad videos with CapCut. Simply import your videos that you’ve recorded or saved. Apply eye-catching overlays and graphics to spell out your offer. Find a pumping soundtrack that gets people engaged.

And finally, share with the world across your social media channels! With CapCut, it only takes a few moments. Don’t hesitate to upgrade your video promos with CapCut.

How to make a fall pumpkin latte illustration

2024-09-02T18:43:49+00:00

What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial, we're diving into the cozy world of fall by creating a cute pumpkin latte illustration in a fall color palette in Adobe Illustrator. Whether you're a beginner or someone who has been in the field for longer, you'll love how easy it is to bring this autumn design to life using just a few simple techniques.

We'll use basic shapes, move around anchor points, and add depth and warmth with textures and transparency effects. By the end, you'll have beautiful, seasonal artwork in a warm fall color palette ready to celebrate the spirit of fall!

If you're looking for vector textures and autumn illustrations that are ready to use, don't forget to visit Envato and enjoy some free creative assets as well!

Jump to content in this section:

What you'll need for the tutorial

You'll need to download the following textures to follow along:

Natural paper textures

Fall color palette hex codes

A good fall color palette can bring warmth and coziness to your designs. The colors evoke the comforting essence of autumn, perfect for creating an inviting and nostalgic atmosphere in your seasonal projects. Here are the fall color palette hex codes that I used in the tutorial.

1. How to create a background in Illustrator

Step 1

After you've opened Adobe Illustrator, create a new document (File > New). Enter 850 px Width and 900 px Height in the dialogue window, and press OK. This will be your new artboard.

We will start to create our fall illustration by making a background. Create a rectangle by using the Rectangle Tool (M). Click on the artboard and enter 850 x 900 px. Press OK, and make its fill color R=249, G=222, B=212. This is the first part of our background.

If you want to place it exactly in the middle of the canvas, go to the Align panel and check Align to: Align to Artboard (bottom-right corner). Now, any elements that you choose to align will be aligned to your artboard. Next, you need to select the object that you want to align. In the Align Objects section, press Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center. This is how you put any object exactly in the middle of your canvas or artboard.

Step 2

Change the fill color to R=249, G=206, B=189, and draw a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (M).

Now you want to go to View > Show Corner Widget. When you do this, the rectangle gets small circles in every corner which you can use to further modify it. Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the two upper anchor points. You can drag them inwards to give this rectangle rounded corners on top.

This is the second part of our background.

Place this newly created shape on top of the main background, exactly in the middle. The background is now done.

2. How to create a cup in Illustrator

Step 1

To create the cup, start by making a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (M). Make its fill color R=224, G=123, B=54.

After this, we want to make the two bottom corners of the rectangle rounded, as we did for the second part of the background. Using the Direct Selection Tool (A), drag the two bottom corners to the center until they become rounded.

Step 2

Next, we'll create the cup rim. Make the fill color the stroke color by clicking on the Swap Fill and Stroke (Shift-X) button on the left panel. On the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke), click on the Round Cap button in the Cap section. On the same panel, you can adjust the Weight of this stroke—it should be 20 px. Make its stroke color R=117, G=70, B=70.

Using the Line Segment Tool (\), draw the cup rim.

Step 3

Let’s create a handle for the cup. Keep the same stroke color (R=117, G=70, B=70) and the same weight. Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), hold down the Shift key (to create an even circle), and draw a circle.

Place the cup rim on the side of the cup.

Step 4

To create the pumpkin illustration, we'll start with a yellow ellipse (fill color R=255, G=193, B=125).

Create a copy of it in the back (Control-C, Control-B), change its fill color to R=252, G=175, B=99, and stretch it a little horizontally. This is so that the front part of the pumpkin will be separated from the back parts.

Now, let's create the back parts of the pumpkin illustration. You can copy the front one (Control-C, Control-V), copy it again, and paste both back parts of the pumpkin in the back (Control-X, Control-B). Place the two back parts symmetrically, as shown in the image below.

Make the fill color the stroke color by clicking on the Swap Fill and Stroke (Shift-X) button on the left panel. Change its stroke color to R=173, G=159, B=121. Make sure that you've checked the Round Cap option and made the stroke Weight 4 px on the Stroke panel. Use the Arc Tool to draw a stalk for the pumpkin illustration.

Group the whole pumpkin illustration (right-click > Group).

Put the pumpkin illustration on the cup.

Step 5

Now, place the cup on top of the background.

Step 6

Change the stroke color to white. Make the stroke Weight 40 px on the Stroke panel. Draw three white lines using the Line Segment Tool (\) to create some whipped cream for your drink. You don’t need the black lines—they're just there to make the lines more visible.

Step 7

Let's create the top part of the whipped cream using the Ellipse Tool (L)—the fill color is white. Remember to change the stroke color to the fill color!

Then, go to Effect > Warp > Inflate because we want to add a corresponding shape to it. Enter the options you see below in the image, and please notice that Inflate should be Horizontal. Then press OK.

Expand this shape (Object > Expand Appearance).

Step 8

Put this final piece of whipped cream on top of the rest of the cream.

Make the stroke color R=255, G=235, B=235, decrease the stroke Weight to 4 px, and draw a few lines using the Line Segment Tool (\). By doing this, you're adding texture and dimension to the whipped cream.

Let’s add some sprinkles to the cream. Make the fill color R=255, G=193, B=125, and draw tiny circles here and there. Then change the fill color to R=153, G=90, B=58, and add some more.

Step 9

And now for the last step for our cup—we need to add some texture to it. Choose one of your favorite textures from Natural Paper Textures. I chose number 1. Place it under the cup. You can make the texture smaller or larger depending on what scale of texture you want.

Select the orange part and the texture, and press Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Control-7).

Keep this selection, and go to the Transparency panel (Window > Transparency). In the pop-out menu (labeled as Normal), select the Color Burn option and make the Opacity 40%. Of course, you can make the Opacity any value you want, depending on how you want it to look. Technically, the texture by itself isn’t a vector texture—it’s a raster—but that’s the best way to apply a texture to a vector illustration while preserving its features.

Now you just need to group the whole pumpkin latte (right-click > Group). Your drink illustration is finished!

Here’s how our fall drink looks now.

3. How to create cinnamon sticks in Illustrator

Step 1

Next, our autumn illustration needs a cinnamon stick. Be sure to have the stroke color set to R=153, G=90, B=58. Draw a line using the Line Segment Tool (\). On the Stroke panel, make the Weight 25 px, and check Round Cap.

Delete the stroke color and set the fill color to R=122, G=65, B=39. Draw an ellipse on top.

Step 2

Decrease the stroke Weight to 1 px, and change the stroke color to R=76, G=40, B=26. Using the Spiral Tool, draw a spiral over the ellipse.

Group the whole cinnamon stick so that you can move it easily (right-click > Group).

Step 3

Place it behind the latte drink (Control-X, Control-B). Then, holding the Alt key, move it aside. That’s how you create a copy of the cinnamon stick.

