How to Extract Frames from Video: Single Images, Every Frame, or Intervals

StoryFolder — 2026-09-10

Last updated: 10 September 2026.

StoryFolder detects the shots in a video automatically, and there are four ways to pull frames out afterwards. Right-click a frame on the storyboard to save that one still to disk, or to put a copy of it on the clipboard. Turn on Images and keep One frame per shot to write one PNG per included shot. Choose Every video frame for a complete PNG sequence. Choose Every N frames per shot for a sampled one. The path is the same every time: import, review the detected shots, pick a mode, set the favourites and hidden scope, read the count on the radio label, export. Interval counting restarts inside every shot.

Frame filenames are built from frame numbers counted in the file you imported, so an every-frame export carries no original camera filenames and no source timecode. Detection is automatic and it is an algorithm, so scroll the board and fix anything obviously wrong before you commit to a big export.

Which frame-extraction method matches the job?

Right-click a storyboard frame and Save Frame… writes that one still to disk, while Copy Frame Image puts it on the clipboard. Under Images, One frame per shot writes Shot-1.png onward, one per included shot, Every video frame writes a Frame-*.png for every frame in every included shot, and Every N frames per shot writes a sampled Frame-*.png sequence.

Import the video and let StoryFolder detect the shots

Open or create a board, import the video, and wait for shot detection to finish before you touch the export settings.

Scroll the board and look at anything questionable, then fix those boundaries. On a 461-shot board you are not choosing 461 posters by hand. Leave the automatic posters alone and set one only on the handful of shots where the automatic frame lands on a blur or a transition. If you want the boundaries themselves in a document, the guide to software that breaks a video into individual shots with timings covers detection and correction properly.

Save, copy, or set one exact frame from the storyboard

1. Hover along a shot in the storyboard until the frame you want is showing.
2. Right-click, and pick the action that matches what happens next:
   • Save Frame… writes that one frame to a location you choose.
   • Copy Frame Image puts it on the clipboard for a chat message or a deck.
   • Set Poster Frame makes that frame the shot's representative still, which is what the storyboard PDF and the spreadsheet thumbnail then use.

All three act on the single frame under the pointer, so they appear only when one shot is selected. Select several shots and the frame group drops out of the menu.

Export one PNG poster for every included shot

Turn on Images, leave the mode on One frame per shot, confirm your scope, and export. You get Shot-1.png, Shot-2.png and so on, numbered 1 upward in board order across the included shots.

These are real PNG files, and they are the same images the video storyboard PDF and the spreadsheet embed. It is the mode to use for a contact sheet or a shot inventory, or anything where one image per shot is the point and frame-level coverage would just be noise. The same poster set is what you are looking at when you make a shot list from an existing video or convert a video to a storyboard automatically.

Settings live with the project, so a board you come back to next week is still in the mode you left it in. Existing projects and fresh installs both start in One frame per shot.

How do you export every frame as a numbered PNG sequence?

Turn on Images, select Every video frame, look at the count, then check you have somewhere to put it. This writes every frame of every included shot as its own PNG, named by its source frame number.

The numbering is zero-padded: Frame-000842.png is source frame 842. Because included shots cover non-overlapping frame ranges, two shots can never claim the same filename, and the sequence stays in source order in any file browser. The number is the frame's position in the video you imported, which is also why a rendered file cannot give you the original camera file name or a source timecode in the filename.

In the project in the screenshot under the next heading, 96 shots produce 96 posters and 78,545 individual frames. Reach for this mode when the job genuinely needs every frame, such as feeding a frame-by-frame process downstream.

Where does the counting restart when you sample every N frames?

At every shot boundary. Select Every N frames per shot, type an integer, and sampling starts fresh inside each included shot: the shot's first frame, then every Nth frame after that, then the next shot begins the pattern again at its own first frame.

N is a frame count; 13 means every thirteenth frame. The input holds at a minimum of 1, so there is no zero or negative interval to worry about. A smaller N gives you more files, a larger N fewer, and the label updates as you type so you can settle on a number by watching the count.

One real project. This board offers 96 posters, 78,545 frames at every video frame, and roughly 6,050 at an interval of 13.

Which shots end up in the export?

The ones the favourites and hidden toggles include, so set those before you trust a count or start an export. Every Images mode, poster and frame sequence alike, works over the included set. There is no second shot-picker inside the export panel, and a search query or filter you have active on the board does not narrow it — that's a way of looking, not a way of exporting.

So when a count looks far higher or far lower than you expected, that is the first place to look. Mark nine shots as favourites, set the export to favourites only, and the frame count drops to those nine shots' worth of frames, with the posters coming out as Shot-1.png to Shot-9.png.

Which files does each output combination create?

With Images as the only output you have switched on, a frame-sequence export writes Frame-*.png files and nothing else; switch on any additional output and the Shot-*.png poster set is written alongside them.

The other outputs need those posters: a shot list spreadsheet with durations embeds one poster per row, and a PDF prints one poster per shot. Selecting a frame-sequence mode does not turn the PDF into a flipbook of every frame.

Check the count, disk space, progress and cancellation before a large export

Every mode's radio label carries its own frame count over the included shots, and interval mode shows an approximate one. The numbers move as you change the mode, the interval or the scope.

My own routine before a large export:

1. Before you set the real scope, favourite two or three shots on their own, set the export to favourites only, and run it.
2. Open the output folder and look at the filenames.
3. Now set the favourites and hidden scope you want for the real job, and read the count on the radio label for the mode you picked.
4. Run it.

StoryFolder also checks the destination. When a realistic estimate says a frame sequence will not fit on the drive you picked, it refuses to queue the job and tells you roughly how many frames and how many gigabytes it was going to write, so you can pick another drive or narrow the scope. Where the estimate is uncertain, the export runs, so treat it as a check that catches the obvious cases.

Exports show progress and can be cancelled part way. Steps 1 and 2 cost thirty seconds, against a job that could otherwise write tens of thousands of files you did not want.

Images and storyboard export are included on every plan, and the free plan gives you 6 boards of 50 shots to work in. Download StoryFolder and try a mode on one board before you commit a big one.

Frequently asked questions

Can I extract one exact frame from a video?

Yes. Hover the frame in the storyboard, right-click, and use Save Frame… to write it to disk or Copy Frame Image to put it on the clipboard.

Can StoryFolder export every frame from a video?

Yes, for the shots included in the export, through Images → Every video frame. The files are PNGs, the radio label shows the count before you start, and the export reports progress and can be cancelled.

What does "Every N frames per shot" mean?

The first frame of each included shot, then every Nth frame after it, restarting at each shot boundary. N is a whole number of at least 1 and counts frames, so 13 means every thirteenth frame.

How are extracted frames named?

Frame sequences use zero-padded source frame numbers such as Frame-000842.png; poster mode writes Shot-1.png, Shot-2.png and so on. The numbers refer to the file you imported, so they carry no camera-original filename or source timecode.

Are the extracted images PNG or JPG?

PNG. Posters and sequence frames are both genuine PNG files, and there is no format chooser to set.

Why does my export count change?

The count is calculated over the included shots, so the mode, the interval, and the favourites and hidden scope all move it. Interval mode's count is approximate.

Does every-frame mode make the PDF contain every frame?

No. The PDF and the spreadsheet keep using one poster per shot, whichever Images mode is selected.

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