First start off with a Kao base. I will be using this base:

Save it to your computer and open it in imageready. Change the skin color on each layer (You’ll have to change the layer and the animation frame to go to each one). Make two folders on top, called “Floating” and “Static”

In the “Static” folder, make a new layer and draw a face and hair with the pencil tool (1 pixel thickness). Draw anything else that you want synchronized with the base. When you play the Animation it will probably look like this: (rough, bad quality version)

Now on each frame, nudge the static layer up or down so that it is in the same place relative to the base. This will take a few tries at first but you’ll eventually get the hang of it. Now it should look like this: (rough, bad quality version)

In the “Floating” layer, add objects or props for your smiley. Often times these are hearts or sparkles. I chose to give him a water bottle. I drew it with the pencil tool again with 1 pixel thickness.

I nudged the “Floating” layer a little bit on the last 2 frames but not as much as the static to give it a floating appearance:

Here’s some more examples I made:

Keywords: Adobe ImageReady, animation, smile, smily, smiley, Kao, Kao-chan, custom, frames, cute, gif.