Popping Text
by kim@pixelbit.com

Open an image 800 X 600 transparent. This is huge, I know, but it will be cropped later,

Select your font tool.
Use the font of your choice (fat fonts work best)
and place your text on your image in a medium size.
Apply the inner bevel effect of your choice.

Count the letters in your text, in your layer palette, duplicate your layers so you have one more layer then you do letters.

Save this image in psp format and set aside for the moment.

New image, same size, same font, larger size. Apply the same inner bevel effect.

Open Animation Shop. Set the preferences to  "Keep layers on separate frames" and open the image that you saved earlier.

Do NOTHING to frame 1.
on frame 2, make your eraser tool active. Select a size for your eraser that will work best for you.
Erase the first letter of your text.
On the next frame, erase the next letter of your text

and so on until you have one letter erased from each frame (except frame 1)

Go back to PSP, Use your selection tool set to rectangle.
Make the image with the larger text active. Select only the first letter of your text, copy

In Animation Shop paste as new (this is a needed step, you can't paste directly from PSP to an animation)
copy the letter that you just pasted. (that's right, paste and copy)
Make the frame that is missing the first letter of your text active,

CTRL + E to paste the larger letter into place.

Back to PSP, select none, Select the second letter of your text and copy.
Back to Animation shop.
Paste and copy
Make the next frame active and paste your letter into place.

Repeat until you have pasted a larger letter onto each frame (except frame 1)

Almost done.

Time to crop

Double click on the crop tool to open the crop properties.
Select surround opaque and click OK.
Click Crop in the tool bar.

One more step.

Make frame 1 active.

Click Animation > Frame properties.

Set the speed to 100.

That's it. All that's left to do is save