Photoshop does not provide the same automatic artwork-replay workflow found in some drawing apps. To make a process video, capture the session as continuous screen footage or use a Photoshop-focused recorder such as PixelRec.
A traditional screen recorder is best when viewers need to see tools, menus, narration, or your wider workflow. PixelRec is designed for artists who want the evolving artwork to remain the focus.
Capture a display, Photoshop window, or cropped region as continuous video.
Capture an artwork-focused Photoshop session and export it as a timelapse.
No. Unlike Procreate, Adobe Photoshop has no native timelapse or process-replay feature that records your artwork on its own. To get a Photoshop timelapse or speedpaint, you add the recording yourself—either with a general screen recorder or with an art-focused Photoshop plugin like PixelRec.
Photoshop does not keep a replay of your brushstrokes, so there is no menu that exports a timelapse of a drawing session. Nothing is captured unless recording is running before you start to paint.
Record your display with a tool such as OBS and edit the footage into a timelapse, or install a Photoshop timelapse plugin that captures the session and exports the video for you. Both methods are covered step by step below.
A screen recorder captures what happens on your display, in the Photoshop window, or inside a cropped region. It is the more flexible method when you are making a tutorial, recording commentary, or showing how you use Photoshop—not just how the artwork changes.
Narrated tutorials, live painting, streaming, tool demonstrations, webcam content, and videos with multiple visual sources are natural screen-recording use cases.
Pauses, cursor movement, zooming, panning, and interface activity remain in continuous footage. Long sessions also create files based on the full recording duration and settings.
Considering OBS specifically? Read the fair PixelRec and OBS comparison before choosing a workflow.
PixelRec is a Photoshop plugin built specifically for art timelapses. After installation, it starts capturing automatically as you work—without rebuilding a setup or clicking Start for every session—and uses smart frame detection to skip duplicate or near-identical frames.
The PixelRec panel has two tabs: Dashboard and Settings. You can try the same panel in the interactive demo before you install anything.
| Control | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Recording | Dashboard | The on/off switch for capturing. Use it to start, pause or stop recording by hand. (PixelRec Pro also starts recording automatically when you work.) |
| Document | Dashboard | Shows which Photoshop document is being recorded. |
| Captured Frames | Dashboard | Counts the frames captured so far, so you can see that recording is working. |
| Time Spent | Dashboard | Tracks how long you have worked on the document (PixelRec Pro). |
| Output Folder | Settings | The folder where PixelRec saves your recordings and exported videos. |
| Resolution and Quality | Settings | Set the size and quality of the video. Export in 720p, 1080p, or 4K with PixelRec Pro. |
| Idle Timeout | Settings | Pauses recording when you are inactive, so breaks do not end up in your timelapse. |
| Export Video | Dashboard | Exports your recording as an MP4 (H.264) video. Choose how fast it plays, from 2× up to 100×. |
Both methods can capture a creative session. The difference is whether the broader screen workflow or the artwork itself should be the finished video's focus.
| Topic | Traditional screen recorder | PixelRec |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | General video capture, tutorials, and live production. | Photoshop art timelapses and speedpaints. |
| Setup | Choose a display, window, or crop; then configure video, audio, and output settings. | Install once and choose your preferences. Later Photoshop sessions start recording automatically without rebuilding a capture setup. |
| What is captured | Continuous video of the selected screen area. | An artwork-focused record of the Photoshop session. |
| Photoshop UI | Visible when it falls inside the selected source or crop. | The full Photoshop interface and desktop are not the focus of the exported timelapse. |
| Pauses | Remain in the footage unless paused or removed later. | Idle behavior and smart frame detection reduce unchanged content. |
| File workflow | Creates continuous footage based on session length and capture settings. | Works from captured artwork changes and lets you choose speed during export. |
| Interruptions | Display capture can include notifications or window changes; window capture limits this. | Unrelated desktop windows are outside the artwork-focused output. |
| Export | Usually needs an editing pass to create the final timelapse. | Exports MP4 in 720p, 1080p, or 4K at 2×–100× speed. |
| Best for | Tutorials, streaming, narration, webcam, and interface demonstrations. | Clean process videos, speedpaints, social posts, and portfolio content. |
Which should you choose? Use a screen recorder when the way you use Photoshop is part of the lesson. Use PixelRec when the evolving artwork is the story and you want an art-focused workflow. See the full Photoshop timelapse plugin overview.
A speedpaint is the same idea as a timelapse—your drawing process replayed at speed—usually exported short and fast for social media. Photoshop has no built-in speedpaint recorder, so you capture the session and speed it up on export. The steps match the methods above, with a few speedpaint-specific choices.
Start a screen recorder before you paint, or let PixelRec capture the Photoshop session automatically. For a clean speedpaint, keep the evolving artwork—not the full interface—as the focus of what you record.
Export at a higher speed—PixelRec supports 2× to 100×—so a long session becomes a 15–60 second clip, then share it as an MP4. Vertical crops work well for Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
Want the dedicated workflow? See the Photoshop speedpaint plugin and how to share a speedpaint on social media.
If your goal is a clean process video rather than a full screen recording, PixelRec can capture your Photoshop session automatically and export an MP4 at the speed and resolution you choose.