4. How to create the yellow berries in Illustrator

Step 1

First, we'll draw a stalk using the Arc Tool. On the Stroke panel, make the stroke Weight 5 px and check Round Cap. The stroke color should be R=173, G=159, B=121.

Then, draw a long stalk from top to bottom. Add two smaller green arcs that branch out.

Step 2

Using the Ellipse Tool (L) and holding the Shift key, draw a yellow circle. The fill color should be R=242, G=175, B=76.

Add a smaller red ellipse on top with a fill color of R=196, G=70, B=49. This is the first yellow berry.

Step 3

Let’s add some texture, as we did for the cup. First, choose a texture you like, and place it behind the berry. If you want, you can make the texture very big, as I did in the image below.

Select the yellow berry and make a copy in front (Control-C, Control-F). Keep the selection and select the texture while holding the Shift key. Go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Control-7).

Keep this selection, and go to the Transparency panel (Window > Transparency). In the pop-out menu, select the Color Burn option. Feel free to play with the Opacity.

Group the whole berry (right-click > Group).

Step 4

Put the yellow berry on the green stalk. Create two more copies of the yellow berry and place them on each stalk. Now, group it so that it’s easier to move around.

Put the branch of yellow berries behind the whipped cream of the fall drink (Control-X, Control-B).

5. How to create the coral fall leaves in Illustrator

Step 1

Now we want a fall leaves illustration.

First, we'll draw a stalk using the Line Segment Tool (\). On the Stroke panel, make the stroke Weight 4 pixels and check the Round Cap. The stroke color should be R=153, G=90, B=58.

Then, draw a long stalk. After that, add a smaller stalk that branches out on the left side. To draw it diagonally at exactly 45 degrees, hold the Shift button while drawing.

Next, add another small diagonal stalk on the right side. Select the two diagonal stalks and move them down the main stalk while holding the Alt key. You just created a new pair of diagonal stalks.

Step 2

Use the Ellipse Tool (L) to draw a coral-colored ellipse. The fill color should be R=242, G=142, B=129.

Take the Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C) and click on the top and bottom anchor points. You should get a shape with sharp points, which will be the leaf.

Step 3

Let’s add a texture, as we did for the cup and the berries. First, choose the texture you like, and then place it behind the coral leaf. If you want, you can make the texture very big, as I did in the image below.

Select the coral leaf and make a copy in front (Control-C, Control-F). Keep the selection and select the texture while holding Shift. Go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Control-7).

Keep this selection, and go to the Transparency panel. In the pop-out menu, select Color Burn and play around with the Opacity. Group it.

Step 4

Put the coral leaf behind the brown stalk.

Create a copy of it and rotate it to the left while holding Shift. The Shift key helps you to rotate any shape exactly 45 degrees.

Keep going: create three more copies and place them behind each stalk. Finally, group the whole branch together.

Put the coral leaves behind the fall drink (Control-X, Control-B).

6. How to create a maple leaf in Illustrator

Step 1

First, we'll draw a stalk using the Line Segment Tool (\). On the Stroke panel, make the stroke Weight 3 px and check the Round Cap. The stroke color should be R=196, G=70, B=49. Draw a long stalk.

After that, add a smaller horizontal stalk. Hold the Shift button while drawing—it will help you to draw at exactly 90 degrees. Then, add two new diagonal small stalks.

Step 2

Using the Ellipse Tool (L), draw a yellow ellipse. The fill color should be R=242, G=175, B=76.

Take the Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C) and click on the top and bottom anchor points. You should get a shape with sharp points—this will be our leaf.

Step 3

Choose a texture you like, and place it behind the yellow leaf.

Select the yellow leaf and make a copy in front (Control-C, Control-F). Keep the selection and select the texture while holding the Shift key. Go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Control-7).

Keep this selection and go to the Transparency panel. In the pop-out menu, select Color Burn. Group it.

Step 4

Put the yellow leaf behind the vertical stalk. Create a copy of it and rotate it 45 degrees to the left while holding Shift. Put it behind the stalk.

Keep going: create five more copies and place them behind each stalk. Now, group the whole maple leaf.

Put the maple leaf close to the latte cup, on the left side.

7. How to create red berries in Illustrator

Step 1

First, we'll draw a stalk using the Arc Tool. On the Stroke panel, make the stroke Weight 5 px and check Round Cap. The stroke color should be R=173, G=159, B=121.

Draw a long stalk from top to bottom. Then, add two smaller green curves that branch out.

Step 2

While holding the Shift key, draw a red circle. The fill color should be R=196, G=70, B=49. Then add some small brown lines on top, with a stroke color of R=117, G=70, B=70.

Step 3

Choose a texture you like, and place it behind the red berry.

Select the berry and make a copy in front (Control-C, Control-F). Keep the selection and select the texture while holding Shift. Go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Control-7).

Keep this selection, and go to the Transparency panel. In the pop-out menu, select Color Burn. Group the whole berry.

Step 4

Put the red berry on the green stalk. Create two more copies of it and place them on each stalk. Now, group it.

Put the red berry branch close to the latte cup, on the right side.

Congratulations!

Now you have a beautiful fall illustration in autumnal colors! In this tutorial, you learned how to use basic shapes to create an illustration and how to move around anchor points to modify these shapes. You also now know how to apply textures to your vector illustrations. You can apply all of this knowledge to your future projects to enhance them and truly make them your own. Happy creating!

Recommended resources from Envato

Envato is a subscription-based service offering a vast library of digital assets, including stock photos, graphics, templates, fonts, and more, created for designers, developers, and content creators. Users pay a monthly or annual fee for unlimited downloads, making it a cost-effective solution for those who need access to a wide range of creative resources. The platform is known for its quality and variety, catering to a wide variety of creative and marketing needs.

1. Watercolor fall pumpkin clipart (PNG)

This product offers a selection of beautiful autumn-themed watercolor clipart that you can easily incorporate into your designs. It’s perfect for creating greeting cards, wedding invitations, stationery, and more. The collection includes eight watercolor pumpkins and 12 botanical elements, all provided as PNG files with a high resolution of 300 DPI. Don't miss out—elevate your creative projects with this beautiful collection today.

2. Autumn leaves, pumpkins, and mushrooms vector (AI, EPS, PNG, SVG)

These autumn graphic assets are perfect for all your design projects, offering versatile vector graphics that can be used in a number of ways. The set includes AI and EPS vector files at 2340 x 1560 px, with the EPS files formatted for EPS 10. You'll also receive 36 individual SVG files, as well as 36 PNG images with a transparent background. The PNG files are high-resolution at 300 ppi in CMYK color.

3. 17 pumpkin spice elements (AI, EPS, PNG)

Enhance your designs with this charming set of 17 hand-drawn pumpkin spice elements, perfect for adding a cozy autumn touch to any project. Featuring seasonal illustrations of pumpkin spices, pies, lattes, and other delicious treats, this collection is ideal for greeting cards, banners, posters, and decorations. This set includes 17 clipart elements available in AI, EPS, and PNG formats, all conveniently downloadable as a ZIP file. Download these delightful autumn elements and use them to bring your fall projects to life.

