Tools and More menus

Edit history, Compare versions, code view, Live Parameter, and the rest.

Everything behind the Tools and More buttons in the top toolbar. Both open on hover as well as click.

Tools ▸ Project

New project — starts a fresh, empty scene.

Save to cloud — stores the current project on your account so it's available from any device and can be restored later. Needs you to be signed in.

Import project… — opens a .manimstudio file saved from this editor.

Export project — writes the whole project to a .manimstudio file. This is the project itself, not a video — use Render for that, or Save frame as image… for a still.

Tools ▸ History & versions

Edit history…

Every change you've made, as a list you can jump to — instead of pressing undo over and over.

The panel opens at the top-right; click outside it or the ✕ to close. Rows read newest-first:

The highlighted row badged now is where you are.
Rows above it are changes you've undone — click one to jump forward.
Rows below it are earlier states — click one to jump back.
The bottom row is always Opened, the scene as it was when you started.

Clicking any row jumps straight there in one step. Rows are named after the edit itself — Move — Circle, Fill colour — Square, Rotate (3).

This is your session's undo history, so it's lost when you reload the page. For something permanent, use Compare versions below. How many steps are kept is set in Settings → Performance.

Compare versions…

Puts a saved version side by side with what you have now.

Pick a version from the Saved versions list on the left. The right side then shows the two scenes together, with a plain-language summary of what changed: how many objects and animation clips each has, which objects were added since, and which existed then, gone now.

Restore this version replaces your current scene — but it goes on the undo stack, so CtrlZ brings your work back if you change your mind.

Versions come from cloud backup, which saves them automatically while you work — there's no "save a version" button. You'll need to be signed in to see them. You can only compare a saved version against now, not two saved versions against each other.

Tools ▸ Canvas

Save frame as image… — see Export a single frame.

Measure — the ruler. Same as pressing R; see Canvas tools.

Snapping on / off — whether objects snap to the grid and to each other as you drag. The label tells you the current state.

Grid visible / hidden — shows or hides the canvas grid. Editor only; the grid is never rendered into your video.

Tools ▸ Inspect

View Manim code…

Shows the Python your scene compiles to, read-only, in a window titled Generated Manim Python.

Copy copies what's currently displayed. If the compiler has anything to warn you about, it appears in an amber strip above the code.

Split into chapters appears only when your timeline has markers. Turning it on recompiles the project into one independent scene per chapter, with a tab for each — useful when you want to render sections separately.

This compiles whichever workspace you're currently in. In the Canvas studio you get the drawings' code; in the main editor you get the scene's code. They're separate — see Editor vs Canvas.

Command palette… — see Use the command palette.

Keyboard shortcuts… — the full list, also at Keyboard shortcuts.

More ▸ Formulas

The More menu holds standalone functions that act on whatever you have selected. Its header tells you what's currently selected, or prompts you to pick a shape.

Live Parameter

Sweeps a value through a curve's formula so the curve redraws itself over time.

Select a curve and open More ▸ Live Parameter.
Put the letter a somewhere in the curve's formula, using the Inspector's Shape tab. This tool never edits your formula — you decide where a goes.
Click Add Live Parameter. A clip appears at the playhead.
Set From (the value of a when the clip starts), To (its value at the end), and Duration in seconds.

Drag the clip on the timeline to retime it, or open the Anim tab to change its easing.

Only shapes that have a formula can use this: function graphs, parametric curves, and polar graphs. A piecewise function graph doesn't qualify — its branches are drawn separately. The dialog tells you when the selection can't be swept.

Each object gets one Live Parameter clip — opening the dialog again edits the existing one rather than adding a second. The curve genuinely re-evaluates every frame, which is different from morphing between two fixed poses.

Canvas tools — the tool strip on the canvas
Panels and features — every panel in the editor
Keyboard shortcuts

← PreviousCanvas tools Next →Keyboard shortcuts

Other sections

Tutorials How-to guides Explanation