How to import Illustrator layers into After Effects
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The Adobe Creative Cloud (CC for short) is an industry standard for design and video creation. One of the benefits of opting into the ‘red cloud’ of Adobe software is that the programs are highly compatible with each other.
This means that if you designed something in Adobe Illustrator that you’d like to use for motion graphics, you can import the .ai file into After Effects and animate it.
In this quick and easy-to-follow tutorial, we’ll show you how to do this.
We’ll also show you how easy it is to import Illustrator files into Linearity Move. Move is our innovative new animation software that’s an alternative to After Effects. You can create motion graphics for a range of applications: animated social media graphics, online ads, announcement posts, and more.
Let’s dive into the Illustrator > After Effects tutorial.
Step 1
Create a new After Effects Project
Open Adobe After Effects CC on your computer and click the New Project button at the top-left of the screen. Or, you can go to File > New > New Project, or simply press Ctrl + Alt + N on your keyboard.
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Image source: Adobe
Step 2
Import your Illustrator file
Click on the New Composition from Footage card in your new After Effects Project. Select the Illustrator file you’d like to import.
Optional: click on the Import As dropdown and select Composition - Retain Layer Sizes. With this setting, After Effects will assign anchor points to the various layers to make it easier for you to animate them individually.
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Image source: Adobe
Double-click on the new Composition in the Project panel on the left-hand side. You’ll see all your Illustrator layers appear as layers in your Composition’s Timeline at the bottom of the screen.
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Image source: Adobe
Step 3
Animate and export your Illustrator design
You can now click and drag each Illustrator layer individually and animate them on the Timeline using keyframes, effects, presets, and more.
Learn how to animate your logo in After Effects with this easy-to-follow tutorial.
When you’re ready, you can export your After Effects Project as a video file by going to File > Export > Add to Render Queue. Click the Render button to finish.
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Image source: Adobe
Import and animate Illustrator layers in Linearity Move
Importing Illustrator files into After Effects is pretty straightforward, but the animation software itself is clunky and feels old-fashioned.
Adobe has been in the game for a long time, and its software has become more complex and difficult to use over the years.
That’s why we made Linearity Curve and Linearity Move.
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Our creative software suite has a short ramp-up time, which means you can get designing and animating in minutes. No training required.
Follow the steps below to see how easy it is to animate Illustrator layers on an iPad using Linearity Move.hea
Step 1
Import and animate your Illustrator file
If you haven’t downloaded Linearity software yet, get started for free below:
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Jumpstart your creative ideas with Linearity Curve and Linearity Move
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A new Move Project will automatically be created. You’ll see your Illustrator layers in the Layers Panel at the bottom left of the screen next to the Scene Timeline.
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Here’s the easy part: simply move the Playhead on the Timeline and make adjustments to your design. Keyframes with smooth animations will automatically be applied. Guess what? You’ve just animated your Illustrator layers.
Learn more about Linearity Move’s Animation Presets to add dynamic movements to your animation with one click.
Step 2
Export your animation
Once you’re done animating your Illustrator file, tap on the File name menu item at the top left and select Export.
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A new modal will open. Adjust the settings and tap Export to finish.
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More animation features
Looking for more ways to animate your designs? Check out the other After Effects and Move tutorials we’ve made for you:
- Text animation in After Effects
- Masking in After Effects
- Creating Figma animations with Move
- GIF animation in Move
- SVG animation in Move
If you haven’t tried our software suite, here’s more info:
- Linearity Curve is a vector design platform for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. It empowers you to create stunning, scalable designs for every use case you can imagine.
- Linearity Curve is seamlessly integrated with Linearity Move, our advanced AI-powered animation software that’s fun and easy to use.
You can try our software suite for free below (get up to 3 files to play around with). If you’re ready to get serious about design, head over to our pricing page to see our special offers for pros, teams, and students.
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Sharné McDonald
Contributing Writer
Sharné is a contributing writer to the Linearity Blog. She has 10+ years' experience in graphic design and marketing and holds a Master's degree in Art Education.
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