4. Pumpkin spice design (PNG)

Add a cozy fall vibe to your designs with this adorable Watercolor Pumpkin Spice clipart collection. Perfect for capturing the autumn feel, this set includes cute pumpkin illustrations and autumn leaves, ideal for your seasonal projects. Each illustration comes as a separate PNG file with a transparent background, making it easy to incorporate into your work. On top of that, you'll also receive five beautifully arranged designs, each sized at 6"x6" and at a high resolution of 300 dpi.

5. Halloween pumpkins (EPS, JPG)

Bring a spooky touch to your Halloween projects with this vector collection of decorative orange pumpkins, featuring playful expressions and "Happy Halloween" text. Perfect for greeting cards, posters, websites, and banners, these flat-style designs are ready to enhance your seasonal creations. You'll receive 15 EPS files and 15 high-resolution JPG files (300 dpi, 6000x5000 px). All of the objects are fully expanded and ready to print. Get this spooky and fun collection to make your Halloween designs stand out!

Discover awesome tutorials and resources

Envato Tuts+ offers a wide range of step-by-step guides and video lessons that help creative professionals and beginners improve their skills in design, coding, photography, video, and more.

These tutorials are created by industry experts and cover a variety of tools and techniques, making it easier to learn new skills or enhance existing ones. Whether you're looking to master a software program or explore new creative projects, Envato Tuts+ provides valuable resources to help you succeed in your artistic journey.

25+ Best Event Sponsorship Proposal Templates (Example Downloads for 2025)

2019-09-09T09:47:56+00:00

Have an upcoming event where you need help from sponsors?

It can be challenging to attract sponsors for your events. Start with the right event sponsorship proposal template!

Use a new event sponsorship proposal template from Envato Elements.

Looking for event sponsorship examples? Work with a professional event sponsorship proposal template. It'll help you win the hearts of potential sponsors.

Before writing your own messages, look at event sponsorship examples for inspiration.

The key ingredients of an effective event sponsorship proposal example are:

persuasive content
easy-to-follow structure
visually captivating designs

Don’t know where to begin?

Learn how to write a proposal for an event.

Follow simple steps from real-life practices of some of the best event proposals out there. We'll cover the fundamentals in writing effective event proposals with practical formats.

We've also included some of the best event proposal examples for inspiration.

Edit these event proposal samples to better suit your event needs. Communicate your event as worth sponsoring.

Great Examples of Event Proposal Templates From Envato Elements for 2024

Let's look at some event sponsorship examples.

Here's our latest list of the best event planning request for proposal templates. They're all available on Envato Elements!

1. Modern Sponsorship Proposal Template

See more of this stylish template proposal sponsorship design in the gallery above.

Are you looking for modern template proposal sponsorship designs? This new sponsorship doc is for you.

This template features a unique color scheme and clean typography. No doubt, it's a winning proposal example.

This sponsorship proposal template is fully editable in Adobe InDesign and comes with:

A4 and US Letter sizes
easy customization options
print-ready design
free fonts

2. Square Event Proposal Template

This is a unique, square event proposal template that will catch the eye of everybody in the room. Use that to your advantage to get your point across.

Its features will give you options you need to create a winning proposal:

20 pages
210x210 dimensions
fully layered
help file included

It's a great reference if you're looking for event sponsorship examples.

3. Media Event Sponsorship Example

Be convincing, bold, and straightforward to get what you want! This event sponsorship example will help you get where you need to go. All thanks to its powerful design and the features it comes with:

12 pages
300 dpi resolution
layered file for easy editing
help file

4. Cooking Event Sponsorship Proposal

Are you proposing a cook off? Make your yummy event known with the use of an event proposal template like this one. It has plenty of space to include all the information you need. Add all the pictures you desire.

Its features are pretty tasty, too:

InDesign and PowerPoint files
16 pages
fully and easily customizable
well-organized layers

5. Sponsorship Event Proposal Template - MS Word & InDesign

Don't fuss! Do you need to get your message across? Don't spend time worrying. Download this awesome event sponsorship example and get working!

Not only does it have a professional design, but it also comes with:

Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign files
20 customizable pages
automatic page numbering
editable texts, colors and objects

6. Minimalist Proposal Sponsorship Template

If you like minimal sponsorship proposal templates, try this one. This sponsorship template is a great option. Play around with the colors and shapes on this sponsorship levels template. Make sure it fits your brand.

The sponsorship proposal template has:

16 fully customizable pages
A4 size
editable text, color, objects
ease-of-use

Don't worry if you don't have InDesign. You can also edit this template sponsorship proposal in MS Word.

7. Event Sponsorship Proposal Template

This professional event sponsorship proposal template will get the right sponsors for your next event. This template sponsorship proposal is editable in InDesign. Also editable MS Word so you can brand it according to your needs.

Is a great event sponsorship proposal to get started:

2 paper sizes (A4 and US Letter)
print-ready design
easily customizable to your needs
free fonts

8. Company Proposal Sponsorship Template

Start working with this sponsorship levels template. It's perfect for design proposal sponsorship projects, as well as other business ventures.

Give this event sponsorship proposal and its features a look:

25 pages
A4 size
ready-to-print sponsorship proposal example
help file included

Start working with this elegant sponsorship template!

9. Clean Event Sponsorship Proposal

This clean sponsorship proposal design fits all kinds of projects. You can customize the colors to match your company's brand.

It's easy to work with this sponsorship levels template thanks to its features:

easily editable in InDesign
A4 and US Letter sizes for the template proposal sponsorship
customizable to fit your brand
free fonts

10. Blue Sponsorship Proposal Template

Here's a bold event sponsorship proposal template that's perfect for 2024. It's customizable on Adobe InDesign.

The event sponsorship example has:

a professional layout
20 pages
print-ready design
documentation

Try it if you want a modern event sponsorship proposal that will help you bring in funding.

11. Web Design Sponsorship Deck Template

This sponsorship proposal example is perfect for your hackathon or dev event. It's fully editable, and that includes premium icons and other artwork. Even though this event sponsorship proposal is for web design, you can customize it to fit other themes.

It comes with:

24 pages
2 sizes (A4 and US Letter)
portrait orientation
free fonts

12. Organizer Square Sponsorship Deck Example

Looking for a sponsorship proposal example? Here's a trendy event sponsorship proposal template for fans of unique designs. This sponsorship deck example features a square page layout with plenty of white space. You can edit this sponsorship proposal with InDesign.

The event sponsorship proposal sample comes with:

24 pages
square 8x8 inch dimensions
well-organized layers
help file

13. Event Proposal Template

Edit this modern event sponsorship proposal template for Keynote. The sponsorship template has a minimalistic color scheme scheme that you can edit to your liking.

The template proposal sponsorship design comes with premium features like:

5 pre-made color themes
16:9 aspect ratio
placement scheme visual
clean layout

14. Project Pro Proposal - Event Sponsorship Deck Template

Do you have a killer idea you can't wait to share? Spread the word with this uncomplicated, clean proposal template. You won't even have to work hard to create the perfect proposal.

The features in this sponsorship deck template will do everything for you:

12 fully customizable pages
A4 size format
organized layers for easy editing
free fonts included

15. Music Event Sponsor Proposal Format

This music event sponsorship proposal template is perfect for event managers and organizers. Send a proposal to a sponsor that really catches their attention. Get the right sponsors by providing a clear sponsorship level template page.

This sponsorship template includes:

16 pages
US Letter paper size
easily customizable elements
well-organized layers

This sponsor proposal format is highly recommended for music events and other celebrations because of its themed visuals.

16. Creative Event Sponsorship Deck Template

Have an upcoming event for creatives? This event proposal format is modern and eye-catching so you can showcase more photographs of your workspaces and collaborations rooms.

This could be the perfect event sponsorship template for your project:

20 pages
A4 page size
300 dpi resolution
free fonts

17. Web Design Sponsorship Business Proposal Template

Secure a big-time sponsor with this event proposal template made for digital and web design events.

Download this event sponsorship proposal template and customize it to your design needs. It's clean design makes it the perfect blank canvass for your sponsorship business proposal.

Check out the features on this sponsorship package template:

InDesign and Word files
A4 and US Letter paper sizes
portrait orientation
8x11 in dimension

18. Marketing Event Sponsorship Proposal

This premium proposal template is ideal for your sponsorship proposal. Change the colors, the dimensions, and the content in this event sponsorship package template. This is a great sponsorship template to fund a content marketing campaign.

Start working with this event sponsorship agreement template:

14 custom pages
A4 and US Letter paper sizes
vector illustrations
free fonts

19. Yoga Flyer Template for Proposal for Sponsorship

This template is for any event where health and wellness are promoted like yoga and other related activities. The sponsorship proposal template uses a minimal and striking design. This stylish event sponsorship proposal template is a great fit for many industries.

Its features speak for themselves:

INDD, IDML, PDF files
three size options (A4, US Letter + bleeds)
portrait format
free fonts

It's one flexible template for proposal for sponsorship you don't want to miss.

20. Clean Bifold Sponsorship Proposal Example

Planning an automobile show or a car dealership event? This event sponsorship example is perfect for events where cars are the stars of the show.

It's a complete event sponsorship proposal template, filled with:

2 side-bifold brochure template
US Letter paper size
300 dpi resolution
well-organized, grouped layers

It also got the versatility to work for as a sponsorship deck template for other industries, too.

21. The New Creative Idea Sponsorship Business Proposal

This is a premium template great for sponsorship package examples in creative industries. This sponsorship proposal template showcases essential information and combined with modern illustrations.

Use its features to get your sponsorship business proposal out there:

A4 and US Letter paper sizes
fully and easily editable
print-ready design
free fonts

22. Business Corporate Sponsorship Deck Example

Get that project secured with this proposal sponsorship deck example for any kind of event or project. Easily change colors and dimensions in this template sponsorship proposal. This stylish sponsorship proposal design has so much potential.

Here are some of its highlights:

20 easily customizable pages
A4 paper size
free fonts
help file

23. Graphic Sponsorship Package Template

If you need visually striking graphics, this event sponsorship template will do the job. This event sponsorship package template comes with:

12 custom pages
A4 paper size
ready-to-print design
CMYK color space

Use this sponsorship proposal design to jump start your projects. This is a great sponsorship proposal example.

24. Sponsorship Proposal Template

This sponsorship proposal template balances the modern and professional looks. This is one of those sponsorship package examples that should be in every entrepreneur's tool kit.

This event sponsorship template has:

INDD and IDML files
12 custom pages
smart layers for easy editing
free fonts

The premium layout is hard to find in free sponsorship proposal examples.

25. IT Services Event Sponsorship Deck Example

Looking for IT sponsorship proposal examples? Anyone in the IT business will want this event proposal template.

This event sponsorship proposal template showcases detailed information on an IT business. There's plenty of room for showing off eye catching graphs and data on the project.

Take a look at its highlights:

16 total pages
3 universal colors per layout (blue, green, red)
automatic page numbering
free fonts and icons

26. Graphic Template for Proposal for Sponsorship

If you're looking for a bolder look, this event sponsorship proposal template is the perfect cut. It’s unique, sleek, and a visual breath taker.

Change up the key colors here to make this event sponsorship proposal match your professional brand. Edit this sponsorship proposal template for your event.

As for its specs, with this template for proposal for sponsorship, you'll get:

12 custom pages
CMYK color
neatly-organized layers
fully and easily editable

27. Sponsorship Proposal Template

This sponsorship proposal template has a versatile look. From business, to sports events, it has everything you need to wow sponsors. It's got a bold, dark color scheme, but you can easily customize it to your liking. Edit it in InDesign.

The template proposal sponsorship design includes:

24 pages
A4 paper size format
ready-to-print design
free fonts

28. Graphic Sponsorship Package Template

This is one of the most interesting sponsorship proposal templates in this round up. It comes with master pages that make it easier to edit. And yes, it's all editable in InDesign.

Use the features in this sponsorship package template. Put together something amazing with:

26 pages
A4 and US Letter size + 5mm bleed
300 dpi resolution
free fonts

It's one of the best sponsorship proposal examples to check out.

29. Elegant Brochure Event Proposal Template

Looking for elegant and modern sponsorship proposal examples? We're wrapping up this list of sponsorship proposal templates with this option.

This event sponsorship proposal comes with:

PPT and PPTX files
40 pages with cool layouts
16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
ten color schemes

Use this event sponsorship proposal template. It's great if you're looking for great graphics and use of white space.

Use any of these templates as a sponsorship proposal example. They all have great design ideas for you to get inspired!

How to Customize a Sponsorship Proposal Template in Adobe InDesign

Have you found the perfect sponsorship proposal design? Not quite sure how to edit it in Adobe InDesign?

Here's some quick tips to help you jump right in and get started.

We'll use this event sponsorship proposal example in this walk through.

Download it today on Envato Elements if you'd like to work along with this demonstration. Or use an Adobe InDesign sponsorship proposal template of your own.

Download this premium sponsorship proposal template today on Envato Elements.

Let's get started:

1. Looking at Rectangular Frames in Adobe InDesign

Open an event sponsorship proposal template doc in Adobe InDesign. You might see all the content in colored boxes.

These boxes are called Rectangular Frames and they're a big part of how InDesign works. All your content is "held" within different frames. You can then resize and move around your layout.

These boxes won't print in your final product. They're visual cues to guide you.

To create a new rectangular frame, use the Rectangular Frame tool, as highlighted in the Tools panel on the left. Simply click and drag to create a new frame.

This is a good idea if you want to add something entirely new to your event sponsorship proposal template.

Want to temporarily hide these boxes? Go to View > Overprint Preview to toggle them off. To turn them back on, go back to View > Overprint Preview.

