Preparing Illustrator Files; Importing Layered Files As A Composition; To Import A Layered File As A Composition By Dragging; To Import A Layered File As A Composition By Using Commands - Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 Manual

Preparing Illustrator files

Before you save an Illustrator file for importing into After Effects, consider doing the following:
•
To ensure that Illustrator files appear correctly in After Effects, select Create PDF Compatible File in the Illustrator
Options dialog box.
•
To copy paths between Illustrator and After Effects, make sure that that the AICB and Preserve Paths options are
selected in the Files & Clipboard section of the Illustrator Preferences dialog box. If you don't select AICB in
Illustrator, After Effects prompts you when you attempt to paste the path.
•
To ensure that files rasterize most faithfully in After Effects, save your file in AI format instead of Illustrator 8.x or
9.x EPS format.

Importing layered files as a composition

When you import a layered file as a composition, After Effects gives you access to the individual layers, adjustment
layers, masks, guides, and other features created in Photoshop or Illustrator. When you choose this option, you must
choose to make the dimensions of each layer either match the layer's contents or match the dimensions of the refer-
enced file. Layers that match the original layer's own dimensions render faster and are easier to manipulate in After
Effects; layers that match the original document's dimensions are helpful when you need to align layers manually or
to get desirable results with some third-party plug-ins.
When you import a layered Photoshop or Illustrator file as a composition, the original file name is used twice in the
Project panel: for the file as a composition and for the folder containing each Photoshop or Illustrator layer as
separate footage items.
Note: When you import a layered Adobe Photoshop file as a composition, all the layers contained in the composition
retain their original positions as set in Adobe Photoshop. You can open the composition in After Effects and animate the
layers. When you import an Adobe Photoshop file as a composition, guides in the file are imported as well. When you
import a multilayered Adobe Illustrator file as a composition, the Adobe Illustrator layer blending modes are preserved.

To import a layered file as a composition by dragging

Drag the file to the Project panel.
1
In the [file name] dialog box, choose Composition from the Import Kind menu.
2
3 Choose one of the following from the Footage Dimensions menu:
Makes the dimensions of each layer match the layer's content.
Layer Size
Makes the dimensions of each layer match the original document's size.
Document Size

To import a layered file as a composition by using commands

Choose File > Import > File or Multiple Files.
1
In the Import File or Import Multiple Files dialog box, select the file. (If the file doesn't appear, select the option
2
for showing all files from the Files of Type (Windows) or the Enable (Mac OS) menu.)
3 Choose one of the following from the Import As menu, and then click Open:
Composition - Cropped Layers
Makes the dimensions of each layer match the original document's size.
Composition
Makes the dimensions of each layer match the layer's content.
ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 90
User Guide