To Move A Layer; Rotating Layers; To Change Angle Of Layer By Dragging In The Composition Panel; To Change Angle Of Layer By Entering Rotation Values In Timeline Panel - Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 Manual

See also
"About anchor points" on page 206

To move a layer

Every layer appears at a specific position in the Composition panel. You determine the initial position when you add
a layer to a composition. You can move a layer by dragging it in the Composition panel, by changing the Position
property value in the Timeline panel, or by using keys on your keyboard.
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To move a layer in the Composition panel, drag the layer to a new location.
If you have difficulty selecting a layer in the Composition panel, first select it in the Timeline panel, and then drag it
in the Composition panel. Make sure that you do not drag the layer by its layer handle.
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To nudge a layer by 1 pixel at the current magnification, press the Left, Right, Up, or Down Arrow key.
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To nudge a layer by 10 pixels at the current magnification, hold down Shift as you press the Left, Right, Up, or
Down Arrow key.
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To constrain horizontal and vertical movement while dragging a layer, press Shift after you start dragging the layer
in the Composition panel.
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To snap the edge of the layer to the edge of the Composition panel frame, press Alt+Shift (Windows) or
Option+Shift (Mac OS) after you start dragging the layer in the Composition panel.

Rotating layers

A layer can rotate any number of degrees in relation to its original orientation. You can rotate a layer as many times
as you want, which is useful when you want to spin an object continuously over time. You can animate a layer's
rotation in the Composition panel using the rotation tool, or in the Timeline panel by typing a revolution or degree
value. You can rotate a layer partially or completely outside the frame. Rotation in 3D adds other options for rotation.
When you rotate a layer, it rotates around its anchor point.
See also
"About anchor points" on page 206
"About z scale" on page 174
To change the angle of a layer by dragging in the Composition panel
Select the Rotation tool
1
2 In the Composition panel, click anywhere on the layer and drag in an arc around the layer. For finer control over
rotation, drag in a wide arc away from the layer's anchor point. To add multiple rotations, drag the rotation tool
around the layer continuously for the desired number of rotations. To constrain rotation to 45˚ increments, hold
down Shift as you drag.
To change the angle of a layer by entering rotation values in the Timeline panel
In the Timeline panel, select the layer you want to rotate.
1
2 Expand the layer outline to display the Rotation property (under Transform) or press R.
Do one of the following:
3
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Click the first underlined value and enter the number of times you want the layer to rotate completely.
from the Tools panel.
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User Guide