2. Pages in Adobe InDesign

Most event sponsorship proposal designs are a multi-page document. That's why it's important to understand how pages work in Adobe InDesign. You'll need to be able to navigate through the pages to edit and customize them.

To open up your Pages Panel, go to Window > Pages. You can see what it looks like in the screenshot below.

Here, we can see all our pages at a glance. Double click on a page to jump to it in your work space.

Right click on a page, and you'll see a variety of options. We can move pages, duplicate pages, and delete them from this menu.

Most event sponsorship proposal designs are a multi-page document.

3. Layers in Adobe InDesign

Most InDesign sponsorship deck template files are sorted into layers, for your convenience. Let's look at our Layers Panel by going to Window > Layers.

In this event sponsorship proposal example, the content has been organized into layers.

We can click on the lock icon beside each layer to unlock this content so we can edit it. If we don't, this content will stay locked or protected from edits. Toggle this on and off as often as you'd like.

In this example, let's unlock the layer titled "Page 1 Intro & 2 About Us". It's highlighted in the example screenshot, below. We're going to make some edits on this layer.

In this event sponsorship proposal example, content is organized into layers.

4. Editing Text in Adobe InDesign

Next, let's edit some text in our event sponsorship template. We'll work on the layer that we unlocked in the last step.

Start by selecting the Type Tool in your Tools panel. It's highlighted in the screenshot below.

Then, let's click on some of the existing text on the page. This will activate the text box containing the text.

We can then freely edit this text just as we would in most word processing environments.

Edit text in your event sponsorship proposal template.

5. Changing Colors in Adobe InDesign

Let's also change some colors on this page. There's a large, orange circle on this page, in this sponsorship proposal template. Let's change that.

First, take a look at your Tools panel. At the bottom you'll see the Stroke Color and Fill Color. The Stroke Color looks like an outline, while the Fill Color looks like a solid color.

Strokes are just that—they act like a visual outline around a frame.

Fills are the opposite—this is the color that fills the frame.

So, let's select our Selection tool in our Tools panel. Then select the large, orange circle (frames are typically rectangular, by default, but can also be polygons or ellipses, like this one here).

You'll notice that the Stroke and Fill Color match this circle when it's selected. Click on the Fill Color. This opens the color picker. Choose a new color and click Okay. There you've got it. Our circle is a new color. In this example, the circle has been changed to blue.

Change the colors of your event sponsorship proposal template.

How to Write a Proposal for an Event

You may be wondering how to write a proposal for an event. To save you time, we’ve outlined the right ways to write, design, and format your event proposal.

1. Briefly Introduce Your Organization, Event, & Goals

The first step is to let your potential sponsors know about your organization. No matter if you're a well-known organization. It’s good to start with a bit of introduction about who and what you are as a company.

Tell about the event you’re going to launch. Answer these must-know questions:

What's the event all about?
Why are you doing the event?
What are the goals you want to achieve?
How does this event correlate with your company?

Your potential sponsors must be able to understand why you’re creating an event. This shouldn’t be too long. The more concise and brief you are, the better.

This Project Proposal Contract & Invoice Template has sections to present the company.

2. Explain How Your Potential Sponsors Will Benefit

This part is very crucial. What’s in it for them?

The idea is sponsorship is a two-way relationship. You benefit from their financial or non-financial support. In return, your sponsors get something too. It’s good to note what benefits they can get before, during, and after the event.

What are you offering to them? What makes the event sponsorship so tempting? There are many ways you can present the benefits of sponsoring your event. Here are a few well-rounded justifications:

Get potential leads. They’ll get the opportunity to generate potential customers.
Network with other businesses. Aside from exposure to new audiences and customers, sponsors can also find new business partnerships.
Add to their corporate social responsibility. If your event benefits a charity or for a good cause, potential sponsors will get a positive brand image.

25+ Best Free Construction Proposal Templates to Download Now for 2025

Brenda Barron

10 Mar 2023

3. Offer Sponsorship Levels

In event sponsorship, it’s common that sponsors are offered different sponsorship levels. This leveling often comes with a package where price has already been set. Also promotes the inclusive benefits attached to it.

Use tiering to divide the sponsorship levels. Some use package names such as platinum, gold, silver, or bronze package. You can get creative at this point. Make sure that you clearly define the inclusions and the distinctions for each sponsorship level.

This premium template offers sponsorship leves and media coverage packages.

4. Lay Out Your Terms & Conditions

Every event sponsorship proposal must include the terms and conditions of the partnerships. Ensure that sponsors won't take advantage of you. Define the limitations of the sponsorship clearly.

Also, this section should also include your negotiation terms. Of course, there'll be sponsors who will ask for discounts or extra perks on top of the inclusive benefits. You want to appear as open as possible so that potential sponsors won’t be put off easily.

This example of an event proposal template DOC has terms and conditions of event sponsorship.

5. Close With a Persuasive Call-To-Action

Finally, your event sponsorship proposal must include an action step from your sponsors.

Don’t let them get away easily. Make sure that you’re closing your event proposal with an urgent call-to-action.

One way to do this is to add a deadline to your event proposal. This way, your potential sponsors know when they must decide. But, to make it more effective add a time-sensitive offer to your call to action.

For example, add a huge early bird discount or savings to the first five sponsors.

5 Quick Event Sponsorship Proposal Design Tips for 2024

You may be wondering how to write a proposal for an event.

We’ve outlined the right ways to write, design, and format your event proposal:

1. Follow Your Branding Style

The first tip is to follow your branding style guidelines. This will ensure that your proposal is easily recognizable. It'll also reinforce your brand.

Use your brand colors and fonts and a consistent image and photo style throughout your proposal.

Temply Proposal Template would work well as an event sponsorship proposal example.

2. Keep It Easy to Read

The second tip is to keep your proposal easy to read. Aside from using a legible font, use proper text formatting.

Stick to short paragraphs and use headings and bullet points. This will make the copy easy to skim through.

This premium Project Proposal offers a clean layout and great contrast to showcase your project.

3. Pay Attention to the Cover

Put as much thought into your proposal cover as you do in the rest of the proposal. Use a high-quality photo and make sure to include your company’s logo.

Consider using your main brand color with a shape overlay. Also, add your website address to the bottom of the page.

Event Brief Proposal has an attractive event proposal design.

4. Mind the White Space

White space refers to the space around each individual element.

Leave enough space between your text, images, and other elements. Avoid your proposal looking cluttered.

Use Event Organizer A5 for robust sponsorship proposals that require more detail.

5. Style The Call To Action

Lastly, make sure to include a call to action at the end of the proposal. This should clearly outline what the next step should be. Whether that’s filling out a form, calling you, or emailing you.

Use a contrasting color to make it stand out from the rest of the proposal.

This template proposal would work will for an event sponsorship.

5 Top Event Sponsorship Proposal Design Trends for 2024

Let's look at some of the top trends in sponsorship proposal design. We'll discuss what makes them so appealing.

We'll also look at some noteworthy event sponsorship proposal examples:

1. Keep It Simple

Like so many things in life, less is often more. Avoid cluttering your layouts with too much content.

