Introduction
After Effects Integration with Pencil will allow you to use Pencil to scale content that you have already created in After Effects.
As part of the integration of After Effects with Pencil there are some upload requirements to take note of.
You can create your project in After Effects as you normally would - no special setup is needed - you have full control over the look and behaviour of your template. If you are just getting started with the After Effects workflow we recommend checking out Plainly's helpful resource After Effects Best Practices to make your project easier to manage, edit and reuse.
Things To Keep In Mind
The compressed size of a project should not exceed 1GB
The uncompressed size size of a project should not exceed 4GB
The maximum length and dimensions of the template are determined by your subscription
You can use any fonts you like - we support OTF, TTF and TTC font formats.
You can use 3D layers and any native After Effects effects
You can’t use paid plugins or third-party plugins
You can’t have more than 2,000 asset files in your project
An asset file name should not include any non-supported characters: < (less than), > (greater than), : (colon), " (double quote), / (forward slash), \ (backslash), | (pipe) and ? (question mark)
Any hidden file in a project ZIP will be ignored
Pencil currently supports After Effects versions from 2024 to 2025, and it will automatically detect the version of the project you are trying to upload. In case you upload a project in a version that is not supported, the auto-upgrade process will start, trying to convert the project to the latest supported version
Preparation Summary
The first step to using your After Effects project in Pencil is packaging it with all the required files. You can do this by manually collecting the project files and packaging them into a .zip file
The .zip file should contain all the necessary files, including the After Effects project file, any assets used in the project, and any fonts used in the project
The zip file should have the following structure:
Step-By-Step Preparation
Collect Files in After Effects. Navigate to File > Dependencies > Collect Files. This will open the 'Collect Files' dialog similar to that below:
Click on the 'Collect' button. Select the folder where you want to save the collected files. This can be any folder on your computer.
Collect Fonts - Collect all the fonts used in the project. Copy and paste them into the newly created folder with the collected files
Once complete, your folder structure should look similar to the below:
Create a .zip file by compressing your top level folder
Font Management
As stated in the Terms of Service, any content you upload, including the fonts, must be your own, or you must have the right to use it. Pencil is not responsible for any copyright infringement.
In order for Pencil to render your text layers correctly, you need to include all used fonts in the .zip that you upload.
Guidelines and Limitations
Only fonts in .ttf or .otf formats are supported, as well as font collection .ttc files
Variable fonts are supported
Fonts used in non-visible or guide layers are not required to be included in the .zip file
Uploading to Pencil
Once you have prepared and packaged your project into a .zip file you can upload directly into Pencil, either through creating a new template or by uploading in the 'Work' section, via the 'Upload' button in the top right hand corner:
