How to create a reliable link to a specific frame within an animation of an object in editor?

How can I create a reliable link in the editor between an object instance and the animation frame displayed within it?

For example, I have an object with 50 different animation frames: In the Editor, I set the frame index number for each instance.

The problem: If the order of the frames within an animation changes, all subsequent frame assignments are no longer correct.

I’ve seen that I can also assign tags to individual frames. However, I can’t find an option in the Editor to assign a specific frame to an object instance using the frame tag.

Am I doing something wrong? Or is there really no permanent, unique link to a specific frame while working in the editor?

Sorry if this is a silly question; I’m still learning ... :-)

Set frame works with both frame integers and tag strings. Instead of the number, put something like "mytag"

For conditions, use Compare frame tag.

Unfortunately, frame index references are usually position based, so if frames get reordered later the object instances can break exactly like you described. Frame tags are helpful for runtime logic and lookups, but in the Editor there often isn’t a built in way to bind an instance directly to a frame tag as a permanent reference. A safer workflow is usually to avoid reordering frames once placed, create separate animations for stable variants, or build a small lookup system that selects frames by tag/name instead of index where possible. You’re asking the right question because this becomes painful on larger projects 😄

Ah, I see what you mean now - I assumed "Editor" included Event Sheet - what you meant was just Layout Editor...

In this case, no, there is no way. But on the other hand, I would avoid doing any kind of bulk operation in the editor by hand - I would indeed use frame tags and have an appropriate event group fire on first load to set everything as needed.

The specific challenge in my case is that I'm working on a hidden object educational game. This means I have a large number of object instances in my layouts that need to be placed with extreme precision, down to the pixel.

In the game itself, I naturally access the objects via their IDs and/or tags. However, in order to construct the levels (through painstaking detail work), I need the object sprites to be displayed correctly in the layout editor.

I’ve already found a solution that works for me by using multiple Hidden Object objects within a single family, each of which contains only a subset of all the images used for the instances.

This makes the whole thing a bit clearer and less prone to errors.

Nevertheless, it might be helpful for a future version of Construct if one could link the sprites from the object animations firmly and foolproofly to the respective object instances in such a way that not all subsequent images in an animation shift if one (accidentally) deletes or inserts an image before it.

In any case, thank you very much for your answers and your help.

As I said: I’m still learning and I still need to get the hang of working with Construct. :-)