Find a balance between eye catching elements and supplemental elements.

Check out this event sponsorship proposal example, below. A lot of the space here, in each spread, is "empty."

Use negative space to experiment with balance in your compositions for a sleek look.

Business Corporate Proposal is a premium template with a professional look.

2. Command Attention

Contrast can be a really eye catching in your event sponsorship proposal template.

Take a look at the sponsorship proposal template below. Notice how the white title "Project Proposal" really stands out against the dark navy background.

This concept is pushed much further, in this event proposal design. We see contrasting shapes too. Think about where the focal points are here—where your eyes go first—and the role contrast plays in that emphasis.

Check out this high contrast angular theme in this event proposal design.

3. Memorable Variety

Mix up your pages with color. We can do so in so many ways. In this event sponsorship proposal example, the entire page color varies.

Experiment with color. Notice that the pages here still follow a continuous color scheme and theme. This is how we can use variety within boundaries to keep things consistent but interesting.

Full color is employed on these beautifully designed event proposal design spreads.

4. Visual Consistency

That said, consistency is timeless. A strong event sponsorship template is going to look visually similar from page to page. There should be document wide similarities that act as a visual anchor.

Check out this sponsorship proposal design. Many pages vary, but they still have elements in common. For example, we see block themed elements throughout. We also see consistent use of color—yellow is definitely the theme here.

Key colors and a unified block aesthetic give this event sponsorship template a stylish, professional look.

5. Stand Out

Again, consistency is important. But it doesn't necessarily mean that our sponsorship proposal design has to be boring. Find a balance between variety and consistency.

This event sponsorship proposal is designed in a square format. It works well and makes this template stand out from the crowd.

This stylish sponsorship proposal template utilizes a square layout design.

Find More Consulting Proposal Templates

Aside from event sponsorship proposals, you'll be dealing with other business negotiations.

From making project proposals to closing any type of business deals. You've got to always plan accordingly.

To help you with your business proposal needs, here are some great roundup posts that you can read and win your business proposal any time of the year:

Common Proposal Questions Answered (FAQ)

Are you still wondering what to include in your proposal?

We’ve gathered the most common questions about proposals and our answers to them:

1. What's the Recommended Structure of a Proposal?

A proposal usually consists of the following sections:

an introduction
the main problem outline
proposed solution
qualifications
and an overview of costs and benefits

After that, wrap up the proposal with a conclusion and next steps.

Learn more looking at some of the best business proposal templates:

35 Professional Business Project Proposal Templates 2025

Laura Spencer

03 Apr 2023

2. What Programs Should I Use to Design My Proposal?

Use a professional page layout and publishing program. Some examples include InDesign and Microsoft Word.

Learn more about publishing programs in these tutorials:

3. What Types of Proposals Are There?

There are several different proposal types. The main three types are:

unsolicited
formally solicited
informally solicited

Other types of proposals include:

continuation
renewal
supplemental proposals

Get some ideas on how your proposal can look with this useful roundup:

40+ Best Business Proposal Templates: Ideas For New Client Projects in 2025

Marc Schenker

16 Feb 2024

4. What's a Request for a Proposal?

A Request for a Proposal (RFP) is sent out to possible suppliers or vendors of a desired product or service. The document includes the specific requirements needed.

If interested, potential suppliers or vendors respond with a proposal that addresses the points listed in the RFP. Pricing and timelines are usually also included.

This premium event proposal template is perfect for responding to an RFP.

5. How Long Should My Proposal Be?

The length of the proposal depends on the nature and scope of the project. You need to cover everything the client needs to know. All without overwhelming them with too much information.

Typically, it takes between 10-15 pages to cover everything important, but more complex proposals may need to be longer.

20 Best Free Proposal Templates for Google Docs and Microsoft Word (2025)

Sharon Hurley Hall

23 Nov 2023

Learn More About Making Awesome Proposals in 2024

Creating a great and engaging proposal that wins clients is no small feat. Luckily, we've got plenty of tutorials to help you make an awesome proposal in 2024 and beyond.

Start with these tutorials:

Best Event Proposal Templates on Envato Elements (With Unlimited Use)

Envato Elements curates some of the most effective event proposal templates today. You’ll only need one subscription.

With Elements you won’t just get access to event sponsorship proposal templates.

You’ll also enjoy thousands of digital assets that are included with your subscription.

Get unlimited access to thousands of high quality design assets on Envato Elements.

You may be tempted to download a free sponsorship package template. But a free event sponsorship proposal template might have licensing conditions (especially commercial).

Premium sponsorship proposal examples from Envato Elements offer more advantages. There are more choices and design options. Find more than just sponsorship proposal templates for free.

Envato Elements offers unlimited sponsorship proposal examples with your subscription.

Not yet convinced? Envato Elements understands the importance of branding to winning an event sponsorship proposal. These sponsorship templates are customizable so you can easily make each event proposal unique.

Plus, now Envato Elements has introduced an AI-powered search feature!

Add a description of your project to find the finest human-crafted resources.

Start experimenting with this enhanced search tool! Discover the ideal event sponsorship proposal templates for your yearly reports.

Download the Best Event Sponsorship Proposal Templates Today

As you write your event sponsorship proposal, remember to keep your sponsors in mind. Write your content according to your potential sponsors’ point of view.

This way, they can easily understand what you’re trying to relay. At the end of the day, sponsors want to know what’s in it for them.

Remember: the key to designing a successful event proposal is making sure you’re captivating and benefits-driven.

To design and format your event proposal, get inspired by the best event proposal templates from Envato Elements.

Why not download your favorite event sponsorship proposal template now and get started?

Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Lex Soto, Daisy Ein, Maria Villanueva, Nathan Umoh and Dacia Egurrola. Lex and Dacia are staff writers with Envato Tuts+. Daisy is a freelance instructor for Envato Tuts+. Maria is an Associate Editor with Envato Tuts+ Design & Illustration. Nathan is a freelance writer for Envato Tuts+.

