Motion Sketch is a drawing feature in Photoshop that records your brush strokes as you paint
Motion Sketch in Adobe Photoshop lets you paint or draw, then play back your strokes as an animation or video. Instead of seeing only the finished painting, you get a recording of how you made it — useful for tutorials, process videos, or understanding how an artist worked. When Motion Sketch breaks, you either cannot record your strokes at all, or the playback does not work correctly.
The feature lives in Photoshop's Animation workspace and requires you to set up a timeline first. If you skip that step or if Photoshop's settings get corrupted, Motion Sketch will not respond to your brush. Most fixes are straightforward — resetting preferences, updating Photoshop, or checking your timeline setup — but a few require digging into Photoshop's hidden files.
Key Takeaways
- Motion Sketch only works in the Animation workspace with an active timeline, so check that you are in the right workspace first.
- Resetting Photoshop's preferences fixes most Motion Sketch failures and takes less than five minutes.
- Outdated Photoshop versions sometimes break Motion Sketch, so updating to the latest release often solves the problem.
- If Motion Sketch still does not respond after resetting preferences and updating, your timeline may be locked or your brush tool may not be selected.
Switch to the Animation workspace and create a new timeline
Motion Sketch only works inside Photoshop's Animation workspace. If you are in the standard workspace or Photography workspace, Motion Sketch will not appear in your menus at all. To switch: go to Window at the top, then Workspace, then click Animation. Photoshop will rearrange your panels to show the timeline at the bottom.
Next, you need an active timeline. Open the Timeline panel (it should be visible after switching workspaces). If you see a blank panel, click Create Video Timeline or Create Frame Animation — either one works for Motion Sketch. If you already have a timeline but it looks empty or grayed out, click on it to make sure it is selected. Motion Sketch will not record unless the timeline is active and ready to receive frames.
Reset Photoshop preferences to clear corrupted settings
Photoshop stores Motion Sketch settings in its preferences file. If that file gets corrupted — usually after a crash or a failed update — Motion Sketch stops working even though the feature itself is fine. Resetting preferences clears out the bad data and restores defaults.
To reset preferences on Windows: hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift while opening Photoshop. A dialog will ask if you want to delete the settings file. Click Yes. On Mac: hold Command + Option + Shift while opening Photoshop and click Yes when prompted. Photoshop will restart with fresh preferences. You will lose custom shortcuts and workspace layouts, but Motion Sketch should work again. If you want to keep your settings, skip this step and try updating first.
Update Photoshop to the latest version
Adobe releases updates that fix bugs in Motion Sketch and other features. If your Photoshop is more than a few months old, an update may be waiting. Go to Help at the top, then Updates. If updates are available, click Update and let Photoshop read and install them. You may need to restart Photoshop when it finishes.
If you use Photoshop through a Creative Cloud subscription, updates usually install automatically in the background. Check the Creative Cloud desktop app to see your Photoshop version number. If it shows an older version (anything before the current month), open Photoshop and go to Help > Updates to pull the latest release manually.
Check that your brush tool is selected and your timeline is not locked
Motion Sketch only records brush strokes, so you must have a painting or drawing tool selected. Make sure your toolbox shows the Paintbrush, Pencil, or another brush tool as active — not the selection tool, text tool, or anything else. If the wrong tool is selected, Motion Sketch will not record anything.
Also check that your timeline is not locked. In the Timeline panel, look for a lock icon next to your layer or timeline. If you see one, click it to unlock. A locked timeline will not accept new frames from Motion Sketch. After unlocking, try recording again.
Delete Photoshop's cache files if Motion Sketch still does not work
If resetting preferences and updating did not fix the problem, Photoshop's cache files may be corrupted. These are temporary files that Photoshop uses to speed up features like Motion Sketch. Deleting them forces Photoshop to rebuild them from scratch.
On Windows: close Photoshop completely. Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Photoshop\[Version Number]\. Look for a folder called Cache and delete it. Restart Photoshop. On Mac: close Photoshop, open Finder, press Command + Shift + G, paste ~/Library/Caches/Adobe/Photoshop, and delete the Photoshop cache folder. Restart Photoshop. The cache will rebuild automatically the next time you use Motion Sketch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Motion Sketch record but playback shows nothing?
Your timeline may not have any frames, or the frames may be on a hidden layer. In the Timeline panel, make sure you can see frame thumbnails. If the timeline looks empty, try recording a few brush strokes again and watch the frame counter at the bottom. If frames still do not appear, check that your layer is not hidden (look for an eye icon next to the layer name).
Can I use Motion Sketch with a graphics tablet?
Yes, Motion Sketch works with any input device that Photoshop recognizes — mouse, trackpad, or graphics tablet. If it does not work with your tablet, make sure your tablet drivers are up to date and that Photoshop has permission to use the tablet in your system settings.
Does Motion Sketch work in Photoshop Elements or Lightroom?
No, Motion Sketch is only in the full version of Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop Elements and Lightroom do not include this feature.
What file format should I export Motion Sketch recordings in?
After recording with Motion Sketch, go to File > Export > Render Video to save as MP4, MOV, or WebM. You can also export as an animated GIF or as a sequence of image files if you prefer.