Problem: After Effects 26.3 pastes copied vector artwork as shape layers. Edit ▸ Paste only
knew the app's own clipboard, so SVG markup on the system clipboard was ignored; turning SVG
into shapes needed an imported footage file and Create Shapes from Vector Layer.
Fix: a new `edit.pasteSvg {svg, name?, comp?}` command builds a shape layer from SVG text with
the same conversion as Create Shapes from Vector Layer (paths, fills, strokes, gradients, clip
masks), above the selected layer with the SVG canvas centred in the comp, as one undo step;
oversized, non-SVG or shapeless text is rejected. In the UI, Ctrl/Cmd+V (and the native Edit ▸
Paste) run it when the system clipboard holds SVG. Copying in the app already replaces the
system clipboard with a note, so SVG there is newer than the app's clipboard.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A shape's Fill and Stroke Color (and every other colour property) in the
Timeline only had a swatch that opens the colour picker; After Effects puts
an eyedropper next to it to sample a colour from the Composition panel.
The Timeline now shows that eyedropper (`timeline.prop.<uid>.eyedropper`),
reusing Effect Controls' viewer pick: click it, then click in the
Composition panel, and the property is set to the sampled colour.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01QiAJeFttZp83Fh7YuzAR5f
The Tools bar had Fill and Stroke swatches and a Stroke Width, kept in
the interface only, so agents couldn't set them and new shapes could
only be a solid fill with a solid stroke. As in After Effects:
- With a shape layer selected and a shape tool or the Pen active, Tool
Creates Shape / Tool Creates Mask choose whether drawing adds shapes
to the layer or masks on it (Fill and Stroke hide while drawing
masks).
- Clicking the word "Fill" or "Stroke" opens Fill Options / Stroke
Options: None, Solid Color, Linear Gradient or Radial Gradient, the
blend mode and the opacity. The swatches show the kind; Alt-click
steps through the kinds.
- New shapes and Pen paths are painted with them: a Gradient Fill or
Gradient Stroke across the shape for the gradient kinds.
The options are engine state (EditorState.shape_tool) set with the new
shape.toolOptions command; shape.newShape and shape.newPath use them
unless given paint parameters (which now include fillType, fillBlend,
fillOpacity and their stroke twins; layer.newShape takes them too). A
Pen path without paint parameters now takes the Tools bar's stroke
(none by default) instead of a fixed 2 px white one. layer.addMask also
draws rounded rectangle, polygon and star masks, so every shape tool
makes a mask on a selected footage or solid layer (rounded rectangles,
polygons and stars made a new shape layer).
Test: shape_tool_options_paint_new_shapes,
masks_of_every_shape_tool_kind,
tool_creates_mask_draws_a_mask_on_the_selected_shape_layer,
fill_options_paint_the_next_shape.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Edit > Duplicate (Ctrl+D) with a shape group or other shape item
selected in the Timeline duplicated the whole shape layer. As in After
Effects it now duplicates the selected items inside their group, each
copy above its original and numbered on ("Rectangle 1" gives
"Rectangle 2"), and selects the copies. With only layers selected the
layers are duplicated as before.
Test: duplicate_with_shape_items_selected_duplicates_them_in_place,
ctrl_d_duplicates_the_selected_shape_group_in_its_layer.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Edit > Copy with a shape group (or a path, fill, stroke or path
operation) selected in a shape layer's Contents copied the whole layer,
and Paste made a new layer. As in After Effects, Copy now copies the
selected items, Paste puts them into each selected shape layer's
Contents (above its selected item, in that item's group, else on top,
with names kept unique there: "Rectangle 2"), and Cut removes them, so
Cut + Paste moves them. Pasting with no shape layer selected is an
error rather than a new layer. Copying anything else clears the shape
item clipboard, as it does the other clipboards.
Test: shape_contents_copy_cut_and_paste_between_shape_layers,
ctrl_c_and_ctrl_v_copy_a_shape_group_into_another_shape_layer.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Selecting a mask in the Timeline (its row or Mask Path), or a shape's
Path, selects all its points, so dragging one in the viewer moves the
whole mask, as in After Effects. Delete still removes the mask, and
selecting another property deselects the points.
- Mask Feather has the chain link (Constrain Proportions, on by
default, Alt edits one value) and no longer takes negative values;
Scale's link shows as a toggle too.
- Dragging in the Project panel's empty area draws a selection box
(Shift / Cmd adds); a click there deselects.
Tests: selecting_a_mask_selects_its_points,
mask_feather_values_are_linked_and_not_negative,
dragging_in_the_empty_area_box_selects_items.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_018gnTnH3Jmk5zr4tMq1Mc9f
- With a shape layer selected, the toolbar shows its Fill, Stroke and
Stroke Width (with any tool) and editing them changes the layer's
fills and strokes, as in After Effects (new shape.fillStroke, one
undo step per picker or drag). Shapes drawn without a stroke get one
when a stroke colour or width is set, so changing the stroke now works.
- Alt+Shift+P (A, S, R, T) reveals the property it keyed on each layer.
- A click in the time graph below the last layer deselects the layers
(it only deselected keyframes), so a shape tool draws a new shape
layer instead of a mask on the selected image.
Tests: toolbar_fill_and_stroke_paint_selected_shape_layers,
toolbar_stroke_edits_the_selected_shape_layer,
add_position_key_reveals_position,
clicking_below_the_layers_deselects_them.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_018gnTnH3Jmk5zr4tMq1Mc9f
Trim Paths, Merge Paths, Repeater and the other path operations
existed (layer.addShapeItem) but no menu added them to a shape layer.
Like After Effects, a shape layer's Contents row now has "Add:" with
Group, Rectangle, Ellipse, Polystar, Path, Fill, Stroke, Gradient Fill,
Gradient Stroke and the path operations; with a shape group selected
they go into it. layer.addShapeItem gains the empty Path and Gradient
Stroke kinds.
A 3D text or shape layer in a Classic 3D comp now shows Geometry
Options with "Change Renderer…", which opens Composition Settings on
its 3D Renderer tab (Advanced 3D comps show the extrusion options).
Popup menus are as tall as the window allows and open upward near its
bottom: the 20-entry Add menu was cut at 420 px, hiding Trim Paths.
Tests: shape_contents_add_menu_adds_path_operations,
classic_3d_shape_layers_offer_change_renderer.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_018gnTnH3Jmk5zr4tMq1Mc9f
