Toolbar & tools
Tools are grouped, and each group remembers the last tool used in it, so the rail stays compact. Whatever is active, the ToolOptionsBar underneath shows its contextual options.
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) | 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
Pen (G), Pencil, Brush — pressure-sensitive ink — and the Curvature Pen. See Drawing tools.
Shape group
Rectangle (Q), Ellipse (Shift + Q), Polygon, Star, Line Segment.
Text
Ctrl/⌘ + T creates a text layer. Double-click an existing text layer to edit it on the canvas — Enter commits, Esc cancels, clicking away commits.
Mask tools
Rectangle Mask and Ellipse Mask draw a mask directly on the selected layer. See Masks.
Rig tools
| Tool | Key | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Puppet Position Pin | Ctrl/⌘ + P | Drop pins on a mesh, drag to deform |
| 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 left-drag camera mode: Orbit → Pan (Track XY) → Dolly. A toast announces which mode you are in. Esc, or picking V, exits.
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 Insert menu
Not a tool, but it lives on the same strip. It inserts:
Solid · Camera · Light · Adjustment Layer · Null · Audio (file picker) · Particle emitter · Image Sequence (multi-file picker) · Lottie import (file picker) · 3D primitive · 3D Text · Composition instance (any other composition in the project).
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. It holds:
- The 15 animation presets — entrances, exits, loops, 3D moves.
- The 18 text presets — Typewriter, Cascade, Decode, Word Rise and the rest.
- The 6 behaviours — Drift, Pendulum, Orbit, Audio Throb and two more.
- Easy Ease All, Time-Reverse Keyframes, Sequence Layers (bars end-to-end), Stagger Animations (0.3 s default).
- Add Slider Control, which creates an expression rig control.
Presets are applied from this menu. They are saved from the Presets inspector tab — one home per action. See Animation presets.
The rest of the strip
- Undo / Redo buttons, live-bound to the history stack.
- Snap toggle.
- 3D toggle for the selected layer.
- SceneControls — quick scene-level toggles.