In
Flipnote Studio, the user can draw frame-by-frame to create animated sketches called Flipnotes. Each animation can hold up to 999 frames, at one of eight animation speeds (ranging from 0.5 to 30
frames per second), optionally looping. Each frame has two
monochromatic layers, and is limited to a
duotone color palette of black, white, red, blue, and
dithered
mixes thereof. Opening the
toolbox moves the animation from the
touch screen to the top screen. There are three main
drawing tools: a
pen, a
paintbrush, and an
eraser, each with a selection of tips with different sizes and textures. The toolbox also provides an
undo button, layer management, and
onion skinning options. The user can enable additional tools including
flood fill, a
sketch layer,
selection,
cut, copy, and paste, and
resizing and flipping. An
editing room screen allows frames to be removed, inserted, and pasted on a
filmstrip timeline. Photos can be imported from the Nintendo DSi Camera Album. The Japanese version of the software allows the user to take photos directly from
Flipnote Studio itself. This feature was later added into
Flipnote Studio 3D. In addition, the user may record up to 3 different sound banks (each holding up to 2 seconds of sound) with the system
microphone or import sounds from the Nintendo DSi Sound application, then save them as a
mastered soundtrack (which can hold up to 1 minute of sound). and risked removal altogether. For example, the categories "Stick Figures", "Spoof", and "Birds" were added at the request of users.
Stars Flipnote Hatena had its own economy of "stars". Stars were used to rate Flipnotes (similarly to
YouTube's "
likes"), and users could add as many stars as they desired to any Flipnote. In addition to the regular Stars, users could purchase or earn Color Stars. In increasing rarity, these colors were green, red, blue, and purple. Users could earn Green Stars by reporting inappropriate Flipnotes, using other Hatena services, posting Flipnotes frequently (based on the number of days they posted Flipnotes), or managing a popular Channel. Red Stars were given to creators whose Flipnotes were featured in the Weekly News. In addition, users could purchase "boxes" containing a certain number of Color Stars. The contents of these boxes were randomized, so users wouldn't know how many stars of each color they would receive; but the larger the purchased box was, the more likely the user was to receive rare Color Stars.
End of service The closure of Flipnote Hatena was announced prior to the release of
Flipnote Studio 3D. The service was officially shut down on May 31, 2013. The main purpose of the DSi Gallery was for users to transfer their Flipnotes from
Flipnote Studio to
Flipnote Studio 3D, where they could be edited like any other Flipnote. Flipnote Gallery: World was never released outside of Japan. Instead, other regions were given a service called the Nintendo DSi Library, where users could download their Flipnotes from Flipnote Hatena. Services for Flipnote Gallery: World and Nintendo DSi Library ended on April 1, 2018. In 2022, a fan-made
archive called
Flipnote Archive was released by a developer named Sudomemo, containing over 44 million Flipnotes that had been posted to Flipnote Hatena. The archive contains 12
TB of Flipnotes.
Sharing Flipnotes Aside from the Flipnote Hatena website, Flipnotes may be shared between two users via the DSi's Wireless Communication feature. When a Flipnote has been shared in this manner, the users may choose to save their contact information as friends on the Nintendo DSi and on the Flipnote Hatena website. Flipnotes may also be saved to an SD card (to be inserted into another DSi).. PPM files are viewable in fanmade applications. ==Other uses==