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132	gradient.addColorStop( 0, '#000' );
133	gradient.addColorStop( 0.2, '#000' );
134	gradient.addColorStop( 1, "rgba(0,0,0,0.5)" );
135	newContext.fillStyle = gradient;
136	newContext.fillRect( 0, 0, mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height );
137
138	mainContext.save();
139	mainContext.drawImage( newCanvas, 0, 0, mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height );
140
141	mainContext.restore();
142	}
143
144	// renders the 'film reel' animation that scrolls across the canvas
145	function drawFilm(){
146	var sampleWidth = 116; // the width of a sampled video frame, when painted on the canvas as part of a 'film reel'
147	var sampleHeight = 80; // the height of a sampled video frame, when painted on the canvas as part of a 'film reel'
148	var filmSpeed = 20; // determines how fast the 'film reel' scrolls across the generated canvas animation.
149	var filmTop = 120; //the y co-ordinate of the 'film reel' animation
150	var filmAngle = -10 * Math.PI / 180; //the slant of the 'film reel'
151	var filmRight = ( videoSamples.length > 0 )? videoSamples[0].x + videoSamples.length * sampleWidth : mainCanvas.width; //the right edge of the 'film reel' in pixels, relative to the canvas
152
153	//here, we check if the first frame of the 'film reel' has scrolled out of view
154	if( videoSamples.length > 0 ){
155	var bottomLeftX = videoSamples[0].x + sampleWidth;
156	var bottomLeftY = filmTop + sampleHeight;
157	bottomLeftX = Math.floor( Math.cos(filmAngle) * bottomLeftX - Math.sin(filmAngle) * bottomLeftY ); // the final display position after rotation
158
159	if( bottomLeftX < 0 ){ //the frame is offscreen, remove it's refference from the film array
160	videoSamples.shift();
161	}
162	}
163
164	// add new frames to the reel as required
165	while( filmRight <= mainCanvas.width ){
166	var newFrame = {};
167	newFrame.x = filmRight;
168	newFrame.canvas = sampleVideo();
169	videoSamples.push(newFrame);
170	filmRight += sampleWidth;
171	}
172
173	// create the gradient fill for the reel
174	var gradient = mainContext.createLinearGradient( 0, 0, mainCanvas.width, mainCanvas.height );
175	gradient.addColorStop( 0, '#0D0D0D' );
176	gradient.addColorStop( 0.25, '#300A02' );
177	gradient.addColorStop( 0.5, '#AF5A00' );
178	gradient.addColorStop( 0.75, '#300A02' );
179	gradient.addColorStop( 1, '#0D0D0D' );
180
181	mainContext.save();
182	mainContext.globalAlpha = 0.9;
183	mainContext.fillStyle = gradient;
184	mainContext.rotate(filmAngle);
185
186	// loops through all items of film array, using the stored co-ordinate values of each to draw part of the 'film reel'
187	for( var i in videoSamples ){
188	var sample = videoSamples[i];
189	var punchX, punchY, punchWidth = 4, punchHeight = 6, punchInterval = 11.5;
190
191	//draws the main rectangular box of the sample
192	mainContext.beginPath();
193	mainContext.moveTo( sample.x, filmTop );
194	mainContext.lineTo( sample.x + sampleWidth, filmTop );
195	mainContext.lineTo( sample.x + sampleWidth, filmTop + sampleHeight );
196	mainContext.lineTo( sample.x, filmTop + sampleHeight );
197	mainContext.closePath();
198
199	//adds the small holes lining the top and bottom edges of the 'fim reel'
200	for( var j = 0; j < 10; j++ ){
201	punchX = sample.x + ( j * punchInterval ) + 5;
202	punchY = filmTop + 4;
203	mainContext.moveTo( punchX, punchY + punchHeight );
204	mainContext.lineTo( punchX + punchWidth, punchY + punchHeight );
205	mainContext.lineTo( punchX + punchWidth, punchY );
206	mainContext.lineTo( punchX, punchY );
207	mainContext.closePath();
208	punchX = sample.x + ( j * punchInterval ) + 5;
209	punchY = filmTop + 70;
210	mainContext.moveTo( punchX, punchY + punchHeight );
211	mainContext.lineTo( punchX + punchWidth, punchY + punchHeight );
212	mainContext.lineTo( punchX + punchWidth, punchY );
213	mainContext.lineTo( punchX, punchY );
214	mainContext.closePath();
215	}
216	mainContext.fill();
217	}
218
219	//loop through all items of videoSamples array, update the x co-ordinate values of each item, and draw its stored image onto the canvas
220	mainContext.globalCompositeOperation = 'lighter';
221	for( var i in videoSamples ){
222	var sample = videoSamples[i];
223	sample.x -= filmSpeed;
224	mainContext.drawImage( sample.canvas, sample.x + 5, filmTop + 10, 110, 62 );
225	}
226
227	mainContext.restore();
228	}
229
230	// renders the canvas title
231	function drawTitle(){
232	mainContext.save();
233	mainContext.fillStyle = 'black';
234	mainContext.fillRect( 0, 0, 368, 25 );
235	mainContext.fillStyle = 'white';
236	mainContext.font = "bold 21px Georgia";
237	mainContext.fillText( "SINTEL", 10, 20 );
238	mainContext.restore();
239	}
240
241	// renders all the text appearing at the top left corner of the canvas
242	function drawDescription(){
243	var text = []; //stores all text items, to be displayed over time. the video is 60 seconds, and each will be visible for 10 seconds.
244	text[0] = "Sintel is an independently produced short film, initiated by the Blender Foundation.";
245	text[1] = "For over a year an international team of 3D animators and artists worked in the studio of the Amsterdam Blender Institute on the computer-animated short 'Sintel'.";
246	text[2] = "It is an epic short film that takes place in a fantasy world, where a girl befriends a baby dragon.";
247	text[3] = "After the little dragon is taken from her violently, she undertakes a long journey that leads her to a dramatic confrontation.";
248	text[4] = "The script was inspired by a number of story suggestions by Martin Lodewijk around a Cinderella character (Cinder in Dutch is 'Sintel'). ";
249	text[5] = "Screenwriter Esther Wouda then worked with director Colin Levy to create a script with multiple layers, with strong characterization and dramatic impact as central goals.";
250	text = text[Math.floor( video.currentTime / 10 )]; //use the videos current time to determine which text item to display.
251
252	mainContext.save();
253	var alpha = 1 - ( video.currentTime % 10 ) / 10;
254	mainContext.globalAlpha = ( alpha < 5 )? alpha : 1;
255	mainContext.fillStyle = '#fff';
256	mainContext.font = "normal 12px Georgia";
257
258	//break the text up into several lines as required, and write each line on the canvas
259	text = text.split(' ');
260	var colWidth = mainCanvas.width * .75;
261	var line = '';
262	var y = 40;
263	for(var i in text ){
264	line += text[i] + ' ';
265	if( mainContext.measureText(line).width > colWidth ){
266	mainContext.fillText( line, 10, y );
267	line = '';
268	y += 12;
269	}
270	}
271	mainContext.fillText( line, 10, y );
272
273	mainContext.restore();
274	}
275
276	//updates the bottom-right potion of the canvas with the latest perfomance statistics
277	function drawStats( average ){
278	var x = 245.5, y = 130.5, graphScale = 0.25;
279
280	mainContext.save();
281	mainContext.font = "normal 10px monospace";
282	mainContext.textAlign = 'left';
283	mainContext.textBaseLine = 'top';
284	mainContext.fillStyle = 'black';
285	mainContext.fillRect( x, y, 120, 75 );
286
287	//draw the x and y axis lines of the graph
288	y += 30;
289	x += 10;
290	mainContext.beginPath();
291	mainContext.strokeStyle = '#888';
292	mainContext.lineWidth = 1.5;
293	mainContext.moveTo( x, y );
294	mainContext.lineTo( x + 100, y );
295	mainContext.stroke();
296	mainContext.moveTo( x, y );
297	mainContext.lineTo( x, y - 25 );
298	mainContext.stroke();
299
300	// draw the last 50 speedLog entries on the graph
301	mainContext.strokeStyle = '#00ffff';
302	mainContext.fillStyle = '#00ffff';
303	mainContext.lineWidth = 0.3;
304	var imax = speedLog.length;
305	var i = ( speedLog.length > 50 )? speedLog.length - 50 : 0
306	mainContext.beginPath();
307	for( var j = 0; i < imax; i++, j += 2 ){
308	mainContext.moveTo( x + j, y );
309	mainContext.lineTo( x + j, y - speedLog[i] * graphScale );
310	mainContext.stroke();
311	}
312
313	// the red line, marking the desired maximum rendering time
314	mainContext.beginPath();
315	mainContext.strokeStyle = '#FF0000';
316	mainContext.lineWidth = 1;
317	var target = y - frameDuration * graphScale;
318	mainContext.moveTo( x, target );
319	mainContext.lineTo( x + 100, target );
320	mainContext.stroke();
321
322	// current/average speedLog items
323	y += 12;
324	if( average ){
325	var speed = 0;
326	for( i in speedLog ){ speed += speedLog[i]; }
327	speed = Math.floor( speed / speedLog.length * 10) / 10;
328	}else {
329	speed = speedLog[speedLog.length-1];
330	}
331	mainContext.fillText( 'Render Time: ' + speed, x, y );
332
333	// canvas fps
334	mainContext.fillStyle = '#00ff00';
335	y += 12;
336	if( average ){
337	fps = 0;
338	for( i in fpsLog ){ fps += fpsLog[i]; }
339	fps = Math.floor( fps / fpsLog.length * 10) / 10;
340	}else {
341	fps = fpsLog[fpsLog.length-1];
342	}
343	mainContext.fillText( ' Canvas FPS: ' + fps, x, y );
344
345	// browser frames per second (fps), using window.mozPaintCount (firefox only)
346	if( window.mozPaintCount ){
347	y += 12;
348	if( average ){
349	fps = 0;
350	for( i in paintCountLog ){ fps += paintCountLog[i]; }
351	fps = Math.floor( fps / paintCountLog.length * 10) / 10;
352	}else {
353	fps = paintCountLog[paintCountLog.length-1];
354	}
355	mainContext.fillText( 'Browser FPS: ' + fps, x, y );
356	}
357
358	mainContext.restore();
359	}
360
361	//draw the spining blade that appears in the begining of the animation
362	function drawBlade(){
363	if( !blade \|\| blade.x > mainCanvas.width ){ return; }
364	blade.x += 2.5;
365	blade.angle = ( blade.angle - 45 ) % 360;
366
367	//update blade, an ofscreen canvas containing the blade's image
368	var angle = blade.angle * Math.PI / 180;
369	var bladeContext = blade.getContext('2d');
370	blade.width = blade.width; //clear the canvas
371	bladeContext.save();
372	bladeContext.translate( 200, 200 );
373	bladeContext.rotate(angle);
374	bladeContext.drawImage( bladeSrc, -bladeSrc.width/2, -bladeSrc.height/2 );
375	bladeContext.restore();
376
377	mainContext.save();
378	mainContext.globalAlpha = 0.95;
379	mainContext.drawImage( blade, blade.x, blade.y + Math.sin(angle) * 50 );
380	mainContext.restore();
381	}
382	})();

