Toolbar & tools
Tools are grouped, and each group remembers the last tool used in it, so the rail stays compact. Open a group’s flyout to see every tool in it with its shortcut. Whatever is active, the ToolOptionsBar underneath shows its contextual options. When the window is narrow, groups fold into a More tools menu rather than being cut off.
Every tool is a command, so every tool can be given or re-given a shortcut in Customize ▸ Shortcuts — including the ones that ship without one.
Pointer group
| Tool | Key | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Selection | V | Select and move layers; marquee-select; drag handles |
| Direct Selection | Shift + V | Select individual path points and handles |
| Rotation | W | Rotate around the anchor point |
| Pan Behind (Anchor Point) | Y | Move the anchor point without moving the layer |
| Hand | H | Pan the view — holding Space does this temporarily |
| Zoom | Z | Click to zoom in, Alt-click to zoom out |
Pen group
| Tool | Key | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pen | G | Press G again to switch between Pen and Mask Feather |
| Pencil | — | Freehand, converted to a path |
| Brush | — | Pressure-sensitive ink |
| Paint | — | Paints onto the selected layer |
| Eraser | — | Erases paint on the selected layer |
| Curvature Pen | — | Click points; curvature is inferred |
| Add Vertex · Delete Vertex · Convert Vertex | — | Edit the points of an existing path |
| Mask Feather | — | Variable feather points on a mask |
| Knife | Shift + K | Drag across a shape to cut its path |
See Drawing tools.
Shape group
Rectangle (Q), Ellipse (Shift + Q), Polygon, Star, Line Segment.
Text
Ctrl/⌘ + T picks the Text tool. Press it again, with a Type tool already active, to switch between horizontal and Vertical Type. Double-click an existing text layer to edit it on the canvas.
Mask tools
Rectangle Mask, Ellipse Mask and Pen Mask draw a mask directly on the selected layer. See Masks.
Rig tools
| Tool | Key | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Puppet pin | Ctrl/⌘ + P | Five kinds, chosen from the tool’s menu: Position, Starch, Bend, Advanced, Overlap |
| Bone | Ctrl/⌘ + B | Draw a skeleton chain on a layer |
Both are disabled unless the selection is a riggable leaf — a shape or image layer. The tooltip says so, and points you at Rig Logo for Animation for groups and pre-comps. See Rigging.
Camera tool
C cycles the camera tool: Unified → Orbit → Pan (Track XY) → Dolly. In Unified, left-drag orbits, middle-drag pans and right-drag dollies; the other three put that one move on the left button. A toast announces which mode you are in. Esc, or picking V, exits.
Beside it, the 3D cluster holds the gizmo mode (Universal, Position, Scale, Rotation), the axis space (Local, World or View, as After Effects’ three buttons), Draft 3D and the 3D ground plane as toggle buttons, and a 3D view menu: the Extended Viewer, layer bounding boxes, camera and light wireframes for unselected layers, and the camera focus plane.
The camera tool is only live when the composition has a camera and at least one 3D layer. Otherwise a bare C falls through harmlessly.
The New Layer menu
Not a tool, but it lives on the same strip, and it is the single home for creating layers:
Shape Layer · Text Layer · Solid… · Group · Null Object · Adjustment Layer · Composition ▸ (any other composition in the project, as an instance) · Camera… · Light… · Particle System · 3D Extruded Text · 3D Cube · 3D Sphere · 3D Cylinder · 3D Primitive… · Audio… · Image Sequence… · Import .lottie / .json Animation….
Camera and Light open real creation dialogs rather than inserting a hardcoded default — you pick the lens preset or the light type up front.
The Animate menu
Also on the strip, and enabled when a layer is selected. It holds:
- The animation presets — the fifteen built-in entrances, exits, loops and 3D moves, plus any you have saved. They apply at the playhead.
- Four text rigs, for text layers: Typewriter, Bounce In Words, Spin & Fade Characters, Tracking Reveal.
- Easy Ease All Keyframes, Bounce, Time-Reverse Keyframes.
- Sequence Layers…, Stagger Layers… and Stagger Animations…, with two or more layers selected.
- Add Expression Control — Slider, Angle, Point, Color, Checkbox, Dropdown or Layer.
The fuller preset library, with previews, is the Presets panel. See Animation presets.
The rest of the strip
- Snap toggle.
- Undo / Redo buttons, live-bound to the history stack.