1
2	var frameDuration = 33; // set the animation's target speed in milliseconds
3	function main(){
4	if( video.paused \|\| video.ended ){ return false; }
5	setTimeout( main, frameDuration );

1	var lastPaintCount = window.mozPaintCount;
2	setInterval( function(){
3	console.log( window.mozPaintCount - lastPaintCount );
4	lastPaintCount = window.mozPaintCount;
5	}, 1000);

1	requestAnimationFrame = window.requestAnimationFrame \|\|
2	window.mozRequestAnimationFrame \|\|
3	window.webkitRequestAnimationFrame \|\|
4	window.msRequestAnimationFrame \|\|
5	setTimeout;

1
2	// Adjusts the program behavior, based on whether the webpage is active or hidden
3	function onVisibilityChange() {
4	if( document.hidden && !video.paused ){
5	video.pause();
6	}else if( video.paused ){
7	video.play();
8	}
9	}

1
2	mainContext.beginPath();
3	for( var j = 0; i < imax; i++, j += 2 ){
4	mainContext.moveTo( x + j, y ); // define the subpaths starting point
5	mainContext.lineTo( x + j, y - speedLog[i] * graphScale ); // set the subpath as a line, and define its endpoint
6	mainContext.stroke(); // draw the subpath to the canvas
7	}

1
2	var mainCanvas = document.getElementById("mainCanvas"); // points to the on-screen, original HTML canvas element
3	var mainContext = mainCanvas.getContext('2d'); // the drawing context of the on-screen canvas element
4	var osCanvas = document.createElement("canvas"); // creates a new off-screen canvas element
5	var osContext = osCanvas.getContext('2d'); //the drawing context of the off-screen canvas element
6	osCanvas.width = mainCanvas.width; // match the off-screen canvas dimensions with that of #mainCanvas
7	osCanvas.height = mainCanvas.height;

1
2	// As the scripts main function, it controls the pace of the animation
3	function main(){
4	requestAnimationFrame( main, mainCanvas );
5	if( video.paused \|\| video.currentTime > 59 ){ return; }
6
7	var now = new Date().getTime();
8	if( frameStartTime ){
9	speedLog.push( now - frameStartTime );
10	}
11	frameStartTime = now;
12	if( video.readyState < 2 ){ return; }
13
14	frameCount++;
15	osCanvas.width = osCanvas.width; //clear the offscreen canvas
16	drawBackground();
17	drawFilm();
18	drawDescription();
19	drawStats();
20	drawBlade();
21	drawTitle();
22	mainContext.drawImage( osCanvas, 0, 0 ); // copy the off-screen canvas graphics to the on-screen canvas
23	}

1
2	// renders the canvas title
3	function drawTitle(){
4	if( titleCache == false ){ // create and save the title image
5	titleCache = document.createElement('canvas');
6	titleCache.width = osCanvas.width;
7	titleCache.height = 25;
8
9	var context = titleCache.getContext('2d');
10	context.fillStyle = 'black';
11	context.fillRect( 0, 0, 368, 25 );
12	context.fillStyle = 'white';
13	context.font = "bold 21px Georgia";
14	context.fillText( "SINTEL", 10, 20 );
15	}
16
17	osContext.drawImage( titleCache, 0, 0 );
18	}

1
2	if( titleCache == false ){ // If titleCache is false, the animation's title hasn't been drawn yet
3	drawTitle(); // we draw the title. This function will now be called just once, when the program starts
4	osContext.rect( 0, 25, osCanvas.width, osCanvas.height ); // this creates a path covering the area outside by the title
5	osContext.clip(); // we use the path to create a clipping region, that ignores the title's region
6	}